I was at the gym early this morning, listening to the news, saddened and frustrated with the events of the last few days. I wrote this on my phone and posted it to FB.
Dallas.
We can chew gum and walk at the same time.
We can recognize that black men are too often gunned down unfairly by angry or scared cops.
We can understand that blacks often are scared to death to call the cops for protection because they have seen that devolve into an attack on themselves, or the death of someone who just needed help.
We can recognize that gang violence is out of hand, and destroying a big part of black culture.
We can support our Friends in Blue whose shoes I could never fill. Thank you for doing your job, and putting your life on the line for All of us.
We can mourn (along with the peaceful Dallas protesters) the deaths of 5 Dallas police officers who's only crime was serving and protecting the free speech rights of the protesters.
We can support the protesters' first amendment rights to protest, without lumping them in with the cowardly assassins who fired into the crowd. MLK was often accused of formenting the violent protests that sometimes broke out around him. Whites: Don't make that mistake again - be smart enough to separate the two.
We can say Black Lives Matter, without having to follow it up with "all lives matter" (because showing solidarity with some does not mean you are discounting others).
We can say Blue Lives Matter, while still believing that Black Lives Matter. This isn't a sport, this is our society.
Concern for human life, human rights and respect is not a binary choice. It is not a zero sum game - we can be concerned, and pray for, all of the innocents, black and blue, without detracting from the other.
We can chew gum and walk at the same time.
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