The 1,091

1,091. That is the number of police slayings since August 9, 2014. We have allowed our peace officers to become judge, jury, and executioner without due process. We have allowed our Constitution to be violated, because prejudice people continue to gain power and keep policies in place that allow for the militarization of our police. We have allowed our culture to become indifferent to police brutality and say, “It’s just part of their job. Police Lives Matter, too.” This has to stop. No civilized society may exist with such wanton use of violence when there are, often times, better choices of action available. Bernie Sanders seems to be the only candidate that has proposals to begin curbing this violence that disproportionately affects people of color, but that only highlights the issue. Out of so many candidates vying for nomination to our two-party system, we have only a single candidate that has a track record of being with the civil rights movement. There should be more. Furthermore, we shouldn’t have to rely on something someone did forty years ago to establish where they now stand on the issues in 2015. We have not progressed much in those forty years if we are just now willing to tackle an issue that we swept under the rug using a candidate that became apathetic to race issues long ago. We deserve better, but that will come with time. Right now, we need to be more worried about what people have to say, what policies would be best based on evidence, and getting someone in power who is willing to follow through, rather than how the discussion is conducted and whether or not people are justified in storming stages. For thousands of years, injustices have been brought to the attention of those in power by civil unrest and disobedience. If you perpetuate the notion that one should “sit down and shut up,” you are as bad as those that kill someone with their hands already in the air or that has already had a body check (http://bit.ly/1gxnxEU). The notion that silence fixes problems stems from a place where privilege shades in one’s world view and blinds the individual to how change is created. If you honestly believe that silence and acceptance of one’s situation is the correct answer, then I challenge you to find out a baby’s needs without them first throwing a tantrum. Know a child’s desires without them telling you. Understand a teenager’s brain without them speaking. See to an adult’s requirements without them communicating. None of these things can be done, except in the most basic of ways, and it applies to society as a whole. Without making a scene, often times, one is not listened to, especially by a media that lives off sensationalism. How many of these 1,091 deaths have you heard about? I would presume that it is but a small fraction, and that is exactly the point. The ones that you have heard about were the result of civil unrest or egregious circumstances caught on video – sometimes both. So, how can one logically expect silence to disseminate information needed to understand these issues? Through research by individuals? From what I have seen throughout my social media experience, the vast majority of people are unwilling to reach beyond what is offered up to them. Fewer still know how to properly conduct research, and most of those are unable to overcome inherent cognitive biases that prevent them from accepting reality. So, in what universe is it reasonable to expect obedience to produce a desired outcome? None.

Via: Vox