When many people think of police officers, they think of violence, hate, and racism. When I look at my father and all of the other officers I grew up around, I see humility, compassion, and courage. I see men and women of all races and backgrounds leaving their families and risking their lives to protect their communities only to be met with curses, protests, and sometimes even murder. I do not support Black Lives Matter (BLM) because it targets honorable people like my father by turning a bullet of self-defense into a racial issue. This not only increases the racial divide in our country, but also leads to a detrimental lack of respect for law-enforcement.
BLM claims to be a peaceful movement, and this idea is even backed by our president. The title of the movement is rather clever. After all, no one would want to say black lives don’t matter, right? Even I was hesitant to openly say I didn’t support the movement with the impending label of “racist” looming over my head. That is, until the Dallas police shootings. That night left my family in tears, fearing for my dad’s life who was to work a BLM protest the following day. We could picture ourselves in the place of those families who lost a father. This event was followed by several other shootings and mass protests claiming to be avenging the losses of young black men at the hands of corrupt and racist officers.
How legitimate are the BLM claims against police? Some claim most of the fatal cop shootings this year have targeted African-Americans. This is simply not true, since 54% of these shootings were at whites as of July (according to the Washington Post). People would still argue that the ratio of black deaths to the black population is still proportionally biased, but these numbers still say nothing about crime. Just because someone was shot by a police officer, does not mean the split-second decision was based on race. You can’t prove systematic racism with these statistics or out-of-context accounts or videos.
One of the main factors fueling the anger of BLM toward police is an ignorance of what the job of law enforcement entails. Officers ask people to do certain things (like raise hands, stop moving, get on the ground, etc.) because these ensure the officer, who has a family to return to, is safe. If someone disobeys an officer’s request, he or she, regardless of ethnicity, runs the risk of the officer taking precaution. Of course, an officer’s goal is never to shoot. Not only do they have to go through weeks of investigation and administrative leave after a shooting, but they also wrestle with the guilt of having ended a human life. The use of a gun is serious and is handled seriously each time. In the end, an officer makes the call he or she feels will uphold justice and keep everyone safe. There is no other group more actively fighting for black lives than the police. Of course mistakes are made, sometimes tragic mistakes, but this does not mean that there is systematic racial oppression embedded in our justice system. If anything, the fact that a movement such as BLM can get away with shutting down highways and looting stores and still get “condolences” from President Obama shows that there might be some racial bias, but not in a way that is ever talked about.
BLM isn’t unifying America, but rather dividing us by race. Many white families, especially cop families, now fear large groups of black people. Many black families fear officers and white people in connection with them. Neither one of these fears are Godly. The only one who can fix racial issues is the Holy Spirit, who enables us to love one another. As Christians we should not assume that every social movement is God’s will for justice. We should carefully discern everything so that we do not waste our efforts on endeavors that promote neither love nor Christ’s gospel.
Hunter is a senior music composition major with a minor in Islamic studies.