The divide between the NYPD and Mayor Bill de Blasio is completely unnecessary. The #Blacklivesmatter movement and the Mayor’s support of the protesters did not contribute to the killings of NYPD officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu in December. Most individuals who are part of #Blacklivesmatter or have been vocal about police brutality are NOT spreading the notion that all police officers are horrible or advocating for the murders of police officers.

These activists are asking for civilian lives, regardless of color, to be treated with importance during encounters with law enforcement. Sure, there are some opportunists who are trying to use the protests for their anti-police agenda or to cause anarchy. The actions and words of these people do not speak for the majority and that needs to be clear.

Those in public life i.e. Mayor de Blasio who have spoken out on behalf of the protestors should not face backlash for supporting the #Blacklivesmatter movement.  The only person responsible for the tragic deaths of Officers Ramos and Liu is the troubled man who decided to murder them.  He had no ties to this movement and only used it for his own purposes; his goal was to cause harm to himself and to others. We should not associate people who engage in acts of terror with specific groups or communities because they do not represent the majority.

Because of this fact, the NYPD blaming Mayor de Blasio and the #Blacklivesmatter movement is nonsensical.  What has the Mayor done that he needs to apologize for?  Actually doing what some people might find rare in politics: telling the truth?  He merely stated that his biracial son will face prejudice and that he and his wife had to explain to their son about how to interact with the police.

This is the reality of raising a young black man in this country; most parents of young black men have had this crucial conversation. (Yes…we still have this problem in this country today. This is why people are protesting. Our society still needs a reminder that Black lives matter and should be treated with the same dignity as everyone else’s.)

I applaud the mayor for speaking with honesty and standing by the protestors as well as pushing to end the Stop-and-Frisk program in NYC. He understands that these protests are more than about the recent cases of police brutality; these protests are about people of color taking a stand against decades of inequality in the legal system.

Besides Mayor de Blasio, public officials or leaders who happen to be Black are also being accused of “creating” a racial divide by discussing the issue of police brutality and supporting peaceful protests.  I do not understand how anyone can believe that the issue of police brutality is somehow the invention of President Obama, Attorney General Holder, or even Al Sharpton. Some people refuse to realize that this racial divide has been lingering and that the election of a Black president did not change anything overnight.

The lack of empathy for those involved in police brutality cases and the labeling of the entire Black community (people of African American, Caribbean, or African heritage) as thugs who kill each other or violent looters who destroy our own communities only proves that this divide has only been dormant in the minds of some individuals. Why are these negative labels applied to the Black community when other groups are fighting and killing each other every day or have looted neighborhoods?

What seems to be ignored in this debate is that people are protesting because they have had enough of the labeling and inequality that they have experienced and/or witnessed.  The history and current information is out there for those who seek to know more than what is dictated to us in our schools. Education is one of the areas that would need to reform in order to fix the problems facing our country especially in regards to understanding the issues within different communities and how to solve these problems.

If people read up on these issues or are willing to learn from others with knowledge of them, they would see that the rhetoric used by certain public officials i.e. Patrick Lynch, the President of the PBA of NYC, and Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of NYC, and political commentators i.e. Bill O’Reilly and the entire Fox News Channel is completely shortsighted and dismissive of the protestors as well as communities of color in general.

The #Blacklivesmatter movement is about changing our current legal system so that it is just and fair to ALL.  Police officers should be held to a high standard and always act within the guidelines of the law.  No one should have a free pass to abuse or circumvent our laws. Our society cannot allow the bad apples to control the system and use it to their advantage.

We should not accept prejudice, racial profiling, the killings of unarmed individuals, or police brutality as the norm. We need our police to stand with our communities. The officers who turned away from the Mayor during the funerals of Officers Ramos and Liu also turned their backs on our communities and disrespected the memories and families of their fallen colleagues. (People in our society NEED to understand and support each other.)

All of our communities and citizens cannot flourish without the collaboration of our entire country.  People deserve opportunity and our country needs stability not more bullets or batons.  This country should continue to strive to be better than in the past and that is the only way these wounds will heal.  We have come a long way since the era of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr and the Civil Rights Movement; however, there is still more work to be completed.

Our society needs to be aware that status quo is not working and that things will continue to deteriorate until something more is done to collectively repair our broken foundation.

Patty John

Writer and blogger. Perspectiv.words Founder, Chief Editor, and Contributor. I write to speak out and uplift. I also share my views on current events, culture, history, or any topic that moves my fingers to a pen or to type.

www.perspectivwords.com/patty