The system has failed.

This piece is about the recent police shootings in Dallas. This piece will infuriate those who are used to reacting emotionally to things like this instead of using their brain and thinking. I ask that you read this entire piece, then think about what you’ve read. I do not condone what happened in Dallas. You have been warned.

I am a huge proponent of the second amendment. When you ask most ardent gun owners about the purpose of the second amendment, almost every one of them will tell you that our forefathers wanted guns in the hands of the people as a hedge against a tyrannical government. When we look at what happened in Dallas, isn’t that what the shooters are saying was their motivation? To them, the government has gone tyrannical and they are using their guns to fight back.

Black people see a system that has failed them. When police are brought up on charges, many times they are exonerated. In the case of Freddie Gray, the police officers have chosen a bench trial over trial by jury. You know why that is, don’t you? They don’t want their fate to be in the hands of everyday people. They want their fate to be in the hands of someone that they see as being sympathetic to them, the judge. Judges work with these policemen daily and there is a certain chumminess that exists between the two. Police are supposed to represent the administrative branch of our government while the courts represent the judicial branch, but it’s hard to tell that they are two separate branches by the way they work so harmoniously. When black people see police repeatedly “get away” with murder, they no longer have faith in the government.

A white governor in Minnesota has even said that the man shot dead recently in Minnesota probably died because he was black. He said that if that couple had been white, the outcome would have been much different. The black community hears this, but instead of justice, they see a policeman who was comforted by his fellow officers while the victim’s welfare seemed an after-thought. These policemen generally get put on paid administrative leave, only to be returned to work after they get what appears to the black community to be a pass.

We are told that the reason we give such latitude to police officers is because if we held them to the same standards that we hold normal citizens, our police force would not be as effective. We are told that we cannot have police officers constantly second guessing themselves. Tell that to those who have been murdered by police. Who is there to advocate for these victims? We see big fancy funerals for slain officers. Not so much for the citizens who lose their lives to the hands of police officers, no matter how innocent they may have been.

It’s not just black people being killed by errant police. Police routinely raid homes and kill innocent people inside. Police use no knock warrants, sometimes on the wrong homes, and the inhabitants of these homes, not knowing that it’s the police, try defending themselves. They get murdered by the police and the families have to fight in court for any monetary award for their loss, and many times, the police refuse to admit any wrong-doing, so they continue to kill people in this manner. Google the name Jose Guerena as just one example of this happening. In his case, the police officers claimed they were being shot at when the evidence clearly pointed to the contrary. The outcome is maddening because the family had to fight for any monetary award, but in the end, no amount of money can replace this family’s husband and father.

I would be remiss if I didn’t bring up the recent situation with Hillary Clinton. She did things that would put most people in jail. The FBI director admitted as much, but he also said that no prosecutor would pursue the charges against her. What he doesn’t tell you is why that is. There is a double standard in this country and he knows it. Most Americans know it, and the black community knows it.

This brings me to the tragedy that happened in Dallas. The shooter who was blown up told negotiators that he was mad at Black Lives Matter, he was mad at police, and he was mad at white people. He obviously felt that he had no recourse through a failed justice system which historically has let those in power off while trivializing the losses that the American people have suffered at the hands of police.

This isn’t to say that the police who died deserved to die. They didn’t. However, they are the face of the broken system to many who feel like they are being hunted by a police force that is rarely, if ever, held accountable. Those who have been harmed have seen the system fail to bring justice to those in power on so many occasions, so they have turned to their guns and have taken justice into their own hands.

If we want to defuse the situation, we need to admit that the system has failed. We need to start holding all those in public trust accountable for mistakes. Police are human beings. They freely choose their profession, knowing full well the dangers that come with it. They need to be held to a higher standard than the people they protect. The average citizen rarely has the training that a police officer has, or at least, should have. When the untrained citizen is held to a higher standard than the well trained police officer, we have a problem. Police should think about their actions. We see what happens when they aren’t held accountable. Public trust breaks down and we have incidents like we find ourselves in now. It’s not just the police, but every level of public service.

In summary, the system has failed and people are starting to take matters into their own hands. People are angry, and rightfully so. Killing police officers is unacceptable, but so is killing innocent people because of police mistakes. Until public confidence is restored in the justice system, we will continue to see this lashing out against those in power.

God bless those who have lost their lives on both sides of the aisle.