"There are good cops too,"
Please don't let me hear you say this to me. I don't want to hear about good cops. Good cops are obviously not the problem, so they're not included in the conversation. Yes, there are people who actually join law enforcement to protect citizens and that's great, I can fully comprehend that. However, I can't hope that every police officer I see is one of them. It's wrong that my breath pauses, my hands shake, the pace of my movements becomes sluggish unsure if the last thing I'm going to stare at before I reach my father's kingdom are a blood splattered bullet and a badge. Good cops, while they are good they aren't relevant to the problem.
Not sure if you guys know him. On tumblr, there's this guy (his username is basedgodtookmyusername in case you want to follow him) and he breaks down the "good cop" rhetoric in an analogy of broken systems.
He says that you have to think about like its a house. In that house, you have a faucet in your kitchen sink that isn't working. The water comes out dirty and sometimes it comes out clean. Now, you can't just look at the unsanitary glass of water and say "Well, I do get clean water sometimes so I can't really complain," You can't do that, you would have to make sure that every time that you go to that faucet, the water that comes out is safe for you to drink.
It's the same thing with the police, you should be able to see a police officer and know that person will willingly protect you and has good intentions. However, that's not the case, I can't just know that any police officer I see is "one of the good ones". The thoughts of every blood stained body dropping to floor always come to my mind. I get scared because I don't know what's going to happen. I don't know if I'm going to get clean or dirty water. I have to know how to make myself inferior enough to have a chance of walking away with a pulse. You can't overlook that this system is too toxic, and not clean enough for me (and people who look like me) to drink from.
Both of those systems are broken and in order to change anything you must examine and replace it. So we don't have to worry or be unsure or feel unsafe. These problems don't go away by ignoring them or only discussing the good. Not "complaining" or silence is consent, you are letting these things happen. Sometimes it's easy for you to "not think about it" because it doesn't effect you. *Coughs* Especially you, white people. Thanks for displaying your true colors and giving in to the fact that things that don't involve you lack validity and aren't important. Probably why you insert yourself in places you aren't relevant or involved, to make it important enough to be discussed in your eyes. Things like, All Lives Matter, White History Month, or Flexin' My Complexion... but you guys didn't read that and I never said or did anything besides sip this tea.
My best advice to someone that this problem doesn't concern: educate yourself and accept the fact that it's important whether or not you're included or you can shut the fuck up and have a damn seat.
Jeremy McDole
Mike Brown
Freddie Gray
Sandra Bland
Tamir Rice
Rekia Boyd
Kimani Gray
Eric Garner
Yvette Smith
This list continues...these people were not murdered for their names to crumpled up into "There are good cops too,"
