Kayla Quamina Quamina

Trulock
English 1101
December 10th, 2018

Black Lives vs. Blue Lives

Black men have been abused, targeted, and murdered. They have been accused of

countless crimes they never committed, charged with carrying weapons they never had, and are

unfortunately forced to pay the price with their lives. This has everything to do with the pigment

of their skin. The justice system will always find a way to justify the black murders that white

police officers continue to commit. Many will argue and say that it isn’t about race and that a

criminal is a criminal but, the truth is, the heinous murders of blacks are certainly race driven.

Black Lives Matter is a group formed by a community of black people, who were upset

after George Zimmerman was acquitted for the murder of Treyvon Martin, in the year of 2013

(Simon Caroline.) After Treyvon Martin’s tragic death, many black lives were taken by the

hands of the ones who took an oath to protect and serve. These officers are doing the opposite of

protecting. They are picking who they want to protect and harming the ones they don’t. It’s an

abuse in power and unfair treatment.

The targets painted on a black man's back is not only frightening for him but their

families as well. Eric Garner, a loving father, and an amazing husband was only 43 when he was

murdered by the police. He was accused of selling untaxed cigarettes. He was placed in a choke

hold and let out his dying words, “I can’t breathe!” about 11 times before he was no longer

moving. He laid, lifeless on the ground and was handcuffed. Medical attention was not

immediately given to Mr. Garner even though that is protocol. His murder is not the only thing

that was not right, but the fact that in the initial death statement, it is not stated that the officer

placed his hands around Garner’s neck and fatally chocking him. They are killing black men and

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Kayla Quamina Quamina
Trulock
English 1101
December 10th, 2018

then trying to hide it. If Eric’s friend hadn’t recorded the incident, the world would have never

known what really happened to Eric. ( Al Baker, J. David Goodman and Benjamin Mueller)

Let’s not forget to Mention Tamir rice, a 12-year-old boy who was fatally shot by the

police for being “armed.” The young boy had a toy gun in his possession when the cops were

called on him. As soon as the police car pulled up, the officer by the name of Timothy Loehmann

hopped out the car, and without warning to Tamir, pointed his gun and shot him. Watching the

video and far as witnesses were concerned no warning was given, no type of interaction occurred

between Tamir and the officer, absolutely nothing. Officer Timothy claimed that he had no

choice but to shoot Tamir, but the evidence clearly shows that Tamir did nothing wrong. The

officer was not found guilty and was later fired ( Simon Caroline.) Tamir was such a young boy.

He was probably so scared. He died without his family. His young life that was full of promise

was snatched away from him wrongfully. That officer could have saved this boy and the family a

lot of pain but instead, he gave them pain. He hurt that family and he did it with hate in his heart.

Not all are completely innocent which is not okay, but they shouldn’t have to be killed

for the crimes they committed. Seventeen-year-old Laquan McDonald was shot at 16 times while

running away from the police. Officer Van Dyke continued to fire at Laquan even after he fell.

He had a small pocket knife on his person. His untimely death caused many riots in Chicago to

break out. Many protesting that white police officers do not care about black lives at all. That

nothing will be fixed because white officers are continuously getting off with a slap on the wrist

(Ben Austen.) Walter Scott—another black man-- was pulled over for a broken tail light. He

tried to flee the scene and was gunned down by police officer Michael Slager. He sent eight shots

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Kayla Quamina Quamina
Trulock
English 1101
December 10th, 2018

in Scott’s direction and five of the eight hit him. This man lost his life over a light! A broken

fucking light that h could have gotten fixed (Matthew Vann and Erik Ortiz)

There are tons of people, a lot who are white, that think the acts of violence are just the

police doing their jobs. They are doing what's best for our country and taking the necessary

precautions to keep everything in order. They think that not every police officer has bad

intentions. That there are bad cops but please don’t forget the good. These types of people refuse

to believe that this is indeed racism. Racists will call all acts of racism anything but racism. It’s

quite funny how they avoid the word like the plague. In fact, to justify their blatant racism they

have come up with the Blue Lives Matter movement. It’s to show that police lives matter just as

much (Collier Meryson.) To argue with the fact that Blue Lives Matter, no one said that they

didn’t the problem is that black lives are being taken left and right by the blue lives. Racist White

people who are unaffected by police brutality claim that these police officers are here to protect,

but their first instinct is murder. These men murder black people and get away with it because it

is seen as some act of service. They refuse to call it what it is. Murder, they refuse to admit that

these so-called police officers are murderers. Cold blooded killers

Alex Thomas age eighteen, has expressed some of his fears of being a black man in

America. He says he is in a constant alert when he is outside. He is always looking around and

watching over his shoulder. When he walks past white police officers, he makes sure he isn’t

doing anything that could make the officer focus on him. He tries to not draw any attention to

himself when he is outside, especially at night. Alex should not have to fear for his life in this

way at all. He should be able to walk around without the thought of a police officer killing him.

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Kayla Quamina Quamina
Trulock
English 1101
December 10th, 2018

We are at a point in this world where enough is enough! Black people should not be in

fear of their lives every day. A change must be made, and it must be made today! We as a

country should rise above hate. We as people should understand that color is just that, its color.

White does not make you superior to the rest. Equality is a must among us all. To do so, we must

not keep quiet. We must rise back up when we are thrown down. White people need to recognize

their privilege and speak up about the blatant discrimination white cops have against black men!

Continue to rally, continue to use your voice because it matters, and you will be heard.

Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Terrence Crutcher, Philandro Castile, Alton Sterling, Walter

Scott, Eric Harris, Tony Robinson, Rumain Brisbon, Laquan McDonald, Michael Brown JR,

Rodney King, and so many more black men stolen from their families, ripped from life. Their

names need to be said. Their names need never to be forgotten. Change starts now! It begins with

us all. Police brutality will be stopped.