On Thursday night, I watched, as many did, in utter horror as a sniper shot and killed officers of the Dallas Police Department and the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Police Department after a protest by the Black Lives Matter movement. The next day, when the pundits and commentators began to discuss what happened, there was one point that struck me. Both sides of the central issue–police shootings of unarmed black men–began to reach an understanding.
While watching the various news networks, those who formerly were ardent supporters of one side or the other began, for the first time, to see the other side. Certain conservatives began to acknowledge that there is, in fact, a problem with unjustified police shootings, and they acknowledged that sometimes those shootings are racially motivated. Then on the other side, Black Lives Matter protesters and certain liberals, who previously spoke about their opposition to police officers, began to praise the police and change their tone regarding their hallmark issue. That is, they focused and honed their message to focus only on the shootings and “bad-apples” rather than painting all police with a broad brush.
It is my sincere hope that this helps bring both sides to the table to begin talking because, to be perfectly fair, there is a problem. The two incidents in Minnesota and Louisiana prove that beyond a shadow of a doubt. However, the one fact that Thursday night demonstrated is that the vast majority of police officers are good, decent people who do their job for the right reasons. They want to protect citizens; they protected and interacted positively with those who were protesting their very profession. Moreover, Thursday also proved that the majority of protesters are also peaceful people who do not hate law enforcement.
In the end, while absolutely tragic, the massacre of these officers, in my mind, is not in vain. Although it should not have cost this much, the five officers who were assassinated have brought one crucial element to the key issue–understanding. There is now more understanding between the two groups; each is starting to see, to some extent, the other side’s point of view. Hopefully, this will be able to successfully discuss and resolve the dispute at the heart of this.
Rationality Web 