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Officers are not thugs and should not act like it

<p>Alexandra Pounders</p>
Alexandra Pounders
Pounders headshot

Alexandra Pounders

It’s 2017, and blacks are still having to prove why their lives matter. It is disheartening to know that there are people in the world who don’t see the value in African American lives and misinterpret what the group Black Lives Matter stands for.

It is even more disappointing when backlash comes from those you would expect to support and understand the turmoil people of their own race have to endure on a daily basis. One particular person happens to be a deeply admired and highly respected man in the city of Memphis.

In fact, former Memphis Police Director Toney Armstrong became recognized nationally after solving the Lester Street murder case and serving the city for 28 impressive years. The work Armstrong has done to protect the community is undeniable. However, his stance on the Black Lives Matter movement is oblivious. His response to the issue is that “all lives matterâ€.

We all should know and agree that all lives matter. Sadly, people tend to forget about black lives when life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is at hand. Everything that blacks have done in history as far as protests, marches, and boycotts have all been in response to the racism they have experienced first-hand.

If blacks were treated equally, given the same respect, and not have their lives taken from them simply because the color of their skin; they would never have to fight back or cause commotion in society.

People, as well as Armstrong, tend to think of black people protesting as pointless. Armstrong said that he didn’t understand why blacks became upset after hearing about police brutality when African Americans kill each other all the time in the streets.

A person being killed is always very upsetting regardless of the victim’s or murderer’s race; however, there is a difference between a thug and an officer committing a crime. Thugs are thugs. They’ve experienced poverty, lack of education, and had to struggle to make a living for most of their life. Killing, stealing, and doing whatever to put food on the table for themselves and their family is all they know.

While these criminal acts aren’t any more acceptable from them than the average person, titles are given to people to represent what they are for a reason. But when you have police officers who vow to serve and protect the people in their communities but betray them, the cut is much deeper.

We expect thugs to be thugs, but we don’t expect officers to be thugs. A thug is defined as a vicious, violent or cruel person that takes the lives of others. So, technically, cops are supposed to be trusted and respected, but when certain ones take innocent lives, their titles change. They’re not police officers; they’re thugs and should be treated as such.

“We don’t have the right to choose whose life matters,†Armstrong said. “Our white officers are scared.â€

Scared? Oh. Really? Did he mean the same terrifying feeling black people have been experiencing for decades? Or perhaps the same feeling a mother feels when she realizes her black son will be hated just because of the color of his skin, discriminated against in the workplace or could have his life taken from him just by walking in the neighborhood with a bag of skittles and can of tea?

White people don’t know this feeling or this pain, and they never will. If people continue to ignore the fact that black lives still matter, regardless of the crime and poverty they face in their communities, everything African Americans have fought and died for would have been done in vain.


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