By Seth Koskey Currently in the United States of America there are two pandemics coexisting. Covid-19, a virus that American’s don’t know how to respond to, and a police brutality pandemic.
Many people in America think police treat everyone the same regardless of their race. Even one of my former friends, when asked if police brutality was real, responded with a simple “no”. That's when I decided I didn’t want to be associated with him anymore. I have no problem with being friends with someone who shares different political views than me, but if you are so uneducated and oblivious I won’t stand for it. Actually many Americans are just like this. My family members on my dad’s side of the family (excluding my dad and a few select other people) think like this. Their roots have been in the segregated south since the late 1800s so it explains the behaviors, but it definitely does not excuse them. Every human holds biases including every police officer, so denying police brutality is like denying climate change, there’s so much evidence showing it exists that it’s just embarrassing to deny it. According to a U.S. News article published in 2020, Black people are three times more likely to be killed by police and are 1.3 times more likely to be unarmed. The statistics don’t lie. As a white male I rarely if ever experience racism, prejudice, or injustices towards me, so I can’t speak from my own experience. But on my mother’s side of the family, through marriage and adoption, there are many people close to me who are from Burundi in Africa. My uncle specifically, who is an African American Muslim living in Arizona (which is a state notorious for having a large police brutality problem) has a new story of how he has been targeted or harrased by police every year. I have five cousins, three uncles, and one aunt who are all a part of the African American community, this creates worry for them especially and for the family as a whole. Being a part of this family has definitely made me more aware, than if I belonged to a family of all white people. I am glad that America is having a conversation about systemic racism and police brutality. I feel it educates people who are willing to listen. Unfortunately, this discussion is happening when the American leader is an ignorant, evil coward who couldn’t care less about minorities and what they have to go through in America. It is a pessimistic viewpoint but I don’t think much will change in America unless something drastic happens soon. Racism is still alive in America and we can only hope and attempt to create change until we advance as a nation.
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