Ignorance, Injustice & Silence

If all lives truly matter, what are we really arguing about?

National Archives / Via keenepointofview.com

I do not want to be divisive. I am not anti-cop. I am not anti-white.

But I am tired. Tired of seeing footage of people shot down in the street by the police, and tired of the now-predictable media/social media aftermath. I'm tired of us blaming victims who can't defend themselves.

I'm tired of hearing about all the things that Philando Castile, Alton Sterling, John Crawford, Eric Garner, Sandra Bland, Tanisha Anderson, Akai Gurley, Tony Robinson, Eric Harris, Walter Scott, Freddie Gray and others should have done to avoid being killed.

I'm tired of #AllLivesMatter, because if all lives really matter then what's the argument here? Why can't we respect the police AND hold them accountable when they kill unarmed American citizens?

I'm tired of Christians ignoring what's happening in our country. I'm tired of us sighing about how the world is broken, what can you do? I'm tired of watching us gather under a banner that says Pro-Life but really means Pro-Birth, Then You're Fair Game. If our children are worth protesting for, then where are Pro-Lifers for Tamir Rice? For Trayvon Martin? For Tyre King?

I'm tired of hearing that speaking up for black lives makes the world more dangerous for cops, as if naming the problem is the same as creating it. You know what makes the world more dangerous for good cops? Bad cops.

I'm tired of hearing that "black-on-black crime" is what really needs to be addressed. As if black leaders haven't been working together for years to do just that. As if black people committing crimes against other black people justifies police brutality. As if law enforcement shouldn't be held to a higher standard than the average citizen.

I'm tired of being told not to talk about race. I'm tired of white people getting more upset at the idea of being called racist than we are about actual racism. I'm already tired of some of the comments and messages I'll get today telling me how wrong and liberal and naive I am for saying that #BlackLivesMatter.

I'm tired.

But if I'm tired, can you imagine how exhausted black people are? Can you imagine seeing the reports, watching video after video of law enforcement killing people who look just like you? Can you imagine reading the comments on those videos that excuse or make light of their deaths?

Can you imagine gathering the courage to speak out and stand up, only to be told that no one cares enough for anything to change?

I believe that the narrative of human history will ultimately be a story of hope. I believe that God is bigger than our biases, bigger than our ignorance and our evil. But there is a season for everything under the sun, and today -- as footage of yet another black man dying circulates amidst Brangelina divorce news and political posturing -- I grieve.

"He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" [Micah 6:8]