Do Black Lives really Matter Too?

Shantoria Jacob
Aug 31, 2018 · 3 min read

Many African Americans, have been subjected to an excessive amount of killings and racial profiling among people of color for decades. Most people have no clue what it feels like to be routinely looked at as a threat. This isn’t just an issued within our communities, this is an ongoing issue throughout the United States.

In the last 3 months, Starbucks has been under fire for two racially profiling events. The first one happening in Philadelphia; Where two African American gentleman were there for a business meeting, the third gentlemen that they were waiting on, hadn’t arrived yet. When they hadn’t immediately purchased anything the manager called the police. Where they were later wrongfully arrested. The second incident occurring in Los Angeles, where an African American gentleman named Ward, was denied the code to use the bathroom because he had not made a purchase. Ward saw a young white male exiting the bathroom, ward then asked him had he made a purchase and he had not made a purchase yet but was given access to use the bathroom. Racial profiling is not just a one-time thing, as minorities, we face challenges like this in our everyday lives. The real question is, will this ever end? When will we ever get treated the same, and not less than?

In the last couple of years, police brutality has skyrocketed. Policies have been killing “unarmed” African American ranging from ages 9–40. Polices are not realizing the damage that they are creating when pulling those triggers. The system is so corrupt. Young innocent lives are being taken away, a mother will forever feel numb, a daughter will never know how it feels to be daddy’s little girl and a son will never get the proper life skills to becoming a man. African American men are getting life sentences just for small crimes. The polices are locking African Americans up for the smallest reasons giving them a record and a bad image for themselves. With a record, chances of them getting a well-paying job are very slim, making it hard for them to provide for their families. How can we get ourselves out of poverty when we do not have the same advantages as others.

It’s important that we teach our children who will eventually be the future of the united states to love one another and that no one is better than the next. God created us all equal and just because we have a little more melanin in our skin doesn’t make us any less and should not result in us being discriminated against.

It is not ok, for the world to continue in the direction that it is going in. We cannot continue to sweep things under the rug and turn our heads like we do not hear or see anything. It seems as if we are allowing history to repeat itself and that can not happen! The world is the very diverse place and it is time that everyone accepts it and grow as one.

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