The Culture of Fear

Shoot first, ask questions later. Even Obama thinks it's okay to stand up and blame the police for what is clearly a growing cultural and social problem in the US. Great job, fearless leader. You've got the nut jobs all worked up and now four innocent police officers in Dallas are dead because you claim law enforcement across the country is biased and needs to improve. What do the idiots in our society do? A life for a life, even when the lives taken in retribution are far removed from the original events. (What on God's green earth could possibly lead anyone to believe that four officers in Dallas are in any shape or form to blame for the deaths of men in Louisiana and Minnesota?)
     I can't be the only intelligent person out there looking at this situation from the outside and seeing a root cause that lies in the increasingly violent culture that breeds distrust, fear and hate in our communities and a government and press far too willing to capitalize on the fears of those living in the middle of it? Seriously, I can't be the only one seeing this.
     Sure, there are probably a few biased white cops out there with real racism issues that need to be handled. But let's face reality, folks. Black men aren't getting shot because the police are all racist. This is happening because a chunk of the African American community in this country has adopted an anti-social attitude toward law and law enforcement. Guns are a big part of that culture and threats of violence and glamourizing shooting the po-po is a common theme of everything from YouTube videos to a significant number of rap songs. This culture has bred an entire generation of morons (of every color) who think it's okay to not only be disrespectful of authority but to actively engage in violence toward law enforcement.
     No, this isn't the entire Black community. It's also not the entire Hispanic community. But sadly, a large portion of the morons living the over-glamourized "gangsta life" are people of color - brown or black. If someone is going to take potshots at police with an automatic weapon, it's most often someone of color. (I hail partly from that brown portion of the community, myself, so let's stay the "white racist" comments up front.) Then we take young, under-trained cops, put them on the streets, and expect them to do their jobs every day without developing a healthy fear for their lives despite the constant threat of violence from an entire sub-community of anti-social lunatics who believe its their birth right to do as they please, no matter who gets hurt in the process. For some of these police, the antagonism and violence is such a constant the fear becomes unhealthy. The police are outnumbered and outgunned, but still manage to get through most days without shooting the majority of violent offenders they encounter on an increasingly regular basis. But then an over-sized black man with a gun in his pocket resists arrest and all hell breaks loose.
     According to a certain vocal group within American society, becoming a police officer automatically renders your life invalid. So what if you face constant mortal danger and daily harassment so you can protect and serve communities that hate you simply because your skin color is different and you wear a badge? (Don't fool yourself into believing that form of racism doesn't exist in this country.) So what if you have a family and a life outside your law enforcement job to worry about? According to this group, wearing the badge means you no longer have the right to defend yourself from the drug-addled and hate-filled "gansta's" out there who have no respect for the rest of society or anyone else's lives. According to this group, you must wait until a perp has pulled a weapon and pointed it at your head before pulling the trigger (or even un-holstering your weapon), and you have no right to feel the fear or any sense of self-preservation a normal person might experience when facing a tense situation. Just because people of color shoot at you or threaten you on a regular basis doesn't mean it's okay to feel afraid. Right?
     Only, police happen to be humans, too. And the basest instinct we have (and happen to share with most animals) is the need to survive. Fight or flight. Thanks to the pioneering efforts of the anti-social, law-breaking sub-culture that pervades many of the lower income communities, that instinct is constantly tested among members of the law enforcement community.
     This rise in police shootings is the natural outcome of a hate-infused society that sees law enforcement as the enemy. The Black Lives Matter movement - that portion that thrives on racism and hate - only exacerbates the problem by encouraging more hate toward police officers rather than educating people to remember police officers are individuals and humans, too. More hate + more violence = more fear. And our leadership - from state & local government to the White House itself, is handling this about as ineptly as humanly possible. Obama, buddy, the blood of those officers is on your hands. Why? Because in your rush to appease the Black Lives Matter protestors, you failed to remind people that we're all human, regardless of the color of our skin, and that police officers are just humans with fears and foibles, too.
     The ONLY way to fix this problem is to fix the erroneous perceptions in our society and reduce the amount of violent crime putting officers in harm's way. It sucks that good men like Philando Castile have to die simply because a police officer is afraid of the black men he's sworn to protect. (It's obvious from Diamond Reynold's video that officer was terrified and totally freaked out simply because he incorrectly thought Castile was going to pull his gun.) However, this could stop if Americans would make a change by ending the tolerance of illegal and violent behavior in our communities. We need to stop acting like it's okay to disrespect and fight with law enforcement. We need to start telling our kids that breaking the law leads to severe consequences and stop pitting whites against blacks and blacks against police. We need to stop glamourizing the thug life and "gangsta" culture. The problem in America today is less racism than irrational but justifiable fear, and until our leadership and communities stand up and make an effort to start getting along and raising our kids to be productive, law-abiding citizens instead of criminals, this problem is only going to get worse.
     There is no excuse for shooting an innocent person under any circumstance, but we've created an atmosphere in our society where even law enforcement lives in constant fear and the deaths this week are the natural outcome of a violent culture. The shooting in Dallas just underscores WHY police officers are afraid. Thanks to our irresponsible press and misguided politicians, every time a black person dies at the hand of a cop, someone declares open season on police nationwide. More people will die and the vicious cycle will continue because every a-hole with a press pass will bait the hate.
     America - you want to stop the violence? Then stop the violence! Support punishment of crime and let the justice system work. Stop enabling violent offenders by hiding in a corner and keeping your mouths shut when you see them breaking the law. Stop screaming racism and blaming law enforcement when cousin Mikey justifiably gets arrested for breaking the law. Quit supporting this insane, idiotic violent culture that pervades our low income neighborhoods. And for Heaven's sakes, remember police are humans, too. They make mistakes and often pay for them in ways we never see on the 6 o'clock news. Fix the problem in our communities and, for the most part, the irrational fear that leads to police shootings will eventually correct itself.