The All or Nothing Narrative

When I was in college, I wrote a paper on how it was possible to be against the Iraq War and support the troops. I wrote it in response to the all or nothing coverage of some news channels and newspapers. There was this perception that not supporting the war meant that you were against the troops and it irritated me to no end. I believe that our troops are brave people and I respect what they do for our country, but let's face it, troops follow orders. I was against the orders, not the people who carried out those orders. 

I don't want to talk about international policies, though. I want to talk about America. Why must everything be all or nothing? I have seen all types of outrage over people (especially athletes) wearing "I Can't Breathe" shirts. Thinking that one police officer acted improperly does not mean that a person is anti-police. Many of the people wearing those shirts will happily tell you that they support most police. They know that police are just like all other groups of people: there are good officers and bad officers. They understand that sometimes police have to kill people. It's unfortunate, but it happens. When police shoot and kill an armed suspect who fired at them or pointed a gun at them, pretty much everyone agrees that the suspect got what they deserved. When a policeman uses a chokehold (based on their department's definition) on camera and then testifies that it wasn't a chokehold, people have the right to ask questions. When a policeman shoots and kills a man who is holding an air rifle pointed down, in an open carry state, in a store that sells said air rifle, people have the right to ask questions. 

I think that making it a black/white issue is a mistake. These cases are American issues. Are we okay with police accidentally choking a man to death because they think he might be selling loose cigarettes and he has the audacity to tell them that he isn't doing anything wrong? Are we okay with the police pulling up to an alleged "man" with a gun tucked in his waistband (in an open carry state) and opening fire before they get out of the car? Are we okay with police walking in to a store and killing a man, in an open carry state, simply because he has a gun? This isn't about pointing out that statistically more Native Americans are killed by police than black people or in terms of total numbers, more white people are killed by police than black people. This is about asking how many of those deaths could have been prevented with better training and better attitudes.

Criticizing the police is not synonymous with hating them so why do we put up with such foolish notions? You can dislike parts of a person, without disliking the whole person, much in the same way that you can dislike people in a community without disliking the whole community. We need police. They serve us and most of the time they protect us, but that doesn't mean that they are perfect, so stop acting like people hate the police, because the majority of Americans, even those protesting, support the police.