The Media Plants Another Seed

The tensions around the country remain high as people try to comprehend the recent police-involved shootings. Many people, including media outlets and high-level politicians, have seemed to already chosen a side. Instead of coming together, the country is once again, clearly divided.

The media wasted little time to pour gas on the fire after the police shootings in St. Paul and Baton Rouge. They immediately ran with their predictable taglines "Police shoot and kill black man in St. Paul", "Police shoot and kill black man in Baton Rouge". While these statements were certainly true, they were also strategically biased. The reports conveniently added the word "black" knowing that it would stir up emotions.

Have you ever heard of a guy named Vinson Ramos or Richard Dinneny? How about William Patterson or Jonathon Justice? Or what about a woman named Melissa Ventura? I'm assuming your answer is no. But do you want to take a guess what all of these people have in common? They were all shot and killed by the police in the past couple of weeks. Oh, and there's one other minor detail........none of these people were black. Hmm....

So far this year, there have been over 600 people shot and killed by the police. If you've got time, click on some of the names on the link below. Sure, there are plenty of black men on this list, But there's a helluva lot of white folks on it too. But I don't see a whole lot of outrage and protests over it. And I didn't see any major media coverage on these cases. Why? Because they simply don't fit the narrative.

http://killedbypolice.net/

As a result of this narrative, our nation is becoming increasingly more divided. There's a huge and growing distrust within the black community of the police. The police have been portrayed as a rogue band of racists who are using young black men as target practice. Black groups have thus risen up to protest "the blue line of racists". And while it's true that groups like Black Lives Matter have some white supporters, the truth of the matter is that the majority of white folks find these groups to be divisive and incendiary.

Over the weekend, President Obama said that "America is not as divided as some have suggested". Well, in his defense, he was in Poland last week, So, maybe he missed all of the disruptive protests and the murdering of police officers in Dallas.

I also find it interesting how the police are often generalized in these situations. Although it's an extremely small percentage of cops who actually shoot black people, we're led to believe that there's an out-of-control racial element that lives within police departments across America. However, when a racist gunman kills five Dallas cops (and wounds several others), we're quickly reminded that he's a "lone-wolf" and should not be associated with the rest of the anti-cop movements. (Excuse me while I change the batteries in my bullshit detector).

Whenever there's a police involved shooting (or any police altercation, for that matter), it should be fully investigated. If it's determined that the police used unnecessary force, they should be held accountable. The problem that we have today is that everyone rushes to judgment before they know all of the facts. Of course, when we have videos of police shootings, such as the recent ones in St. Paul and Baton Rouge, we rarely see what led up to the altercation. Kind of convenient, don't you think? The media then leads every news segment with the shocking video clip and subsequently labels it with the "white cop shoots black guy" tagline. Once the seed is planted, there will be no shortage "breaking news" stories and flaring tempers.

Instead of working for an amicable solution, we've been pitted against one another by people who's main goal is to sell a story. As a result, everyone feels compelled to choose a side. And as we know, there are usually three sides to every story. Maybe one day, that elusive third side might be invited to the table...


kw