Lately it at least appears that the police in some states around the country are really making an effort to bond with the communities that they protect and serve.  Hopefully, these communities will reciprocate in kind.  There is no doubt that there will continue to be police officers who will reject this effort and continue to abuse their power but like in any job, not everyone will abide by the rules.

We can also rest assured that there will be those in communities around the country who will find reasons, even if they are knowingly fabricated, to reject the efforts of communities to bond with the police because they are driven by anger.  Some are angry because they feel that people of color are raising a fuss and creating turmoil for no real reason because everything is already equal and this so called discrimination against them by the police and other white people is a figment of their imagination.  And people of color are angry at what has been happening to them for decades and the thought that this has been deliberately ignored by our elected officials and others who are in power.

And because those powers that be have patently ignored this situation and continue to wink at it while the lives of numerous people of color have been and continue to be lost, those who comprise these groups feel that something else must be done, even if they haven’t the faintest idea of what that ‘something’ is, before any attempt at reconciliation between police and people of color around America can even begin.

I believe that that ‘something’ for the majority of people of color is validation.  They want white people to openly and sincerely recognize that discrimination against people of color simply because of the color of their skin still exists.  They want them to realize that there is such a thing as white privilege.  They need this validation if they are to be able to move forward and work toward reconciliation.  That notwithstanding, those on the police forces around the country and those in communities throughout America who, for whatever reason, reject efforts at reconciliation must realize that whether or not they intend to be, they are a part of the problem and an obstruction to the solution.

Although the police officers and community members who feel this way may have a valid point and a right to their righteous indignation, this will never be an effective tool in helping to solve this complex problem.  This is not to say that those involved in working to find a solution to it cannot harbor these feelings, but it does say that if they are serious about solving the problem they must be able to move beyond them.

If both sides can move beyond these feelings then a solution can be reached and we can begin to heal.  Although there are no guarantees, if we work together and arrive at a solution the odds are in favor of police officers and community members gaining a better understanding of the complexity of the others situation.  By each side viewing the situation from the others’ perspective we can grow and develop a foundation that assures that each group is and feels mutually respected and appreciated.

There will no doubt still be times when these groups disagree and there will be anger and bickering but it will occur on a completely different level; one which is not driven by the divisiveness of race, raw feelings and that plays out under the shadow of suspicion of the lack of equal justice under the law.  I said in an article that I wrote and posted to this blog on July 13, 2016 entitled ‘All Lives Matter.  They Always Have, Do Now And Always Will’ that I believe that America’s young people will ultimately be the ones who will solve our problems involving race and our country’s policing dilemma.  These thoughts were reinforced by a poem entitled ‘My White Boy Privileges’ that was written by a 14-year-old Caucasian boy and posted to social media, which went viral.

This teenage boy openly acknowledged that he recognized because he is white, he has privileges that people of color do not have.  He said, and I paraphrase here, he would be afraid if he was not on the top rung of the ladder.  He further said that when he sees a policeman, he sees a friend and someone who is there to protect him and he would not trade places with anyone.  There is nothing wrong with him not wanting to trade places with anyone and voicing that sentiment.  What is important is that even while wrapping himself up in that ‘white privilege’, he does not refuse to recognize that not all people have that privilege.

The response to that poem on social media as of the time that I wrote this article represented a microcosm of what is a polarized America when it comes to race and policing in America.  Some people responded with appreciation and understanding and others responded with distain and hatred.  What all white people in America need to understand is that people of color do not want to take that sentiment and privilege away from white people, they simply want to be able to experience that same sentiment themselves by virtue of being afforded that same privilege.  This is not too much to ask and it is something that, against all odds, we can and should work together to do by initiating honest and sincere discourse on America’s problems regarding race and her problems with the policing of American citizens.

Eulus Dennis – author, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line