Protesting doesn’t mean violence

In recent months, I’ve noticed that the “Black Lives Matter” protesting has become very violent, resulting in many deaths and arrests of individuals involved. This is not, under any circumstances, okay. What is the point of violently attempting to prove your case when it takes you further away from a solution?

While I understand how awful it is to lose a loved one, it doesn’t justify turning to violent protesting, especially considering that the loved one died due to a violent act. No matter what happens, you are the only one who can take control of your actions and handle things in a non-violent manner. Feeling the need to turn to violence is an indication that you are letting your frustration get in the way of the fair point you are trying to make, so it is best that you remove yourself from the situation until you are calm enough to control your emotions.

We’ve been learning about people like Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks since elementary school. Do people even bother to remember what they stood for? These days, it certainly doesn’t seem like it. They wanted peace and equality for everyone. Lately, people have been focusing on equality, but have been ignoring the peaceful aspect of the rocky road to equal rights.

Fighting fire with fire is never a good solution to any issue. It only adds to the original fire. Soon it spreads, destroying everything in its path.

I agree that African Americans, along with many other minorities, have never had equal rights. I also believe that this is entirely unfair and that at the end of the day, we are all humans that should have equal opportunities in life. Unfortunately, this is not a perfect, peaceful world that we all live in. Equal rights probably won’t come about in our lifetime, but if we continue to allow this ongoing racism and discrimination to label and rule our lives, equality may be entirely out of reach.

Although it is slow and frustrating, peaceful protesting is the most effective power we have in cases like these. Dr. King once said, “I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.” King knew that hatred would control his followers’ decisions and put them in a negative light with the media. We should all know from experience that hatred and anger can blind us and keep us from making logical choices. We should also know that media bias is a powerful thing and while it makes sense that these violent protests are an effective way to gain attention from the media, they are gaining the wrong kind of attention. The media only shows what they want their viewers to see. Because of this, violent protesting will be the major thing media uses to cast this entire ordeal into a negative light.

All lives matter. Every life should be cherished and have the same value as any other life. If you have lost a loved one, especially in an unfair and violent act, I’m sure you feel the same way. I’m also sure that you would want to honor your loved one’s memory. Unfortunately, if you are involved in these violent forms of protesting, you are doing precisely the opposite. If violence continues, more people will die and loved ones will have died in vain. Innocent lives are being taken on both sides of this equation and yet, peace is meant to be the goal. If peace is the goal, then believe it or not, peace is the answer. If enough people protest peacefully rather than participating in these violent acts, we can turn the media onto the peaceful side of this situation. In achieving this, we will finally be on the clear path to creating a nation of equal opportunity and rights for everyone.