WaPo Editorial: Despair is not the only response to the past week’s terrible events
By Editorial Board July 9 at 4:14 PM
AFTER A week like the past one, it’s easy to let despair seep in. Seeing two much-loved men die, needlessly, at the hands of police. Waking to the news that five much-loved police officers have died, needlessly, at the hands of a demented sniper. Dreading that what comes next will be grieving, followed by finger-pointing followed by stale, fruitless debates on guns and race and mental health — it’s easy to feel weary.
Especially with nerves on edge in an ugly political season, it’s easy to think: If we can’t come together on questions of basic humanity, on the sanctity of innocent life, what hope is there for the country?
Which makes this a good time, maybe, to remind ourselves of how much we do agree on. Most Americans respect police officers for the sacrifices they make and the hard and dangerous work they do. Most of us recognize that the vast majority of officers do good, conscientious policing every day.
Most of us believe that black lives matter, and to say so is not to imply that any other lives matter less but to recognize the reality that American history has been a long struggle, still unfinished, to ensure that other lives will not matter more. Most Black Lives Matter protesters do not hate the police, but want the police to protect everyone fairly, including those in African American neighborhoods. Most Americans understand that, too.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/despair-is-not-the-only-response-to-the-past-weeks-terrible-events/2016/07/09/16134e5c-450e-11e6-bc99-7d269f8719b1_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1
