I was sitting in the living room watching TV with my parents as I read an article about Tamir Rice’s case being dismissed after six years.
To sum up the article nothing was done to the officers involved in the shooting and a family is still heart broken.
I finished reading and decided to look at the comments on the post and what I found left me speechless and full of anger. Tamir Rice was 12 years old playing with a pellet gun when cops shot and killed him.
“It was the parent’s fault,” some comments said. “Where was his father to teach him?” “He was 5’ 7’’ and bigger than most cops who wouldn’t shoot?” “It was a justified shooting,” users said.
Everyone has an opinion I know, but I literally gasped at the words of strangers over a kid who knew no better, a kid who was playing in the park, a kid who had no idea the color of his skin meant that playing with a fake gun could be deadly, a kid and people were saying that his death was deserved.
I felt and still feel nauseated at those words I read, of the racism that exists in this country, of how blind people are. How could anyone say that a child deserved to die? If a 12-year-old me sat in the park pointing a gun at people, I would still be alive, but because Tamir was black and tall, he is no longer with us, and his family will never get to watch him grow up.
Why were the messages from the callers not relayed when they said, “probably a toy” and “is a juvenile” and if the kid was small and white, would the police have even been called?
As I sat there in my living room, I realized how truly lucky I am. That as a kid my life was never endangered because I sat in a public park. I am grateful for life and will live remembering and fighting for all the lives lost to police brutality and racial profiling.
I acknowledge that not all cops are racist, and a majority of cops are not a part of the problem, but I recognize that there is a problem in this country, and I will do everything in my power to do what is right in my publishing career.