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are feeling just going about their business living their lives.Have you had to teach your children HOW NOT TO GET KILLED BY A COP? As a white person — this was never discussed in our home. Because it was not an issue. I can’t say this for my black and brown friends. They are afraid of you. And they have to be. To survive a basic traffic stop.Again, if you cannot do your job objectively and be the change that needs to be made — STEP DOWN. Change careers and give up the power you have to destroy other human beings.Burning, looting, screaming, violence, FLAMES in the night — it is a symptom of the very deep wound in America, the scab of which was ripped off by the UNJUST and TORTUROUS MURDER of George Floyd.I’ll admit, us white people are behind. The #BlackLivesMatter movement began and we drug our feet about it. We “rainbow”ed and “unicorn”ed this thing like it wasn’t real.But it is real. And if you as an officer of the law, cannot handle the brutal truth of it — and demand change within your organization, and restore dignity to law enforcement — then we cannot count on you.And we can’t trust you.Let it be known that both my brother and brother-in-law were cops. I am NOT anti-cop. I am anti-murder. I am anti-brutality. I am anti-abuse of power.Our nation needs healing. We are in a melanin war that should never have even started. Be on the right side of it. Please.My boyfriend and I both have handguns. We literally had a huge conversation of whether or not we would have had the guts to shoot a police officer who was MURDERING a man in broad daylight right in front of us.We as Americans should not have a contingency plan for what to do when the police lose their damn minds and murder people.I cannot bear the pain of this nation. TRUE SYSTEMIC CHANGE NOW.And men and women in blue — you have to be part of that change.Concerned white American woman,supporter of #Blacklivesmatter supporter of #JUSTICEFORFLOYD<div id="1749" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/an-open-letter-to-us-law-enforcement-97b5a7a69e0b"> <div>

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       <div>
            <h2>An Open Letter to US Law Enforcement</h2>
            <div><h3>We need to talk.</h3></div>
            <div><p>medium.com</p></div>
          </div>
          <div>
            <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*PTT95S1tWLX7UtAGSqn-5w.jpeg)"></div>
          </div>
        </div>
      </a>
    </div><div id="83ca" class="link-block">
      <a href="https://readmedium.com/i-cant-breathe-e54549582e90">
        <div>
          <div>
            <h2>‘I Can’t Breathe’</h2>
            <div><h3>a free verse poem in memory of George Floyd</h3></div>
            <div><p>medium.com</p></div>
          </div>
          <div>
            <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*Xmrqn3w9u1LxF_7tP39x2g.jpeg)"></div>
          </div>
        </div>
      </a>
    </div><h2 id="f39b">More by this author:</h2><p id="6214"><a href="https://readmedium.com/a-young-boy-at-the-border-bb3f1d607c31?source=friends_link&amp;sk=7d6dd82858a64e0b47f702ca35cfe7be">A Young Boy at the Border</a>

<a href="https://readmedium.com/to-the-christian-lady-who-called-me-a-snowflake-today-2e61d8eb6183?source=friends_link&sk=cbbf7019024eed70caad002bd6ed1c96">To the Christian Lady Who Called Me a Snowflake Today</a> <a href="https://readmedium.com/i-will-speak-5b5bae34fbf1?source=friends_link&sk=be14d1d26b972dd06bfc5b7190b7e184">I Will Speak</a><a href="https://readmedium.com/87a63af50103?source=post_page-----e54549582e90----------------------">Christina M. Ward</a> is a poet and nature writer from North Carolina. Her poetry has been published in the Cameo literary magazine, the Arrowhead literary magazine, Vita Brevis Poetry Magazine, Scarlet Leaf Review, The Frightened Traveler, and in Wolff Poetry Literary Magazine. Christina was the recipient of the Creative Writing Prose Award at Catawba College for a short piece entitled “Clarity.” She lives in rural North Carolina with her family., where she is working on her second novel. Her first poetry collection <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1706264704">organic</a> is available on Amazon.</article></body>

SOCIETY

An Open Letter to US Law Enforcement

We need to talk.

Dear law enforcement officers,

Yes, we are angry. But don’t you understand why?

We are angry because we trusted you. When we are in trouble, when we are at our worst or suffering the worst — we need to be able to call you, count on you, trust you.

But after YEARS of black and brown death, after DECADES of black and brown death and white people trying but not really having a clue what that kind of FEAR of the police feels like — we are now ALL angry.

I implore of you, men and women in blue, our brothers and sisters, what gives you the right to take the lives of black and brown PEOPLE less seriously than those of us white people? If you are seeing day in and day out violent and unruly behavior from black and brown people — to the point that you fear for your life just by looking at a black or brown person — then YOU are in NO SHAPE to continue working in your job. Then YOU have the responsibility as a human being to get some counseling, get help, step down, and give the power YOU HOLD to another who can be objective.

If you seek out opportunities to harass or harm black and brown people, or kill them — then you are a despicable human being and have NO BUSINESS being a cop!

YOU — all of you — have the power to demand new training, new mental health care, new standards, and a new JUSTICE to be the new normal for law enforcement.

If people are burning your cars and burning down your buildings now — it’s because no one will listen and change things. It is unsafe for a black or brown person to WALK DOWN THE STREET. Are you afraid? Good. Then you know a bit of what these folks are feeling just going about their business living their lives.

Have you had to teach your children HOW NOT TO GET KILLED BY A COP? As a white person — this was never discussed in our home. Because it was not an issue. I can’t say this for my black and brown friends. They are afraid of you. And they have to be. To survive a basic traffic stop.

Again, if you cannot do your job objectively and be the change that needs to be made — STEP DOWN. Change careers and give up the power you have to destroy other human beings.

Burning, looting, screaming, violence, FLAMES in the night — it is a symptom of the very deep wound in America, the scab of which was ripped off by the UNJUST and TORTUROUS MURDER of George Floyd.

I’ll admit, us white people are behind. The #BlackLivesMatter movement began and we drug our feet about it. We “rainbow”ed and “unicorn”ed this thing like it wasn’t real.

But it is real. And if you as an officer of the law, cannot handle the brutal truth of it — and demand change within your organization, and restore dignity to law enforcement — then we cannot count on you.

And we can’t trust you.

Let it be known that both my brother and brother-in-law were cops. I am NOT anti-cop. I am anti-murder. I am anti-brutality. I am anti-abuse of power.

Our nation needs healing. We are in a melanin war that should never have even started. Be on the right side of it. Please.

My boyfriend and I both have handguns. We literally had a huge conversation of whether or not we would have had the guts to shoot a police officer who was MURDERING a man in broad daylight right in front of us.

We as Americans should not have a contingency plan for what to do when the police lose their damn minds and murder people.

I cannot bear the pain of this nation. TRUE SYSTEMIC CHANGE NOW.

And men and women in blue — you have to be part of that change.

Concerned white American woman,

supporter of #Blacklivesmatter supporter of #JUSTICEFORFLOYD

An Open Letter to US Law Enforcement

We need to talk.

medium.com

‘I Can’t Breathe’

a free verse poem in memory of George Floyd

medium.com

More by this author:

A Young Boy at the Border To the Christian Lady Who Called Me a Snowflake Today I Will Speak

Christina M. Ward is a poet and nature writer from North Carolina. Her poetry has been published in the Cameo literary magazine, the Arrowhead literary magazine, Vita Brevis Poetry Magazine, Scarlet Leaf Review, The Frightened Traveler, and in Wolff Poetry Literary Magazine. Christina was the recipient of the Creative Writing Prose Award at Catawba College for a short piece entitled “Clarity.” She lives in rural North Carolina with her family., where she is working on her second novel. Her first poetry collection organic is available on Amazon.