Dear Ms. Lahren,

Firstly, I’d like to applaud your condemnation of the officers who murdered George Floyd. I must say that given how much our values differ, it was a pleasant surprise to find something that we can agree on. I was also surprised (I’m sad to say) by the force with which you condemned Mr. Floyd’s death. Ms. Lahren, no one is disputing your obvious regard for your country, or the people who have been trained and hired to protect it. In fact, I admire the way you speak on behalf of people who you feel deserve the attention of your enormous and, honestly, earned platform. You are very well-spoken and intelligent. It’s for that reason that I’m writing to you; I believe that you are using your platform and gifts to cause enormous damage, and I’d like to beg you to rethink some of your statements.

The reason for my unfortunate surprise is that in the past, I have been one of the millions of witnesses to your statements that black Americans are not, in fact, oppressed. I must admit, I was expecting an excuse from you on behalf of the officers who murdered Mr. Floyd, given how much you have touted the equality of all American citizens, and your “famous” statement on The Daily Show that you “do not see color.” You also called for evidence that police were systematically oppressing black people in your final thoughts video criticizing Colin Kaepernick; I would encourage you to use that elusive (and free) system known as Google to search the names Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, Sandra Bland, Alton Sterling, Atatiana Jefferson, Michael Brown, and I’m grieved to say hundreds more if you would like evidentiary support for this claim. I have also recognized your notable silence on the part of Breonna Taylor, whose 27th birthday would have been four days ago. Your willful silence on these deaths would be amusing if it wasn’t so indicative of a pervasive, systematic ignorance on the part of white Americans.

Also, no one is immune to the idea that law enforcement is necessary everywhere in the world, because in every society, there are those guilty of violating their societal contracts. As the cousin of a police officer, I applaud the sacrifices made on the part of police. In fact, in my city of Los Angeles (thought of by many to be the home base of all us liberal libertines), there are many highways named after police officers killed in the line of duty. I invite you to come and drive the 10 Freeway at 6pm on a weekday. You’ll have ample time to mark those names.

The criticism here is not on law enforcement itself. We all know police officers who knowingly decided to place themselves in danger for the sake of protecting their communities, and I am very grateful for those good people. The criticism is of a system that profits off of the policing of low-income, predominantly colorful neighborhoods, where there is more crime because there is less business. When I say profit, I don’t just mean high concentrations of officers: I also refer to the money made by the prison system whenever an individual is locked up in these neighborhoods, and the jobs available to many more officers than in high-income, predominantly white neighborhoods.

Ms. Lahren, the argument is not against the individual officers, although I could argue against many of them if I felt so inclined. The argument is against the system, which protects and, by extension, encourages bad behavior among police communities. One only has to look at Derek Chauvin’s record to see that he was a danger to people of color long before he killed George Floyd. If we have one bad officer, and 100 good officers, and the good officers say nothing, then we have 101 bad officers.

I’m sure you know your scripture. I do as well. Given that, I’d like to point out a passage in the Old Testament. “Do not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor”: Leviticus 19:16. You’ll be forgiven for not knowing this one of God’s laws. Leviticus is quite dry. However, you cannot be forgiven for you culpability in breaking it, and you are not alone: all of us in a position of privilege for the color of our skin have been guilty of this, and it falls to us to do better.

Ms. Lahren, you are an intelligent, gifted speaker who has the ability to reach millions. But, if you are planning to continue to spread incendiary ideology that perpetuates dangerous ideals, I’d ask you not to speak at all. After all, you wouldn’t want for someone with a gun to take your words to heart and kill a black person because they took your words about the murder of police officers seriously, would you? That would make you directly guilty, and I’d hate for you to have to live with that.

I hope you read this, and don’t see it as an attack. I’m just here to encourage you not just to see blue, but brown, black and all colors of the rainbow. We live in a beautiful world that is being reforged in society’s crucible as we speak. It would be a shame for you to miss it.

Yours with admiration and caution,

Amy

(a concerned liberal snowflake, and fellow privileged white woman)