| The biggest travesty of these racial protests is young African-American children learning at a very young age to distrust the police. This distrust will create another generation of hostilities and animosity between people trying to protect a community and the people in the community. This distrust harms race relations in this country. |  |
 | There is real racism, and there are real concerns African Americans and the white population need to address. This distrust is a destructive way to address the real issues that hamper African American progress. Parents have the right to teach their children how they wish. However, without taking that liberty away, society should heavily urge African American parents to consider how and what they teach so as to heal the racial divide. |
This has to stop !
These Are Highly Destructive Signs
| We need to stop teaching African American children that police are the enemy. The police are bending over backward to try to heal the wounds and have better relations with the African-American community. |  |
 | We should all urge parents to put aside harms from their past experience and try to understand why others think so much different than they do. What were they taught and how were they treated? Realize that there is confirmation bias on both sides, meaning that one often focuses on the cases that make their point and overlook the cases contrary to the lessons learned at a fundamental age. |
I fully realized I did not grow up in the inner city, I did not walk a mile in their shoes. I grew up in a mostly white, middle-class neighborhood and schools. I have witnessed good and sin from all population groups. Everyone can concentrate on the wrongs they experienced and think they are justified in doing wrong because of what they experienced. Everyone needs to learn and challenge themselves to building bridges to heal the racial divide. |  |
 | At a very young, impressionable age, too many learn that this is a racist country that will keep the African-Americans down and the police are the enemy. They get this mindset from their parents and many African-American leaders. Many believe that America was making progress on this. These protests are putting race relations back many years by teaching their young children they are oppressed. Unfortunately, too many will believe that and will live in an oppressed state of mind. |
| Parents told many children in the white population in the first half of the 1900s at a very young and fundamental age that ‘Blacks’ were inferior to whites. It was and still is very difficult to overcome that racism for that population. As experience, education and social norms taught the error in that thinking; many had to overcome their racism by their actions, not necessarily their fundamental feelings. While many had a fundamental change of heart, others rely on just changing actions to match education and social norms. |  |
 | Education and Ignorance Ignorance does not mean stupidity, just the lack of knowledge. There is too much out there for anyone to have all knowledge. However, it is important to gain a certain level of knowledge in what you are protesting. In all three of these cases, no one can point out where these three men were sought out because of the color of their skin. |
| Learn the Facts of the Case Often throughout history, groups of people who ‘rightly or wrongly’ hate another group will make up lies of atrocities about the hated group. Others in the group are too eager to believe the lies readily. The members of the hated group look at the lie and say it did not happen and they start to hate back for the injustice of their disparaged group’s reputation. This can spiral out of control with retaliation and more misrepresentations. |  |
 | This situation has been proven in Israel and Palestinian conflicts for ages with many documented cases where Palestinians kill their own people and frame Israel for the atrocity. Many believe the lies and have their hatred grow. Native Americans and settlers have a long history of stories of slaughters of both sides, and it is very hard to dig through history to learn the truth. |
| First-hand witnesses who wrote about the event could be very biased. Many could claim firsthand knowledge to make themselves sound more credible. There is a real temptation to stay loyal to one’s group by stating only the positives for his own group and only the negatives of the other group without giving proper context. Throughout history, mostly the victors of conflict wrote the history books. It is normal, not correct, that the victors would downplay their negatives and spotlight their enemy’s negatives. |  |
 | There is also a time-tested tactic in war to tell your soldiers that their enemy is much worse than reality. Many young men do not want to kill good moral men that are good dads and husbands just fighting for their country. Military leaders tell their soldiers how reprehensible the men they are fighting against are and how if they lose, the enemy will come and rape, enslave and kill their loved ones back home. This has proven to create more determined soldiers that do not hesitate in killing their enemy. Many of these lies are written down and forever putting false records into the history. |
| Profiling Many people think that profiling creates final conclusions, but they do not. They are odds or statistics, sometimes accurate and other times very inaccurate. Often, they are from one’s own experiences and sometimes from stories they hear. There is a real problem of confirmation bias in that one only listens or believes the stories that match what they already believe, true or not. |  |
 | African-Americans are more likely to get pulled over by the police. Many have heard this statistic. Let us not refute the stats, however, put into context and salted. Statistics are often misleading, and many give these statistics false conclusions. First, not all African-Americans have experienced this. Teenagers to mid-thirties are pulled over at higher rates and males more than female. Police place more cops in higher crime areas thus raising the observation by police in those areas. |
| On average, African-Americans live in higher crime areas compared to white people. Those living in higher crime neighborhoods are looked at closer than those in neighborhoods with lower crime rates. The majority of the African-American population which live in higher crime areas express a desire for more police presence in the neighborhood. |  |
 | African-American and Caucasian store owners using their decades of experience might pay closer attention to those that match descriptions of previous shoplifters. A person’s skin color is just one factor, a person’s attitude, appearance, dress, language, and age among others are factors many consider. A person's inculcation at very young ages become fundamental. Parents and others need to be very careful regarding what they communicate to their children. |
| Six stats from this interview: 1. Blacks are killed 2.5 times as often by cops compared to whites. 2. Blacks are 35 times more likely to commit robberies compared to whites 3. Blacks are 38 times more likely to commit murders compared to whites | The YouTube video of the interview is no longer available. |
 | 4. Blacks are 51 times more likely to engage in shootings compared to whites 5. Police withdrawing after riots results in higher crime rates. 6. Black cops are 3.3 times as likely to shoot black suspects compared to white cops. |
Reactions to a Perceived Wrong
| Throughout history, many people have reacted to perceived wrongs in many ways. Violent overthrows of governments have been the norm. Violent mobs and destruction were very common. Little thought was given to what was to replace the current government. Many people just thought, and often rightfully so, that the current authority was unjust. Often the overthrow just left a void that was filled by worse authorities. |  |
 | In America, our representative republic is bound within a constitution of liberties. Our system relies on a moral people that uphold their responsibilities and hold politicians accountable. Elections are how the people address wrongs. Peaceful protest, sometimes peaceful civil disobedience, and elections have created a society that thrives by having a long-serving government that goes through reforms by way of the electoral process. Our country does not need to start back at government square one after a violent revolution. We vote. |
| Stand Your Ground In the Trayvon Martin case, many protesters criticized the stand your ground law just because it was claimed (wrongfully) to justify the ability of Zimmerman to shoot Trayvon. Many people believe that many took this opinion just because some sold it as a law that allowed people to shoot a black person in cold blood. This was a very misguided look at this law. |  This poster is highly one-sided. This poster shows how destructively bias certain activists can take facts and add in lies to confused the public. These activist have not fully considered all the issues. A credible storyline is Trayvon was killed by Zimmerman fighting back in self-defense. |
 | From this liberal article: Given all this, it’s not unreasonable to argue that, in America, you can be shot and killed, without consequences for the shooter, for playing loud music, wearing a hoodie, or shopping at a Walmart. The question is whether the wave of “stand your ground” legislation is to blame. This article is misguided and damaging. A conversation needs to happen without anyone’s voice silenced. However, this was written from the context that is very one-sided. |
| If the protestors’ story of Zimmerman stalking and shooting Trayvon in cold blood were true, then the ‘stand your ground law’ would not apply to Zimmerman, it would apply for Martin. Everyone should support Martin using deadly force on Zimmerman if the protestor’s story was accurate. However, the evidence and witnesses support a storyline that Zimmerman was keeping an eye on a person he suspected as a possible person of mischief. |  |
 | He rightfully called the police to investigate a person that matched the description of previous mischief. It is suspected that Trayvon took offense at being looked at as a criminal and decided to confront Zimmerman. There is no clear evidence of what words and actions precipitated Zimmerman having his head pounded against a concrete sidewalk. Zimmerman’s life was in danger. During the fight, Zimmerman pulled his gun and shot Martin. There appear to be two reasonable storylines from the time Zimmerman was keeping an eye on Martin to the point of the head pounding. |
| One, Zimmerman stalked Trayvon Martin and approached him and threatened his life in cold blood and Martin fearing for his life, fought Zimmerman. In that storyline Trayvon Martin, if he won the fight, could have used the stand your ground law to justify fighting and even killing Zimmerman. The second story-line would be that Trayvon approached Zimmerman, upset at being watched as if he were a criminal, and started to attack Zimmerman without any other provocation from Zimmerman other than watching him. |  Everyone has positive and negative pictures of themselves. I am not trying to show a bias, I am trying to show here that both sides can have biases. |
 | In this case, Zimmerman could use the stand your ground rule. The stand your ground law does not protect an aggressor. Looking at Zimmerman’s life, one does not see evidence of racism or randomly stalking and attacking anyone. While no one can be sure how this went down, the evidence and storyline of Zimmerman attacking in cold blood do not approach going beyond a reasonable doubt needed for conviction. |
| Every law needs to be analyzed and debated after it has a history of use. There is not good evidence that this stand your ground law needs to change. We need to always look at when it can apply to a case that was not life-threatening. The balance point will always be debated, and tough cases will always test those limits. |  |
 | Michael Brown The case of Michael Brown is very different from Trayvon Martin. First, the police were involved in the Brown case. There is a lot of evidence out there from multiple witnesses that support the policemen’s story. However, many protesters want to just rely on very few witnesses that confirm their bias. |
| Although Brown’s friend, who helped Brown ‘strong-armed’ steal from a store, the story of ‘hands up don’t shoot” was discredited from the evidence and many witnesses, many are holding to that narrative. Again, in this story, there is no evidence that the police officer had a history to suggest he had an animus against a black man. |  |
 | The Grand Jury Just like the Stand your ground law, many are suggesting we need to get rid of the grand jury system. They do not claim a better system, just that we get rid of it. Sharpton claims to want to take it to the federal level. This overlooks the great benefits of the grand jury. Many just know they did not get the result they wanted and wrongly blame the grand jury system. |
| Many people claim that we need a trial to get the truth and do not realize that a trail is a punishment in and of itself. The grand jury was to spread the power away from prosecutors. It was a reform dealing with too much power in one office. It is also a policy that shows that power can be in the hands of the citizens and it is a check on the power of government. |  I agree with many who say it was wrong to leave Mr. Brown's body out there so long. I know they needed to get evidence; however, it took too long, and there are sterile covers they could have used. |
 | Stereotype The African-American population has brought to the attention of everyone, and rightfully so that we should not take the actions of a few in a group and expand that stereotype to a whole class of people. African-American leaders need to take that lesson and realize that they are too often portraying all cops as racist and out to get them. The statistics on out of control police officers are very low. African-American parents should not tell their teenagers that the police are out to get them. |
Eric Garner The Eric Garner case was tragic, however, like the others, no one has presented evidence that race played a role or that the police acted intentionally to kill Mr. Garner. The police arrest thousands of people a year in New York by using force due to resisting arrest. I believe that the police should have taken more time to talk him down as Mr. Garner was not attacking them. However, at some point, if he was not going to be arrested peacefully, the police at that point cannot step away. |  This is a highly destructive stereotype |
 | The risks of bad things happening, while still statistically low, rise as he resists. The internal affairs and police trainers should definitely look at the video and interview the cops and determine best practices. The fact the video camera picked up on Mr. Garner stating ‘I can’t breathe’ is evidence that the cop was not cutting off his breath with a choke hold. While the arm was clearly around the neck, it cannot be concluded that was the cause of death. |
| No Justice, No Peace The ‘No Justice, No Peace’ philosophy is ill-educated and full of destructive emotional passion that is misplaced. It is truly without rational thought or logic to claim that you want justice and if you do not get it, you will take an innocent person's peace, property, and liberty away. This new victim would want justice for himself by punishing you for taking his peace away. |  |
 | It was never stated by anyone that African-American lives do not matter. This slogan is highly offensive because it implies that whites do not value the lives of those in the black population. This is highly divisive for race relations. A college president was highly criticized for writing that all lives matter and she sheepishly apologized. A high majority of those that hold that sign or chant this slogan, vote for politicians that do not extend the right to life to millions of African-American babies. I believe that every life matters. |
