Dallas Shooting: Stop the One Equals All Mentality. Join in Solidarity.
BY: Eugene Smith/Contributing Writer
The Tragedy:
On Thursday evening, the Dallas Police presided over a peaceful demonstration held by the local Black Lives Matter movement protesting the recent shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. The deaths of the two young men weighed heavily on the frustrated crowd as they marched chanting “enough is enough.” In a sign of solidarity State Senator Royce West locked arms with Major Lonzo Anderson of the Dallas Police as they walked amongst the crowd.
At 9:00 pm the peace was shattered.
RAW VIDEO: Our cameras captured the panic after the first shots were fired in downtown #Dallas Thursday nighthttps://t.co/JXcapjFIHv
— WFAA-TV (@wfaachannel8) July 8, 2016
Sniper fire erupted from above the crowded streets. Police on the scene immediately began directing protesters to safety. Others took defensive positions as the gunfire rained down from above. The city center was placed on lock down as police engaged the active shooter. Reports of downed officers began to come in over the airwaves. The city center became a crime scene.
By dawn, the Dallas police reported that five officers had been killed. 7 more officers and 2 civilians were wounded by the gun fire. The shooter, identified as Micah Xavier Johnson, was dead. Three suspects were in custody.
The Aftermath:
This morning the United States is weary, our collective conscious bloodied. In the span of less than a month, the worst mass shooting in U.S. history has been followed by the deadliest law enforcement event since 9/11. The murder of five police officers has served as a grim reminder of the cost paid by those who serve to protect our communities.
As the day progresses, we unfortunately begin to brace for entrenchment. It is a sad reality that in times of tragedy, some choose to open their arms and embrace another in mourning, while others suspend reason and take defensive postures. After Orlando, there were some who immediately invoked the dangers Islam and nonsensically stirred fears over Syrian refugees. There were those who took the actions of a delusional and psychologically troubled man with access to a minor arsenal of weaponry as indicative of the entirety of the world’s largest religion. Arab Americans and American Muslims are well acquainted with the logic of one equals all.
The Issue:
Facets within the Black Lives Matter movement have had their own shameful moments. That cannot be ignored. But as a populist grassroots movement lacking a strict hierarchical structure, Black Lives Matter runs the risk of aberrant behavior slipping in under the larger message. Pundits take these minority voices and in error, laud them as indicative of the larger movement. This is obviously flawed logic.
Listen as Rush Limbaugh denounces the Black Lives Matter Movement as a Terrorist Organization: (If Peter = man –> does man= Peter?)
However, The Dallas shooter was not even affiliated with Black Lives Matter. He came to Dallas with the intention to kill white police officers. Motivated by racism, he chose to terrorize police and protester alike. The tragedy in Dallas does not mean that the overarching message of Black Lives Matter is in some way corrupted. Nor does it mean that as a nation, we can freely condemn the organization as the perpetrator of these attacks.
#BlackLivesMatter advocates dignity, justice and freedom. Not murder.
— Black Lives Matter (@Blklivesmatter) July 8, 2016
The movement advocates peaceful civil disobedience not terrorism. Yes, they raise contentious points in the hard fight against systematic racism. They aim to antagonize, to be loud and to be heard, but they are fighting ideas that are the theoretical cornerstones to our national narrative: liberty and freedom.
As seen through the scathing audit of Chicago’s police force, the true battle is against discriminatory systems of policing and structural deficiencies. This is not some ignorant crusade against “the police.” Yet their struggle has been degraded, hijacked under the guise of anti-police mentality.
Be Pro-Black and Pro-Cop. As Trevor Noah of the Daily Show recently put it,
“Anyway, the point is, it’s either one or the other,” he later added. “But with police shootings, it shouldn’t have to work that way. For instance, if you’re pro-Black Lives Matter, you’re assumed to be anti-police and if you’re pro-police, then you surely hate black people. It seems that it’s either pro-cop and anti-black or pro-black and anti-cop, when, in reality, you can be pro-cop and pro-black, which is what we should all be. It is what we should be aiming for,”
We cannot continue defaulting to the same narrative of blaming an entire organization or social group for the actions of a single sadistic and deranged member. Whether it is Micah Xavier Johnson or Omar Mateen, their actions do not speak for the greater whole. Sadly, this statement is starting to resemble a worn trope, repeated time and time again in the wake of tragedy. America needs to stop this.
#BlackLivesMatter didn’t do this any more than #Muslims did #OrlandoShooting STOP. #DallasPoliceShooting
— Maysoon Zayid (@maysoonzayid) July 8, 2016
Underpinning and connecting the narratives of conflict which have surrounded Islam and the Black Lives Matter movement is a superficial Us V. Them mentality. The same mode of thought which would label Islam as equal to its extremist elements would also label the entirety of Law Enforcement as part of a homogeneous oppressor.
Through the process of grouping, labeling, separating people, we set the foundations of an ignorant viewpoint too blunt to understand the nuances of any social group, movement, community. It is a type of quick and ill-conceived worldview, that has sadly been the precursor to some of the worst tragedies of history.
We have a conceived notion that this form of group-think is instinctual. We believe that we will always form closed groups and organize our viewpoints accordingly. In reality humanity has progressed through increased cooperation and the miring of group boundaries, not the opposite.
The Reflection:
As the shooting continued, and officers directed protesters to safety, others held each other. Police and protesters cried together. Qualifying lines disappeared. Badges and banners meant nothing.
As a nation we cannot allow ourselves to neglect critical reflection after this tragedy. Violence against an innocent police officer after an instance of police brutality is motivated by the same ignorance as violence against an innocent Muslim after an act of extremism.We cannot take sides in anger or point fingers in blame despite this being the easier response. We have to rid ourselves of tribal reflexes, we have to join together in solidarity.