Dear future POTUS,

“Black Lives Matter” is a big issue in America. African Americans are now afraid that they will get shot by a cop for no reason. Black people are treated unfairly and accused of many things. All this is causing many protests and even worse; violent demonstrations. Most of those protests are peaceful, but some of them aren't. People end up shot or taken to jail trying to change things. Black people are seen as criminals or as dangerous people just because of the color their skin.. This is not true, there are bad people and good people of every color.

Black people are now scared to call the police for help.. It’s crazy how I have so many examples but there is one specific one that I would like to talk about. In the article, “I Called You To Help, But You Killed My Brother”: Police Shot Dead Unarmed African-American Man” A woman from San Diego had called the police for help, because her brother was acting ‘erratically’. According to the story, the police were giving the black man instructions that he wasn’t following; the man refused many instructions on the scene to remove his hand from his pocket. A couple seconds later sadly, the man got shot by a police.The black man’s sister had said “I called you to help me, but you killed my brother.”A witness had said that the man had his hands up when he was shot. The 30-year-old black man died.

Now, why would they shoot somebody that is suffering from mental health problems? The woman had called for help, right? Everytime police see a black person they think they are criminals, but not everyone is a criminal. People that are good, hard working citizens are the ones that are getting killed or mistreated. Me as a student/athlete and a teenager want to live in a better place and have a better future.

A 66-years-old African American woman was shot and killed in New York. The woman had mental health issues including schizophrenia. The woman was shot in her home after a neighbor called 911. The police said they found her naked in her bedroom; one of the police man shot her after she picked up a baseball bat. Just like King said “A woman that deserved treatment and compassion was shot and killed. We're talking about a crime!.” I know it's a lot but it's affecting future president. Our education, future generations, the kids that live on the streets, and everything that happens every single day is affecting us.

Future president this is what I’m talking about, there’s too much going on that you need to change. Not just for black people but, hispanic, white and police brutality. Everything that keeps happening is scaring people and making this country worse. Maybe you could change these things in time, little by little. You could stop the police brutality, stop racism, shootings and abuse to women or also any kind of abuse. We will appreciate it a lot. Thank you for your time, have a great day!

Sincerely Carmen Castaneda

Possible article for use:

http://www.democracynow.org/2016/10/21/new_york_mayor_apologizes_for_police

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jan/13/police-brutality-solutions-are-training-community-/

https://www.aclu.org/other/fighting-police-abuse-community-action-manual#organizing

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/king-police-brutality-fix-change-systems-racial-makeup-article-1.2725465