Dear future President of the United States,

Imagine a world where people didn’t have to live in fear every time they left their house just because of the color if their skin. Imagine a world where everyone is truly equal. In many cities this is not possible because of police brutality, police not being charged, and confusion about the goal of the movements. Your policies can help change and protect us from those problems.

Lately, there has been a lot of police brutality against black people in many major cities. “Young black men were nine times more likely than other Americans to be killed by police officers in 2015, according to the findings of a Guardian study that recorded a final tally of 1,134 deaths at the hands of law enforcement officers this year.” (Swaine) There have been protests, most of them were non-violent, but a few turned violent. When there were protests, the police would pepper spray, tackle, and shoot rubber bullets at the protesters; even if the protests were calm.

To make matters worse, many of the police who have killed black people are not charged or disciplined. Many people are very angry about police not being disciplined. The cases of police shooting and killing or arresting a black person, the reason the police were called was just a misunderstanding or overestimating how violent the protests were in many instances. “The police said the protesters were arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass, being unlawfully airside and breaching London City Airport bylaws, and were taken into custody. The statement was issued nearly six hours after police were alerted of the protest.” (BLM Protesters) In this instance, the protesters were standing on the runway at a London airport, many of the flights were delayed. The protest was not violent but the police overreacted about their protests.

Many people are actually confused why the black lives matter movements happen. “ About a third of Americans familiar with Black lives Matter say they don’t understand the goals of the movement.” (Horowitz) People who are confused about the goals of the movements, often think or ask,” Don’t all lives matter?”All lives do matter, however protesters are simply saying they think it is unfair when innocent black people are getting killed by police officers more and more each year. People also get confused about how police are killing more black people than white, when there are more white people in America. “...there are four times as many white people as black people. They kill black people disproportionately. Every study ever done shows it.”(Harriot)

According to the US Constitution and Bill of Rights, all people have the have the same rights. However, lately, we have been ignoring those rights that every citizen has, and discriminating against people of color. As you can see, the Black Lives Matter protests are very important and support a great cause. We would be a much better country if these problems were eliminated. People shouldn’t have to worry that today might be their last day on Earth. Every citizen of the United States should be equal, you as President can change our country into one that everyone proud to live in.

~Sydney P.

Works Cited

Swaine, Jon, Oliver Laughland, Jamiles Lartey, and Ciara McCarthy. "Young Black Men Killed by US Police at Highest Rate in Year of 1,134 Deaths." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 31 Dec. 2015. Web. 04 Nov. 2016.

Black Lives Matter Protesters Arrested at London Airport." CNN. Cable News Network, 6 Sept. 2016. Web. 04 Nov. 2016

Horowitz, Juliana Menasce, and Gretchen Livingston. "How Americans View the Black Lives Matter Movement." Pew Research Center RSS. N.p., 08 July 2016. Web. 04 Nov. 2016.

Harriot, Michael. "How to Explain Black Lives Matter to White People." The Root. N.p., 16 Aug. 2016. Web. 04 Nov. 2016