November 3,2016

Dear Future President,

There are many issues pressing America today. The key issue I address is Black Lives Matter. Black Lives Matter is a very important issue about equality in a America for African American people. This is an issue that has been brought up and pushed under the “Rug” over and over again. This isn’t just about police brutality because not all police are guilty of that crime; this is about life in general for an African American person in America,“The Home of the Brave and Free.” As a 14 year old young lady, I feel as though it is my civic duty to make you aware of this issue that is oppressing people in my age bracket, and all age brackets of the black community. In my hometown alone, there are many people on the streets and unemployed. On the daily, African American mothers worry about what their son’s will be or will they come home. For example, I attended NORDC teen camp a summer job for teens that teaches you about the workforce. In that program the main thing told to us by our leaders was how to deal with police and how to respect adults. This was after the Alton Sterling case that took place in Baton Rouge, Louisiana which is an hour away from where I live. In that case Alton was outside a store selling Cd’s ,and in the area there was a call to the police about a man with a gun who they assumed was Alton. Two police officers tackled him to the ground ,and with one officer’s foot on his wrist and the other holding his other arm down they shot and killed him claiming that he reached for a gun. That was one case of many where innocent black lives were lost due to the color of their skin. Adults in the black community now have to instill the lesson in all the African American children they crossed paths with of how to act when you get pulled over or when an officer stops. Instead of how to cross a street and things like that, they have to tell their family how to stay alive due to injustice against African American lives.

The African American person deals with the problems of inequality everyday. When applying for jobs, people are told no simply by the way they look. When purchasing a home people discriminate and judge simply by the way you look. They say you can’t live in a certain neighborhood because you won’t be able to afford it. This is due to statistics on stateofamerica.org like, “45.8 percent of young black children (under age 6) live in poverty, compared to 14.5 percent of white children.”Another example is when people don’t want to sit with you or ride the elevator with you because they think you will rob them. That fear is caused by the stereotype that black men are criminals; due to “30 percent of African-American males ages 20 to 29 are "under correctional supervision"” as stated on historyisaweapon. As a child I was in a department store and I tried on a hat and danced in the mirror. The lady who worked in the store told my mother to take the hat off of me because we didn't look like we could afford it. As the president you have the power to change America and its Culture. Make everyone equal stop putting people who strive for change down. Support those people don’t discourage them with things like All Lives Matter. That makes the movement useless. Yes all lives matter, but all lives are not treated equally and respected which needs to change. You can also make schools equipped with the same things; giving students an equal playing field in the world for jobs. Put things in place to prepare every child no matter their nationality for the job force and real world. By doing that one simple task you will be decreasing three major topics. Those topics are Homeless Americans, Unemployment Rate, and Hunger in America. Additionally, America will be able to advance more rapidly due to more educated minds working together to achieve goals. This will not happen though if you as a president don’t step in and fix this ongoing problem that has been deepening for Centuries.

Sincerely,

L.J.