Alexis F. Washington

Criminal Justice in America

Black lives matter

Dear future Mr. or Ms. President,

End police brutality, Black lives matter, No justice no peace. I believe that Criminal Justice in America especially Black individuals should stop being a target.

A major thing that's affecting our society is black lives matter. They're people out there trying to live their life and trying to succeed their goals. There are people out there scared of cops and people, because the hate on just one race. If people actually listen to each other there wouldn't even be a problem. This wouldn't even exist. They're too many false lies and made up stories that make African Americans looks bad. This makes a bloody conflict.

They're people out there getting shot and killed for no reason. According to A publication of the american public health association Science it says “ The recent non indictments of police officers who killed unarmed Black men have incited popular and scholarly discussions on racial injustices in our legal system, racialized police violence, and police misconduct”( Jennifer Jee-Lyn García and Mienah Zulfacar Sharif). The article also tells how it started. It also tells how an African American have been shot, hurt, or killed. Whether it's the cops fault or the citizen's, this needs to stop. Cops shouldn't be thinking that African American are the only problem in the world. African Americans don't need to say their own lives matter to show people how they feel about their own race. All lives matter.

A Police officer stops a african american just because he looked like a robber. According to The federalist a division of fdrlst media, it says “Police pulled Castile and his girlfriend over because he matched the description of an armed robbery suspect (at first media reported it was only for a minor traffic violation). It’s also reported he had a license to carry a firearm. It now appears as though those two pieces of information combined to aggravate an under-trained or trigger-happy officer, as the cop shot Castile four times and he died following the incident. Castile’s girlfriend shot this video live to Facebook, which went viral, fueling BLM to organize an impromptu protest on the streets of the Twin Cities Saturday night” (Nicole Russell). This shows racism because the man wasn't even doing anything. This also shows hate at the same time. This also shows how it started, and who did what wrong.

Some people say that black lives don't matter because they just care about themselves and their own people. They wouldn't even care about bad things, that are happening to people out here. Some people don't even feel bad. On the other hand people out there care about African Americans. They're people making sources just to show you how they care about them. There's people arguing and fighting for African Americans. There's so many people out there trying to help their friends, and families. African Americans are being compared to the kkk. According to Dailymail.com it says “A University of Virginia professor has taken a leave of absence from the school after he came under scathing attack over the weekend for likening the Black Lives Matter movement to the Ku Klux Klan”(Daily mail). The article tells that even a high quality teacher is being racist to people out there. Not just people, one race. He believes that African American people are the problem in the world. Can you believe this! This needs to stop. Not every African American American are the same. There's a lot of African American trying to show everyone that black lives matter. They have to protest and spend hours on the street just to show us to see how they feel about themselves. On the other hand According to A publication of the american public health association, it says “We aim to fill this gap and expand the current dialogue beyond these isolated incidents to a broader discussion of racism in America and how it affects the health and wellbeing of people of color”(Jennifer Jee-Lyn Garcia and Mienah Zulfacar Sharif). This shows that a groups of departments try to help and stop this situation.

In conclusion, I believe that Criminal Justice in America especially Black individuals should stop being a target. Black Lives should matter because it shows awareness on blacks that face police brutality. A lot of people may say why should we care it's not even important. On the other hand a lot of people are trying to make this stop. It’s not just african americans that are the problem, there’s a lot of problem in our society. If people just listen to each other this wouldn’t be a problem. We need to fix this together and listen to each other.

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter”- Martin Luther King Jr.

Sincerely, Alexis

West Seattle High School

1st block

1st and 2nd period

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