Dear Mr. or Mrs. President,

After reading the title many people, maybe including yourself, will think  "this kid is racist" or "wow, why would somebody be so racist?" But, I promise that I am not racist. Some of my best friends are African American. To me everyone is the same on the inside, so why does it matter what color you are? 

These "Black Lives Matter" supporters act like black people are the only ones being shot, brought down, or tackled to the ground. Well they aren't. The media over exaggerates everything and they mainly push this topic. There are so many white people getting killed by the police that don't make the news. According to Janice Williams of International Business Times, as of September 25, 2016 there has been 708 deaths by police shooting and only 173 of those deaths have been of the African American race. How many were white you may ask? 325.That very nearly  doubles the amount of black deaths. A vast majority of the deaths have been Caucasian.

Also, I hate how they act like the victims were not doing anything wrong and they were shot completely out of the blue. No. They were all doing something that contributed to the situation. For a controversial example, Micheal Brown and the Ferguson shooting. They claim that Micheal Brown was an innocent, unarmed boy who did absolutely nothing wrong. The only true thing about that statement is that he was unarmed, but he still posed a threat to the well being of the officer, Darren Wilson. First of all, he was caught on camera at Ferguson Market and Liquor in a confrontation with the clerk working at the store and walking out with a pack of cigarillos, stealing them. He then was confronted by Darren Wilson about the situation. Micheal Brown then starts to wrestle with Wilson and eventually trying to grab Wilson's gun before trying to run away and turning back to Wilson where he was shot. Brown was a threat to Wilson's safety and Wilson had to defend himself so he shot. He didn't shoot because Brown was black but because he was protecting himself. Pure self-defense.

I am not saying that all of the shootings are justified. The police have used excessive force at times when it wasn't warranted. Yes, I agree that some victims should be still sitting at the table every night with their family, shooting hoops with friends, throwing a ball around, hanging out and having fun with friends, and going to school everyday but, they aren't and for no reason. For example, the shooting of Walter Scott should have never happened. He was running away not even posing a threat to anybody and was shot in the back 3 times, once in the buttock, and one hit his ear by Officer Michael Slager. Scott should still be alive and happy. I believe that officers who have committed killings like this should be put on trial and charged with murder.

But, this is not the biggest problem I have coming from "Black Lives Matter." The biggest problem is the methods they are choosing to protest. To me it is completely  wrong.

The way they are rioting and creating more violence goes completely against what they are supporting. They claim that they stand against violence but here they are promoting violence with the way they are acting. They are creating more violence through these protests. I have seen videos of people jumping on top of cars, stealing cars, and even fights and shootings that they are creating. The other day I watched a video of an African American man walk up to a policeman on duty during the riots and hug him and thank him for his service. How did all the people protesting respond? By attacking the poor gentlemen. They started out by yelling out statements along the lines of "YOU'RE A TRAITOR!" How? How is he a traitor? By hugging a white man who is a cop? They make it sound like they are only saying that black lives matter, nobody else. But, every life matters. No matter what skin color you are, red, yellow, blue, green, black, or white. Your life matters.

I am not implying that you can't protest, just do it in a more peaceful manner. Do it by boycotting something or having a stand-in. Take the violence out of it is all that I am proposing. As much as I hate it, I would even rather have everyone protesting take after Colin Kaepernick and kneeling down or not holding your hand over your heart during the National Anthem than the violence they are using with the riots. "Black Lives Matter" is not a positive movement in our country.

Sincerely,

Peter 

Allen Park High School, Allen Park, Michigan