For those of you who don’t know, and I’m pretty sure many of you don’t, I was pulled over by a cop recently, and a lot of things went through my mind while I was in the process of aforementioned being pulled over. I thought to myself, “He must be pulling someone else over,” and, “Which idiot is it now that sped through a residential zone?” Turns out, that idiot was me, according to the officer. After realizing he really was intending to pull over my inconspicuous brown van, that’s when I started panicking. You see, I’ve never been pulled over by a cop before, and I never thought I would be. But alas, there I was, hyperventilating (kinda), looking as innocent as possible (also kinda). Anyways, long story short, I ended up getting a speeding ticket. I know. Shocker. Then I thought to myself what I could do to get out of it (I know. Learned my lesson, right?). I thought of talking to a cop and explain why I was speeding (Which you can’t do by the way because of witness tampering). I even thought about going to court and learning about the legal process and actually going through it. But still, I just paid my fee and chose driving school (Still talked to the cop though and researched what I needed to know to go through court). So, I learned a few things. Through this whole thing, my respect for law enforcement grew. I mean it may sound offsetting, but everyone that I encountered was very helpful, even the officer that pulled me over. This is probably completely different from the mentality that everyone has about the police in regards to the events in Ferguson and Baltimore and Charleston. But what I’m trying to say is why shouldn’t we trust the police more? What seems to keep people from trusting them? How can we solve this problem? I mean they are still risking their lives for the safety of their fellow citizens. Isn’t it just to give them the respect that they are so willing to give law abiding citizens? I can’t justify any wrong doings that have been dealt to any individuals and their respective families that were subject to unjustified violence. However, respect can go a long way. This is a bit open ended, so think what you may. I can’t really personally explain anything past this point (So much for just a story about a speeding ticket, right?).
Read More: Regarding Racism Part II
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