I’ve spent some time thinking about the movement toward equality and fairness and I think I’m ready to share my thoughts. I have a small platform and I wanted to make sure I articulated my feelings accurately because these are very important issues and it’s something I think is really important.

First, the murder of George Floyd was one of the worst things I’ve seen on video in a very long time. I felt so angry, sad, and helpless all in one moment. I was engrossed into the video and felt the pain of the bystanders. I wanted to run into my screen and shove that piece of crap kneeling on his neck to the ground. But that would have surely gotten me killed as well. I was immediately filled with hate and revenge after watching the life leave his body as he yelled out for help while four heartless cowards knelt on his incopassitated body. I was so disgusted by that action and my thoughts of the police were reassured because that type of thing happens everyday all over our country. People of color are killed like animals in the street and there is no justice.

I’ve come up in life through a pretty rough path and my interactions with police have never been pleasant. Every single time they resulted in me feeling extremely helpless and less of a human. Now looking at me, you can see I’m not black, but I am brown. Having a father that’s an illegal immigrant turned U.S. citizen has had its trials in life and many of them unfair and unjust. I also come from a mother that was a lifelong product of recidivism. So I’ve had my fair share of contact with the police. And honestly every time I come in contact with the police, even today, I have this fear and intimidation that there is nothing I could do if this police officer treated me unfairly - as they always seem to do and have done. I bow and say yes ma’am or yes sir and follow directions, even if those directions are unlawful. Because what can I do? Defend myself or rebuke their instructions? That would surely get me in more trouble or even worse, get myself killed.

If there’s one thing that I hate, it is being thrusted into a situation where I cannot defend myself against tyrannical actions of another citizen entrusted to support and serve his or her community through the enforcement of the law. Look I understand that police deal with the worst of our community every single day and they have to put up with a lot of terrible people throughout their tenure. I feel for that and I understand their perspective - their job is truly service to community and is pretty thankless at times. I also understand that they are put in very dangerous situations and many of them have families they must make it home to. I do really appreciate their service and I do appreciate all that they do to keep our communities safe. They are an essential piece of the backbone that keeps our country as great and as safe as it is.

Now after all that being said, I’ve thought a lot about some solutions to the problems that have been plaguing our country since its inception. My goal is to try and get you to see the other person’s perspective in hopes of drawing us closer together. I’ve always believed in bringing us together because “In Union there is Strength.”

The first is fairness and equality.

I would urge all of you to listen to former Congressman Trey Gowdy’s short talk on encountering unfairness:

In that it shows how skewed the world can become when you’re continually being treated unfairly. It also speaks volumes to the system we have put in place where the privileged have a better chance at being successful. That’s not to say I’m condemning that thought process because we’re all human and we’re all driven to give ourselves, family, and friends the best possible chance at success - and sometimes that means playing the system to unfair advantages. The disenfranchised especially have to play the game to their advantage because their success and ability to provide for their families depend on it.

My solution to that starts at the core of you. You have to agree to keep fairness and equality paramount in your life. Even when you encounter unfairness at the expense of your ability to move forward or succeed. It seems insane to suggest that you keep fairness ahead of your own personal interest, but sometimes that’s what kind of sacrifice it takes to initiate systemic change in our homes, communities, states, and country. Continually remind yourself that fairness and equality are important to a healthy family and society. A community is only as strong as the families that live in it.

The next thing is police brutality.

We all know that this is a problem and we need to stop it in its tracks. It’s getting old and is something we should never have to worry about. You should never have to worry that the person that was sworn to protect and serve the community could potentially end your life. That’s a scary thought and is something that is always in the back of my mind when I see a police cruiser.

My solution would be to start conducting more thorough vetting processes and procedures of potential police officer candidates. It’s important that departments know who it is they are bringing aboard their teams and the only real way to do that is to conduct extremely thorough background checks. The next thing is to increase pay and benefits to potential and current police officers. The only way we get the best of the best (which I believe all police should be) is to compensate them appropriately. They have to be able to provide for their dependents in a way that relieves home stressors to a point where they can focus on their jobs. This also requires a complete evaluation of pay progression and potential growth. Not only should departments want to hire the best, they should also understand it takes a lot to keep them as well. Growth is important to all people and police officers need to see their career potential. The third is increased training in all aspects of community interaction and situation response. There’s really not much to be said here other than it was once said to me that:

““Under pressure you never rise to an occasion, you sink to the level of your training.””

Train, train, train, then you will have a police force that reacts appropriately to dire situations and has a strong ability to deescalate situations in the right way.

And finally, the most daunting problem of them all, racism.

This is a tough one because we all know it’s bad. Or do we? I truly believe racism is a learned behavior and most of you would agree. Some of you out there will silently disagree because it goes against the social norm so you will stay silent to avoid being publicly ridiculed, threatened with harm, losing your livelihood, etc. The problem is deeply rooted in family beliefs; therefore, if you are racist and have realized that it doesn’t make any sense you are risking the potential of your family completely disowning you. That’s a tough situation to be in and is something we as a community should try to do better at understanding. I believe to change the mind of your enemy (which isn’t a single person, it’s the racist ideology) you first have to better understand them and not see them as your enemy. Racism is terrible and is a major problem in the progression of the human race. But I truly believe it can be combated and beaten if we all come together.

My solution to racism is education and inclusive thought. We should first invest heavily in our educational system. These systems are usually the first ones to see cuts or are operating at suboptimal standards, especially in disadvantaged areas of our country. We need to do better as a people to invest in our future - which are our children. This investment will only partly add to the solution of racism. A school’s curricula will only open the door to giving a child the tools they need to think independently. Children are still heavily influenced by their family and that family’s core beliefs. So to fight those skewed family beliefs we need to be accepting of self proclaimed racist and bring them into our society. They cannot become the throwaways of our communities where they are hated, that only makes their hate stronger and they pass that onto their children where racism continues to live and thrive. To change that hate we need to accept them as they are and hopefully that acceptance begets a friendship that begins to shift their mindset and belief system. We have to be more accepting of each other. No matter our beliefs. This makes our humanity stronger and able to progress without self imposed barriers.

In closing, I hope this message helps you see a different perspective and gives you the insight to begin making a change within yourself. If the hate we are encountering now and have in our past is met with love and acceptance for what it is at face value then we can start to make a real change. We have to understand each other better and the first steps to that are taking an active approach at not attacking the person that is our perceived enemy. We are not enemies of each other. We need to stop dividing and become unified. We are all people of the greatest country in the world (sorry my Candian friends, we’re awesomer than you) and we can beat this.

I would urge you to considering donating to our underfunded educational system using DonorChoose.

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Signed your friend and ally,
Tomas

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Reflecting on the Color of Our Skin

The first is fairness and equality.

The next thing is police brutality.

And finally, the most daunting problem of them all, racism.

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