Ignoring the issue hasn’t worked. Neither have calls for empathy. To improve policing, we must confront it head on.
It’s hard to talk about race in America. This much we know.
A common request is for empathy, to imagine whether these unspeakable acts — such as the killings of Tamir Rice, Eric Garner or Freddie Gray — happened to your brother or sister, but clearly that doesn’t work. The longer we talk around the margins of what really needs to be said, the longer it will take to heal..
When black people try to initiate a conversation, such as with the Black Lives Matter movement, it’s resisted by the very people who need to be listening. Diversion tactics are deployed, meant only to further marginalize the validity of black pain.
Empathy is a prerequisite for this country to heal. Without it, we will find ourselves right back here in no time.
Andy Newman
