Woman Notices Police Get Quiet When She Walks into Store. Nothing Prepares Her for What They DID Say

A deep sorrow was felt by many who woke up Friday morning to the news of what had occurred in Dallas, Texas, just hours before.

As with the events in Orlando and San Bernardino, such tragedies transcend city and state lines, affecting Americans no matter where they live.

In Andover, Massachusetts, Natasha Howell was attempting to carry on with her day in light of the events, when an experience with a local police officer brought her to tears:

After #Dallas http://pic.twitter.com/UPSut8Sb2s

— Erin (@EchoSierrah) July 8, 2016

Her account of the exchange, posted the morning of Friday, July 8, reads:

“So this morning I went into a convenient store to get a protein bar. As I walked through the door, I noticed that there were two white police officers (one about my age the other several years older) talking to the clerk (an older white women) behind the counter about the shootings that have gone on in the past few days.

They all looked at me and fell silent. I went about my business to get what I was looking for, as I turned back up the aisle to go pay, the oldest officer was standing at the top of the aisle watching me.

As I got closer he asked me, “How I was doing? I replied, “Okay, and you? He looked at me with a strange look and asked me, “How are you really doing?” I looked at him and said “I’m tired!” His reply was, “me too.” Then he said, “I guess it’s not easy being either of us right now is it.” I said, “No, it’s not.” Then he hugged me and I cried.

I had never seen that man before in my life. I have no idea why he was moved to talk to me. What I do know is that he and I shared a moment this morning, that was absolutely beautiful. No judgments, No justifications, just two people sharing a moment.”

Though the Massachusetts woman’s original Facebook post has since been removed, it didn’t take long to strike a chord in many Americans, reportedly being shared more than 30,000 times within the first hours it was posted.

In the end, Howell’s experience serves as simple, but powerful reminder that especially in times of national sorrow, the recognition of our shared humanity can bring us all together.

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Source: independent journal

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After America Erupts, Obama Responds to Cop Shootings–It’s Just Where He is That’s Raising Eyebrows

Americans have spent the past day discussing two killings of black men by police officers, and on Thursday, President Obama briefly interrupted a trip abroad to address the world on the subject.

The killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castille have generated a discussion on police tactics, an outcry on social media and even a Department of Justice inquiry.

Earlier on Thursday, Obama himself posted to Facebook on the subject:

“[The shootings] are symptomatic of the broader challenges within our criminal justice system, the racial disparities that appear across the system year after year, and the resulting lack of trust that exists between law enforcement and too many of the communities they serve.”

Now he’s adding even more to the discussion, giving a speech from Poland, where he’s set to attend the NATO Summit.

It’s rare for a president to give a domestic policy speech from foreign soil, but the President said he needed to speak out after the tumultuous day. In a speech that lasted just over 16 minutes, Obama listed out statistics on racial disparities on America. As the Guardian transcribed:

“Last year,” Obama continues, “African Americans were shot by police at more than twice the rate of whites. African Americans are arrested at twice the rate of whites; African Americans defendants are 75% more likely to be charged with offenses commanding mandatory minimums.”

“If you add it all up, the African American and Hispanic pop [sic], who make up only 30% of the general population, make up half of the incarcerated population,” Obama says.

The President also weighed into the meaning of “Black Lives Matter”:

POTUS: This is recognizing that there’s a particular burden that’s being placed on a group of our fellow citizens. http://bit.ly/29CkDfR

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) July 7, 2016

And he added, according to The Guardian:

“The data shows black folks are more vulnerable to these kinds of incidents,” Obama continues. “This isn’t a matter of us comparing the value of lives – this is recognizing that there is a particular burden that is being placed on a group of our fellow citizens, and we should care about that. We can’t dismiss it. We can’t dismiss it.”

“I actually, genuinely, truly believe that the vast majority of American people see this as a problem we should all care about,” Obama concludes. “And I would just ask those who question the sincerity or the legitimacy of protests and vigils and expressions of outrage who somehow label those expressions of outrage as quote-unquote ‘political correctness,’ I just ask folks to step back and think, what would happen if this happened to someone in your family? How would you feel?”

“To be concerned about these issues is not political correctness – it’s just being an American, and wanting to live up to our best and highest ideals, and to recognize that we have some tough history and we haven’t gotten though all of that history yet.”

As the President said Thursday: “We can do better. People of goodwill can do better.”

The post After America Erupts, Obama Responds to Cop Shootings–It’s Just Where He is That’s Raising Eyebrows appeared first on Independent Journal Review.

Source: independent journal

The post After America Erupts, Obama Responds to Cop Shootings–It’s Just Where He is That’s Raising Eyebrows appeared first on .@tonygreene113.