Stay Focused on the Problem and Finding Solutions.

All across social media, I keep seeing posts from police supporters telling me how hard those jobs are, how physically and emotionally draining it is for them, and how tough it is to work in environments where they aren’t appreciated, wanted, nor welcomed.

And I completely agree with those supporters.

All of those things are true. And those officers deserve better.

But none of that has anything to do with the main criticism against police departments right now, that Black and Hispanic Americans receive unequal and unfair treatment in every step of the justice system.

So stop telling me how hard it is to be a cop, because we already agree on that. Instead, I want to hear these things:

• You agree with the documented research and findings that show minorities are treated differently — and worse — than their white counterparts.
• You are taking action to address the racist and discriminatory treatment.
• You support local, statewide, and national efforts to fix these problems.

Did I lose you here? Are you one of those people who refuse to believe that the color of your skin affects the way you are treated by law enforcement? Here are facts from Pew Research that may surprise you, then.

1. Majorities of both black and white Americans say black people are treated less fairly than whites in dealing with the police and by the criminal justice system as a whole.
2. Black adults are about five times as likely as whites to say they’ve been unfairly stopped by police because of their race or ethnicity

My point is simple. This isn’t an either/or issue, that I must choose between (a) believing law enforcement jobs are tough or (b) wanting police discrimination against minorities to stop. In fact, I say the opposite, that these two are related and eliminating discriminatory treatment would go a long ways towards making it easier for officers to work their day to day jobs.

We all want solutions, and that’s a good thing. But telling me I don’t support the police or I don’t care about law enforcement to defend racist policies and actions is just wrong. And we both know that.