What is the Media Trying to Tell Us?

Opinion by Anonymous

Looking back at the death of George Floyd, it is clear that there needs to be an end to police brutality; many people’s lives have ended because of the racism that exists in the policing system. The protests began a couple of days ago due to Floyd’s death, as well as many police officers thinking that skin color (something that we as humans cannot control) defines one as a threat or not. This idea is extremely wrong and anyone who has this idea ingrained in their mind should definitely not be an officer, or even have an occupation in the justice system to begin with. I believe that, by protesting and donating to the Black Lives Matter movement, we can bring about change in this country and finally live in a society where we are not judged by the color of our skin.

The protests have been going on for about a week now. We see all the pictures and videos of them on social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. However, when it comes to the news, it’s a different story; they only show the violence occurring between protesters and the police officers. This is an issue as it is making viewers think that the protesters are being violent and acting irrationally. But the reality is that the police officers are the ones encouraging the violence; on social media, everyone sees videos of the protesters being peaceful. That is, until the police show up. There are many videos showing the police tear gassing, macing, and even running into people with their cars (this is literally attempted murder, while tear gassing and macing are war crimes), indicating that the police are harming the very citizens they swore to protect. These people are only exercising their rights to protest but the cops are taking extreme measures to get rid of them, proving that the justice system in the U.S. is corrupt.