There is an unnecessary divide evolving. You’re for Black Lives Matter or against it. The majority of people essentially believe the same thing, they just don’t realize it. Narrow mindedness is blinding us.

If someone supports BLM, give them the benefit of the doubt that it’s for just reasons. That they support the idea that it was founded on, that Black lives matter, too, and they want to see racism extinguished. Assume the heart is in the right place. Most don’t condone violent, cop-hating behavior, and those that do can mostly be chalked up to all the misguidance that has been directed at society. Don’t let the true injustices fade away from your sight in the midst of the chaos. Peaceful protesters have not lost that focus. Don’t tease or be hateful to those trying to stand up for other people. It’s just perpetuating the intolerance we all claim to hate.

If someone doesn’t support BLM, give them the benefit of the doubt that it’s for just reasons. That they support the idea that it was founded on, that Black lives matter, too, and want to see racism extinguished. Assume the heart is in the right place, most don’t condone violent cop-hating behavior, and don’t want to be associated with what BLM has come to represent, instead of its original message. They feel it has been hijacked over the years, and especially as of late.

The Washington, D.C., chapter of BLM actually stated “BLM means defund the police.” The Minneapolis mayor was booed out of a crowd because he admitted he wasn’t against completely abolishing the police. Don’t give people ultimatums that they have to be anti-cop in order to support BLM. That’s how you lose people. That’s how you take momentum away from a just cause. Don’t tease or be hateful to those that disagree with the message they believe BLM is currently advocating.

Did you see what I did right there? Did you think I accidentally copy and pasted? No. I wrote it the same to show that we actually have a similar view, but we’ve let the details divide us. At the core we believe the same thing. There’s a lot of issues like that. We all want the same end result, we just disagree over what’s the best way to get there.

I’ve seen so many divisive posts and reports lately. Some are true and some are deceptive, just to stir up hate. There are bad things coming our way if we can’t figure this out. Please, let’s not pit people against each other, let’s not incite rage. It only makes things worse. Let’s not judge the majority by the extremes of each side. With all the misinformation out there the lines are getting muddied and we are just burying ourselves in the dirt.

Andrea Decker

Pendleton