It should go without saying that yesterday's message does not, in anyway, justify Dallas last night. There are problems in the justice system and there are racist and power-hungry cops out there. There are some people who should not have the level of power that police have. There is racial bias that is endemic across many areas of public and private life. But, none of that justifies a death sentence for any and all cops.
We now know that these shootings were done by a black man who was angry about the "recent killings of black people and said that he wanted to kill white people — particularly white police officers". Racial hatred gets us nowhere and this will only make things worse.
What makes this even sadder is that, the Dallas Police department is actually doing a pretty good job reaching out to the community. The relationship between the police and the protestors was reportedly good that night.
And when the topic of gun control measures comes up again, will the same voices that cry "NO!" be just a vehement when they realize that an angry black man can legally buy guns? If not, the racism has won. If so, their love of guns has won. Whatever the case, the rest of us lose.
