Recently, I have noticed many news articles that are titled “white police officer shoots unarmed black teen” or something to that extent. Each of these cases involve a police shooting and each one is different. It is not my purpose to come to the defense of the police or the suspects because each scenario is different and requires its own thorough analysis.
I want to discuss the narrative that asserts race as an objective quality that is worthy to be brought up in police shootings. This narrative dominates news headlines and preemptively assumes there is an issue that involves racism. If this isn’t the case in these incidents then the police officer and suspects skin color is irrelevant.
Think about this. What does skin color have to do with the facts regarding a police shooting? The person's skin color is a mere distraction to the objective facts that one should be focused on. We should all be focused on questions like, what did the person do to be shot by police? Was this a justifiable homicide by police? Was the person armed? Did the police officer fear for his or her life? When skin color is the headline of the story we are ignoring the facts and entertaining a narrative that is premature.
Some might say, “look at the history of this country and the racism that used to exist, this is why race matters when it comes to police shootings.” The fact that our country had racial inequality decades ago is true but to take this historical information and prematurely assert it to a police shooting that has yet to be investigated is inherently unfair to law enforcement.
The fact we don’t hear often from news outlets is that race is an irrelevant characteristic when it comes to defining the value of life. No race is better than the other. God created every race from Adam and Eve in Genesis chapter 1. Since God created us all then we are all of equal value in the eyes of a holy God. This is the fact that you aren’t hearing. It is time Christians divert from entertaining the race narrative and start explaining that each race and life is of equal value in the eyes of our Creator.
Christians must focus on the root problem in America and that is the lack of fathers in the home which stems from the denial of God and his commands. Most of these cases involving police shootings begin when someone disobeys police orders. There needs to be a restored respect for authority in America and that will only come through salvation in Jesus Christ. As Christians, He is our ultimate authority.
The next time someone mentions skin color or race as a quality worthy of noting, remind them that all people are of equal value in the eyes of Creator God. Skin color is irrelevant when it comes to defining the value of one's life.
