Ever since Tyre Nichols' brutal and tragic death at the hands of corrupt police officers, many Black people have reported feelings of overwhelmness, trauma, anguish, and outrage at the event. Many people took it to the streets to protest against the horrid injustice that Tyre faced during a simple walk home.

According to the police officers, they were "conducting" a routine traffic stop on him due to reports of reckless driving, however, a half-hour video from a utility pole camera showed that Tyre was not driving recklessly, and the officers had no probable cause to search him. They proceeded to beat him by kicking him on the ground repeatedly while he begged for them to stop. After arresting him, he reported a shortness of breath and was taken to the hospital where he was in critical condition. Three days later, Tyre would tragically succumb to his wounds and die on January 10th. The official cause of death had not been released at this time, but Rodney Wells, Tyre’s stepfather, said that he died due to cardiac arrest and kidney failure following the beating. The five officers — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills, Jr., Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith  — were fired on Jan. 20 and are now facing criminal charges including second-degree murder.

To put things in perspective into the sheer horror and brutality of the murder, FBI director Christopher Wray reportedly told FBI field officers to "prepare for the possibility of protests getting out of hand" after he saw the video of the murder. This utter disregard for human life is one of many examples of police brutality primarily affecting People of Color (POC). It is important that we make the distinction that there really ARE two America's.

A person who is white, straight, and middle class does not have to worry about the very real chance of being pulled over simply for their skin color. Those who act as if POC haven't been directly targeted by the police for entire centuries are naive at best, actively harmful at worst. Black people have been mistreated so long by the country that we call the "land of the free", that it has actively created generational trauma that has passed down to family members. Let us not forget that Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech was only 60 years ago. 

I would like to believe that we as a country have grown from being racist to each other, but unfortunately history repeats itself. According to Sirry Alang, “Even if a BIPOC individual is not physically harmed, the constant stress of elevated levels of hypervigilance, fear, anxiety and hopelessness is a source of harm. Police brutality has a ripple effect, because the psychological violence experienced paired with unmet mental health needs results in a lack of trust in systems, which contributes to medical mistrust and hesitancy.” There is only so much sorrow and tragedy that the average human can take before they're sent to the brink of collapse. 

If we, as a nation, are to state that all persons are created equal, then can you look at this moment in history and act as though it was a simple accident? If people from another country, such as Japan, take to the streets and protest against injustice even for something that historically has not affected them, then why do we beat around the bush and try to pretend that it is just a part of America? This goes to show that police brutality isn’t just something that is only an “American” problem but a universal problem that every country has had to talk about for decades. A young Black boy should NEVER, under ANY circumstances, be pulled over by corrupt police officers for looking "suspicious.” We are all HUMAN, but to America it doesn't matter. They will make you work like a dog and beat you to death before they take responsibility, as long as they make money from it. They'll hoard all the resources and redline your state so bad it isn't even funny. As the great Malcom X said: "by any means necessary".

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Sources: 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tyre-nichols-death-investigation-memphis-police-officers-charges-what-we-know/

https://thepostmillennial.com/christopher-wray-appalled-at-tyre-nichols-bodycam-footage-calls-for-peaceful-protests-in-memphis

https://pretermbirthca.ucsf.edu/news/police-brutalitys-impact-black-and-brown-mental-health

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-53428863