The issue needs to be heard. Over and over again, the same news is seen and nothing is being taken care of to fix this problem that we have in our society.
Gun violence, racism and discrimination are such important topics that are unfortunately seen in our country. Those who are Black, whether child or adult, shouldn’t be made to feel like they are being hunted or a danger in this country.
In Judaism, it is said that “everyone is created b’tzelem Elohim,” which means “everyone is created in the image of God.” Feeling like those around you are a threat shouldn’t be what’s “normal” in our world, because every single human being, no matter the color of their skin, was created in the Divine image.
Last month, an 84 year-old white man shot Ralph Yarl, a 16 year-old Black teen who is around our age. Yarl was going to pick up his two younger siblings from a friend’s house, but he went to the wrong address, mixing up “street” and “terrace.” After ringing the doorbell, he was shot in the head and arm through a locked glass door, as the man who shot him was “scared to death” of his presence.
As teens ourselves who have knocked on doors to sell Girl Scout cookies, collect goods for food drives, and to simply pick up our siblings, we are horrified to think this could have happened to us. But the truth is, as we are almost all white students, this wouldn’t have been us. The reason the perpetrator was “scared to death” was because Ralph Yarl is Black. We could say we are “shocked,” but in reality, this is just one more incident of violence against Black and Brown people in this country. This is a problem.
If you want to help, you can go to Ralph's GoFundMe right now and donate, contact your local government officials about gun violence, and share this letter. Anything to spread more awareness or change peoples minds about it helps. Ralph’s Go Fund Me: gofundme.com/f/nf36y-cover-medical-expenses.
