[Below is a letter to the editor I sent to my hometown newspaper. Feel free to use it as a template for your own letter if you wish and feel the same way I do on the issues.]
In 2015, when police homicides in America first gained national attention, there were 59 civilians shot dead in the first 24 days of that year. By contrast, in England and Wales there were a total of 55 civilians killed in police shootings during the prior 24 YEARS. Accounting for population differences we might expect 12 civilians killed by police here per year, not ten time that number.
We have too many police homicides and the problem is compounded when a disproportionate number killed are African-Americans. It may just be rogue cops and a few tainted police department behind most shootings, yet little is being done to correct the problem.
So when I see an NFL player kneeling at the National Anthem, I'm reminded we have to work harder to overcome racial bias and improve our national policing.
When fans, and especially Legionnaires burn NFL jerseys to protest the players calling our attention to this problem, I feel a disconnect. Don't they know they're dehumanizing the dead and trivializing the trauma of their loved ones? Which is the greater offence, kneeling at the anthem or ignoring these needless killings?
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