Race and Policing: It Starts With the Stop

While we may not be able to prove the motivation behind these incessant numbers of police stops, it is reasonable to believe that â??driving while blackâ? played a pivotal role. African Americans have long complained about racial profiling and its effects on our civil liberties. However, it is more than merely a legal injustice; it is an affront to the understanding of the Imago Deiâ??that all people are created in the image of God. At the core of the Black Lives Matter movement is a cry for African Americans to be seen and treated as human beings. Throughout American history, black lives have not been valued in the same way as white lives. From slavery to Reconstruction to Jim Crow laws to the three-strikes laws that disproportionately filled prisons with black people, African Americans have struggled to be seen and treated by law enforcement officers as human beings. Recent events remind us that the struggle is far from over, and it is imperative that we take drastic steps to make corrective action.