The issue of ending racism is much more complex than simply hugging a police officer or ‘hugging the hate away’. The issue is not a ‘lack of love’ from this black person to a police officer but a lack of justice. How can I hug someone (ultimately an institution) who is withholding justice from me? We have been hugging white people since Trayvon was murdered in 2012. We have been hugging police since Michael Brown was murdered in 2014. Yet to this day the same racist system remains in place. I do understand the sentiment of communicating an ethic of love that embodies the best of humanity. This black person hugging this officer is powerful. But the ONLY redeeming quality of this photo is that, time and time again, black people are inviting our perpetrators to a better way of living and being. Black people are CONSTANTLY and incessantly asking white people to take their knee off of our throats. Year-after-year we we meet white violence with black grace. Year-after-year white
Thinker, Social Critic, Writer and Speaker. This is the social commentary of a Black American Christian.