#IfTheyGunnedMeDown Changes the Conversation Around Police Shootings

Think about it. If they gunned me down, what picture do you think the media would use to create a racial bias? That’s exactly what people are asking on Twitter with hashtag #IfTheyGunnedMeDown, giving a voice to one of the biggest problems we face in the modern age of police brutality and racism through the eye of multimedia.

For instance, the media has already switched gears on the killing of an unarmed black teenager last weekend in Ferguson, Missouri, changing the story from police misconduct to a racially charged protest that turned violent and lawless. I’m not saying the kid was in the right or wrong–I want to make that clear–but is the police’s job to protect and serve or to kill our children? Let’s not forget: Ferguson Police are refusing to disclose the name of the shooting officer. Who are they protecting, there?

And what about Michael Brown? Or Trayvon Martin? I’ve got two teenage boys of my own, and I live in a world where I need to tell them to be wary of the police, because they might become their next victim. If they gunned down my boys, what picture would they use?

Here’s some of the tweets that brave young men and women have been posting over the last few days. If they don’t make you think, then there’s something wrong with you.

#iftheygunnedmedown which picture would they use? pic.twitter.com/YgSAUC1R8u — Name Ring BELLS (@Heartbreak_Rell) August 10, 2014

#IfTheyGunnedMeDown, and I was unarmed, what picture would the media use to create a racialized bias? pic.twitter.com/AolLMfiOJV — LEFT (@LeftSentThis) August 10, 2014

Yes let’s do that: Which photo does the media use if the police shot me down? #IfTheyGunnedMeDown pic.twitter.com/Ng0pUlxWhr — YoungGifted&Black✊ (@CJ_musick_lawya) August 10, 2014

#IfTheyGunnedMeDown what picture would they use pic.twitter.com/lJ3k3tT63n — I Am Who I Am (@King_Ghidorah5) August 11, 2014

#IfTheyGunnedMeDown would they use my pic on the left or the right? pic.twitter.com/W3W1EUMXvz — Not A Walking Target (@_bennythejet) August 10, 2014

What picture would they use #IfTheyGunnedMeDown? Note that I’m holding a simple airsoft gun. pic.twitter.com/lnhdsHTPUm — I Eat Ass Ketchum (@PokemonyeWest) August 10, 2014

#IftheyGunnedMeDown Which pic the news gonna show? I look fly in both tho pic.twitter.com/FNVdT2aR4F — Goldman Blacks, MBA (@MandingoRFC) August 10, 2014

#IfTheyGunnedMeDown which pic would they use? pic.twitter.com/hCaxgDuocm — KJ (@JonnyProton) August 10, 2014

#IfTheyGunnedMeDown today what picture would you use America? Where is the justice. pic.twitter.com/birjvOrjzN — Quinton Jones (@QDOTjones) August 11, 2014

#IfTheyGunnedMeDown I have a feeling I know what picture they’d use. pic.twitter.com/A0eUvBqoUP — Pete Haviland-Eduah (@TheNotoriousPHE) August 11, 2014

Which picture would the media use #iftheygunnedmedown the left or the right? pic.twitter.com/BXGjJFvRco — Adam SLANDER (@mr_mookie) August 10, 2014

#IfTheyGunnedMeDown would I be labeled an honor grad or a blunt smokah pic.twitter.com/BCaRqMCMn8 — (@TopFlightRod) August 11, 2014

#IfTheyGunnedMeDown what pic would the news use? pic.twitter.com/C1GbDCxlH3 — Devontae Davis (@PrinceOfTh3City) August 11, 2014

#IfTheyGunnedMeDown would I be remembered as a sophisticated young man or ButMan pic.twitter.com/boS1ru137q — FancyHoodNiggaFYN (@TopFlightTrey) August 11, 2014

#IfTheyGunnedMeDown Would they use the one of me pretending to be hard, or me getting a Ph.D.? pic.twitter.com/CIOS5ry4bm — Stacey Patton (@SPchronvitae) August 13, 2014

#IfTheyGunnedMeDown Which picture would they use? – CC Cruz pic.twitter.com/uxLnnhWJmD

— B106 (@myB106tweets) August 13, 2014

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