Demonstrators confront military police in Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C., on May 30, 2020. (Rosa Pineda / CC BY-SA, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4)

George Floyd, an African American man, was murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. It is time to take the blinders off or at least acknowledge that we all have blind spots.

We work hard. We play hard. We try to live our lives based on what we learned growing up. We learned from our parents, teachers, and neighbors. We think we are right in what we believe and what we say. Our actions and, in some cases, our inactions reflect who we are and what we stand for.

What is happening all over our country in this day and age makes me think. I believe that we must all rethink things about today’s reality and how we live. We are all human beings. We all experience the same basic emotions and have the same needs and wants.

However, “What side are you on?” is often what I hear. How can I help make change if this is where it starts? If I pick “sides,” what happens next? I don’t want to be on anyone’s “side.” I want to be able to address the issue at hand, regardless of whose “side” it is.

When George Floyd was murdered, it was tragic. It was “Oh, not again!” It was numbing. The video was all-telling. The image of former police officer Derek Chauvin with his knee on the neck of Mr. Floyd was horrific. The image of the other offices doing nothing to get Chauvin to take his knee off Mr. Floyd’s neck was, too. Mr. Floyd was in cuffs and “under control.” And he was pleading for help because he could not breathe.

I will see myself as one of those officers who were there and did nothing but condone Derek Chauvin’s actions if I choose to do nothing now. Of course, now I am taking “sides.” Yes, of course, I am. I am taking the side that says we cannot treat any person with total contempt and disregard for his or her well-being. Yes, I understand that police also have the right to protect themselves. But this is about how some police officers violate the people’s trust and how some officers are complicit by taking no actions to stop bad policing.

I do not hate the police. I recognize that they are human and like everyone else are trying to do a job that they chose and that they need to support their families. I do not hate anyone. Yet I have absolutely no respect for people who will look the other way when they have a chance to help someone who is in a desperate fight for their lives. They look the other way because they do not want to risk their own positions and the trust of other officers. Would I risk my job because I did not like a specific rule or task I was given? I would like to think that, yes, I would, if I were asked to do something that was morally wrong and would cause injury to someone. I hope I would—especially if this were a repeated occurrence in my job. One time is one too many.

Eventually, the pressure would get to me. I would either compromise my personal integrity and stay with it because I needed the job or—and it is a big or—I would speak out and risk all. That is an untenable and lonely position to be in. I would rather find another job so I could continue to support my family and, equally important, so I could live with myself. Many peace officers are faced with this moral dilemma. Choices, choices, and choices.

Mr. George Floyd did not choose to be black. He was born black. He made a mistake, but because he was black he lost his life. How is that fair or just?

We all must ask, “What can I do?” to make things just and fair for everyone. It is time to look for our own blind spots. You say one person does not make a difference? That I am fine where I am at—I will send in my $5 to support the cause? No, it is time to take a deep breath and truly look at ourselves and make the choice to speak up or compromise our integrity. Let us speak out loud and hard, not with threats and empty promises but with plans for drastic action. More important, we need to put those plans into effect—now!

Let us mourn for the loss of Mr. Floyd and the suffering his family is experiencing. Let us mourn for the family of Derek Chauvin because they did not have anything to do with his actions and they must be hurting too. Let us start with our children and grandchildren and use this as a life lesson because we want a better world for them when we are gone. Let us not have people live in constant fear because of their color.

For those of us who cannot participate in physical protesting for whatever reason, let us keep communications open with our representatives at the local, state, and national levels. Let us vote in November. The ballot box is the one place where we can speak for ourselves without having to justify our choices to anyone but ourselves. And finally, in a sign of solidarity regardless of life position, let us take a knee with our families, friends, and coworkers, and post the pictures on social media. Let us acknowledge our common humanity.

—Peter Zavala