Letter: We see how Black and white people are treated differently

I am writing this letter to talk about the events that happened Jan. 6, Donald Trump’s supporters storming and vandalizing the U.S. Capitol.

My point is how there were barely any police officers there to stop them. The security guards weren’t doing anything to stop them either. If those protesters had been Black or brown people, there would have been a lot more police. Even if it started off peacefully and escalated, there would have been a lot more violence with the citizens and the police.

Wednesday showed that white privilege exists in this country, and the protesters who were at the Capitol were mostly white and got away with a lot. Where were those officers who were throwing tear gas, shooting people and using shields that were there at the Black Lives Matter protests this last June? Where were they Wednesday, when these people were climbing the building, breaking into the Capitol, smashing windows?

I don’t like violence, and I am glad that there were not a lot of people hurt or killed Wednesday. My point is that I think it is unfair that people are treated differently because of the color of our skin, and for the people who were not aware of that fully before the events that took place Wednesday, we now see how Black people and white people are treated a lot different then each other.

My hope is that one day there will be no more violence in this country and hopefully one day everyone is treated fairly.

Alexis Shropshire, Salt Lake City

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