Racism is not a joke. Giving a snide comment about someone’s nationality may seem trivial to some people, but in reality, it is something that we should not be laughing about.
While race, skin color, or cultural orientation are not considered to be huge issues for most people, there are still individuals who consider color and ethnicity as an excuse to oppress others. Just recently, the world was shocked to see another story of a black man dying in the hands of a white police officer.
The news left millions of people enraged about what happened to a man named George Floyd. His story is not the first, but we certainly hope for it to be the last of its kind.
The event triggered rallies and protests about racial discrimination. It also affected the reputation of the police force, causing cops to feel bothered by the situation. What happened to Floyd resulted in some folks stereotyping police officers and what they are all standing for in this shocking story of racial discrimination.
One of those cops is Aaron Ostachuk, a police officer from Honolulu, Hawaii. Apart from the fact that George Floyd’s story has made trusting the police a bit harder, Officer Ostachuk was also in low spirits that day because of the tragic loss of two of his comrades.
It was a sunny day and he was in Chinatown, sitting alone in his parked patrol car when suddenly, someone knocked on his window.
He was sad and in deep thought when the little African American boy came and asked if he could roll his window down, which he did. Officer Ostachuk smiled at the little boy and asked, “What’s up, little man?”
What happened next truly touched the cop’s heart.
“I will never forget the biggest smile he had and him bouncing on his toes in excitement asking. ‘Can I take a picture with you?'” Ostachuk wrote on his Facebook post. “I responded, ‘With me?’ He again said, ‘Can I take a picture with you?’ I was delighted.”
In that short moment, the cop’s dark world suddenly lit up. This little boy turned his frown upside down and he’s more than glad to grant him his wish.
Officer Ostachuk stepped out of the vehicle and picked the little boy up. Together, the two of them posed and smiled for the camera held by the boy’s mom. The woman was also filled with emotion as she took a picture of the two and even shed a tear as she snapped a shot of them.
The cop was moved by the boy’s sincerity and realized how his Mom must have talked him out of asking for a picture of the police officer.
“This is a young boy who looked up to me as someone who won’t hurt him. I can only imagine ‘the talk’ his mother had given him prior to this picture as well as after George Floyd.”
In his Facebook post, Officer Ostachuk also wrote on how he felt about the issue of racism.
“I, among many other Police Officers, are sick and tired of racist, hateful, ego-bearing cops tarnishing our good, hard work and then having our profession take two steps backward and all look bad. The Thin Blue Line isn’t about covering for one another when one of us does wrong. It’s about protecting good from evil.”
The officer’s post went viral and reached over 103,000 shares on Facebook. Through his heartfelt message on social media, Officer Ostachuk hopes to inspire others and encourage everyone about continuing to fight the good fight.
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