Editor’s Note: All opinion section content reflects the views of the individual author only and does not represent a stance taken by The Collegian or its editorial board.

“Hands up, don’t shoot!” demonstrators yelled outside the Minneapolis Third Precinct on Thursday, May 28. The building would be burned to the ground later that night during a protest over the death of George Floyd.

The killing of George Floyd and the reaction of the president and his administration is unforgivable. The killing of innocent Black people is unforgivable, and there is no other way to see this issue.”

We’ve seen it on Twitter as retweets and threads of how people can stand up for this injustice. We’ve seen it on Instagram as people re-post illustrations and photos of George Floyd on their stories and feeds. We’ve seen it on TikTok with Childish Gambino’s “This is America” playing over videos of protesters. The truth is that this is America.

The killing of George Floyd and the reaction of the president and his administration is unforgivable. The killing of innocent Black people is unforgivable, and there is no other way to see this issue. 

There is no Republican and Democrat divide in an issue like this ⁠— there is just what is right and what is wrong. 

I used to believe there were always two sides to a story. I thought that all issues were complex and had different parts to them. I wanted to analyze every detail of the social and political problems our country faces and understand where people were coming from because, to me, that was the only way to have productive political discourse, and that is what it meant to be a journalist.  

I used to want to listen to supporters of the president and his administration, and until today, I gave most of those people my respect. I wanted to understand their beliefs, why they believed their side was right and where their values came from.

Today is the day where I have no interest in listening to those that support the president. His supporters, and anyone that has remained silent on this issue, have used up all of my understanding, compassion and forgiveness. I have run out of kindness, respect and patience for them. 

It should be clear and remembered as a fact that the president of the United States publicly advocated to shoot people begging for an ounce of mercy from this country.

….These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), May 29, 2020

There is no other side to this issue ⁠— there is one side, and it is George Floyd’s. It is the side of the Black community. It is the side that is protesting and risking their lives so another innocent Black person will not die at the hands of a historically racist system that everyone contributes to in some way every day.

“It really frustrates me when people try to simplify this issue down to saying the only issue is a few racist police officers killing Black people,” says Bryson Owens, a Colorado State University mathematics graduate of spring 2020. “Saying that completely ignores a history of racial intolerance that has led us to a completely broken system.”

This history is repetitive. In 1992, people looted and rioted in the Los Angeles Metropolitan area, demanding justice for the beating of Rodney King by police officers. Twenty-eight years later, it feels as though almost no time has passed at all. The same violence continues, if not grows worse every day. The same outrage and demands for change continue as people quietly descend back into comfortable ignorance, waiting for the next police officer to “accidentally” murder another innocent Black person.

“I am sick and tired of fighting for the justice system to do its job equally for people of all races,” says Leora Greene, a third year psychology major at CSU.

There is nothing anyone can say to change this or undo what has been done. There is no going back, but there is a path forward. We can all sign petitions, spread awareness and talk about this, but one of the best things we can all do for this situation is vote in November. I will be the first to say that, regardless of party, a vote to re-elect the current president is a vote for hatred. 

I can forgive many actions of this country because it is the natural, human thing to forgive. Though I will never forgive this, and you shouldn’t either. 

Katrina Leibee can be reached at letters@collegian.com or on Twitter @KatrinaLeibee.