Americans can come together, solve problems

Sometimes it’s better to say nothing at all.

We couldn’t find the words to express our sorrow at the killing of two more black men by police officers and the deaths of five Dallas policemen at the hands of a gunman bent on vengeance.

Then the son of one of the slain men spoke.

Cameron Sterling, 15, is grieving the death of his father, Alton, shot by police in Baton Rouge on July 5. But Cameron Sterling doesn’t want vengeance. He wants peace. He wants those protesting across the country to protest in peace.

“Not beating the police, not police beating the people,” he said. “That makes no sense. That makes things worse. You have to make things better by making peace.”

Can we make peace? It, at best, looks uncertain.

In recent days, protesters raged at the police and the police responded in kind.

That, friends, solves nothing. The inflammatory words on both sides in the streets and on social media merely widen a divide we must close.

We have to admit there is racism in America. And we have to confront it, one racist post at a time. It must not go unanswered.

We have to see beyond the uniform, the color of a person’s skin. We must be better judges. Better teachers of respect.

We must not allow a small number of police officers who are openly racist, or murderous, taint the image of the thousands who faithfully and fairly serve.

And when a police officer uses deadly force, we must demand a fair and impartial investigation.

And finally, we must talk about the problem of guns. There were so many legally carried guns on the streets of Dallas the night of the shootings there was no way the officers could tell the good guys with guns from the bad guys.

Supporters of firearm rights have to help with the heavy lifting on this one. Both sides need to engage in something other than superheated rhetoric.

In other words, we must become more of a community. A nation that solves its problems together, not one that exploits them for political advantage.

This story was originally published July 16, 2016 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Americans can come together, solve problems."