The police and the protesters have more in common than they think

You can sense the rage.

When two of NYPD’s finest were murdered in cold blood Saturday, many police officers and their supporters knew who to blame.

Those who’ve criticized police.

Police union head Pat Lynch said New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio had blood on his hands. Former mayor Rudy Giuliani said President Obama drove people to “hate the police.” Former New York Governor George Pataki blamed De Blasio and Attorney General Eric Holder.

They all blamed the protesters. In fact, you got the sense many cops and their supporters believed the murderer somehow represented the protesters. Some extreme protesters despicably reinforced those perceptions.

This was an emotional response by police to an emotional situation—much of it warranted.

Disdain for police did grow in the wake of the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. Many protesters did seem to blame all cops for those deaths—even in the Michael Brown situation where the details were murky at best.

The protesters didn’t blame just the individuals involved—but an environment that had allowed the needless deaths of young black men to happen. The protests themselves were against an environment many black Americans believe will continue to allow these kinds of deaths to happen, not just Michael Brown and Eric Garner in particular.

Saturday, Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu died needlessly. The only person directly responsible for this was the murderer. Unhinged people do unhinged things. To suggest otherwise delves into collectivist thinking which is always problematic.

It is also sometimes accurate.

Is there an environment right now that would make the murder of police officers more probable? Police and many others say yes. Is there a public mood right now that was bound to push someone unstable to commit violence?

Police say yes. And they’re right.

But so are the protesters.

Is there an enduring environment in America that makes police violence against young black men more probable? Many black Americans say yes. The statistics back them up. Black Americans have actually been saying this for a very long time, but only recently have had the opportunity to say it louder than ever before.

But those who’ve protested police brutality recently have been told they’re completely wrong. They’ve been told to stop making it about race. They’ve been told to stop with the “propaganda.”

They’ve been told there is no real problem. For black Americans, this has to be enraging.

The NYPD should know how they feel.

The worst thing you could tell a New York City police officer right now is that “anti-cop” sentiment had nothing to do with the deaths of two cops Saturday. It’s the worst thing you could tell them because it’s simply not true. The current environment is a factor and police officers and others should say so.

The worst thing you can tell many black Americans is that there is no such thing as an epidemic of police brutality directed at black Americans. They know that’s not true and should say so as loudly as they please.

One side is not completely right and the other, completely wrong, as so many on either side seem to believe. There is plenty of truth on both sides. There is hypocrisy on both sides too.

These tensions will not subside until both sides begin acknowledging the other, something few seem willing to do.

Until Americans coming from either perspective stop talking past each other and start talking to each other, both deplorable environments will persist and probably worsen in the weeks and months to come.

We must do better. Lives are at stake.