Driving to work yesterday, I saw a sign someone had placed in their front yard. I’ve seen a few of these signs in recent weeks, and it warms my heart every time I see one. It read, “Thank you first responders.”

For months, our country has been showing sincere and well deserved gratitude toward the first responders who put themselves in harm’s way during this pandemic. Social media is filled with images of individuals bringing food and messages of appreciation to police and fire stations and hospitals throughout the country. It doesn’t take a pandemic for the heroes in these fields to risk their lives to protect us, but it took a pandemic for us to recognize and appreciate it to the point that many went out of their way to show their appreciation.

Sadly, seemingly out of nowhere, the vile acts of four police officers turned the attitudes of our country on a dime. The reprehensible acts of a minority of officers suddenly put everyone that shares that uniform under the same umbrella. How quickly we have forgotten the gratitude we were feeling just days before.

Police officers are now in the precarious position of trying to protect the innocent – and themselves – while faced with being enormously outnumbered by protesters whose behavior is unpredictable due to their justifiable angst, along with a few bad actors who have taken the liberty of turning a valid protest into an excuse to act like criminals and endanger the livelihoods and wellbeing of us all. The officers are seemingly in a no-win situation as they walk the very tight line between their duty to protect and the scrutiny of all our watchful eyes on their every move.

What happened to George Floyd – and others – was wrong. Criminal history notwithstanding, no officer has the right to do what was done. It is sickening. There is no question that there are bad cops, and police departments have a responsibility to weed them out and handle them accordingly. But to behave as if all officers are bad or racist is no better than acting as if all black people or all gay people – or people of any group – are bad based on the actions of a few, and it will only do more harm.

Police officers are resigning, and I can’t say I blame them. Men and women who took on a thankless career, putting themselves at risk to go to work every day to protect you and me are saying they’ve had enough. So now where will we be, if we are so busy scrutinizing their every move that they can’t be effective in doing their jobs and having some level of confidence that their spouses will not become widows in the process?

I hate the stories I am hearing about what my African American friends and neighbors have been through, and we haven’t done enough to correct it. I can’t imagine being in their shoes. It is heartbreaking, and we have a lot of work to do to make it right. I support and respect the peaceful protestors who are out there trying to effect the change that is long overdue. But let’s not punish those who, just a few weeks ago, we were celebrating for putting their lives on the line for us. I can’t imagine being in their shoes either, and if my husband were an officer, I think I would be begging him to retire.

Four years ago, my heart broke as we all tried to make sense of the Pulse nightclub shootings. In response I quickly recorded this video, recorded by Ronnie Dunn, and it still rings true today. We are all God’s children. We are all brothers and sisters. We all bleed red. We should treat each other accordingly.