Trevor Noah is there for you when your network news anchor can’t, or won’t, talk about the day’s headlines in a woke way. And he was there again on Thursday night in the wake of this week’s police-related killings of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling, whose shootings have sparked a renewed wave of protest against the treatment of black men by police.
“You know, the hardest part of having a conversation surrounding police shootings in America, it always feels like in America, it’s like if you take a stand for something, you automatically are against something else,” said Noah, while clarifying that the difficult conversation is more complex than whether you’re a dog or cat person, or pro Red Sox or Yankees.
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That difference grew even more stark on Thursday night, when at least one sniper shot and killed five police officers and wounded others in Dallas after he said he was upset about recent police shootings and wanted to kill white officers, according to The New York Times.
“But with police shootings, it shouldn’t have to work that way,” Noah continued, saying you shouldn’t have to pick between police and the people they protect. “For instance, if you’re pro Black Lives Matter you’re assumed to be anti-police, and if you’re pro-police, then you surely hate black people… When in reality, you can be pro-cop and pro-black, which is what we should all be!”
One of the strongest pieces of evidence that it’s not all one or the other came from Lupe Fiasco, who on Friday morning (July 8) posted a series of tweets in which he said he “walks both sides” when it comes to police and black people because he has two brothers and a sister who are active officers and a father who was a state police deputy. He also urged caution when it comes to “this new vicarious fear that was born last night,” referring to the police shootings in Dallas.