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A law enforcement officer in Florida is attracting widespread Internet attention this week with her recorded response to her young son’s inquiry. As she was getting dressed for work, 20-year veteran officer Lydia Marquez said her 4-year-old asked “that glorious question of why.”
It took her a while to form an answer, she explained, noting she further stewed over her decision to share her answer publicly. In the end, Marquez said her daily decision to report for duty boils down to her attitude toward others.
“I told him, ‘Because mommy cares,’” she said.
While cops across the nation have been threatened, attacked and killed in the wake of racially motivated protests, Marquez opined that her profession is far less institutionally biased than many others.
“When you fill out any official document for credit, a job, anything,” she said, “it asks you … what your gender is. It asks you if you’re black, if you’re white, if you’re Hispanic, if you’re American Indian, if you’re Asian. It asks you all those personal questions.”
She noted that a 911 dispatcher, however, is only interested in providing the most appropriate response to all emergencies, regardless of the caller’s description. The first responders sent into harm’s way are similarly uninterested in the race or creed of those they assist.
Marquez continued: “We don’t ask that dispatcher, ‘Hold on, wait, is this a black person who’s calling? Is this a white person who’s calling?’ That doesn’t matter because we don’t care.”
She concluded that multiple commendations are “collecting dust” in a closet at her home, explaining that she is only interested in pinning one item – her badge – to her uniform each morning. It represents the oath she took upon accepting her position.
“The oath is colorblind,” she said.
Marquez elaborated further in an interview with WFOR this week, explaining that she ultimately posted the video to give a voice to police officers across the nation who are “being targeted” by assailants on a regular basis.
“I spoke for those of us who couldn’t,” she said, “and I’m proud of that. Thank you so much for everyone’s support. It’s been phenomenal.”
Does this officer have the right attitude? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
This post originally appeared on Western Journalism – Equipping You With The Truth