As disagreements about race and unequal treatment of minorities run rampant in the United States, we see an increase in violent acts against innocent people because of color. 
According to the Marine Corps Times, former Sgt. Christopher Marquez, a Marine Iraq War veteran, sat quietly at a McDonald’s when a group surrounded him. 
They aggressively questioned him about whether he believed “that black lives mattered.” When Marquez refused to respond, they called him a racist.
“I am not even talking to you, and that’s your opinion,” Marquez said in response.
After finishing his meal, Marquez left the restaurant. The group assaulted him, robbed him and left him unconscious in the parking lot. 
They didn’t know they attacked a veteran in the name of the Black Lives Matter movement. Marquez now wants the movement to denounce the acts of these young people, which would protect Black Lives Matter from being characterized as a violent group.
I have no issues with Black Lives Matter as long as it remains peaceful. Public protests and organizations often generate the attention needed to bring an important topic to the forefront. However, violence, looting, assault or any other form of unnecessary force goes beyond awareness and increases the divide between fighting sides.
Black Lives Matter should rethink its tactics if some members within the movement are going to act violently especially toward those who served our country. Violence only leads to violence. Keeping violent acts under control is important because not doing so could label a group intended for peace as a hate group. 
LSU’s own students fighting for racial equality made their voices heard in a nonviolent manner. Last semester, the United Daughters of the Confederacy held a meeting on campus. The LSU students who share Black Lives Matter’s  values demonstrated their disdain by burning the Confederate flag.
Cimajie Best, then-president of LSU’s chapter of the NAACP, expressed her discontent with the Lod Cook Hotel and Conference Center’s accommodations for the Confederacy group because of the stigma regarding Confederate symbols. I don’t approve of burning historical symbols, regardless of the controversy surrounding them, but I am impressed with their nonviolent expression.
Racial tensions in America grow daily because people jump to conclusions without taking facts into account. Let’s set something straight. You’re not racist just because your skin is light, and you’re not any less of a person just because your skin is dark.
I’d bet if everyone in America took a DNA test, many would be shocked to discover only a minute portion of this country is 100 percent one race or ethnicity. America prides itself on its status as a melting pot, so let’s start acting like one.
“Being a veteran, it kills me to see such ugly racial division in our country,” Marquez said. “I spent too much time fighting in other countries that allowed ethnic and religious division to rip their societies apart. It’s something we do not want in America. As long as Black Lives Matter remains silent on hate crimes against white people they will continue to lose credibility and accomplish no real policy change.”
Labeling organizations according to race only divides us. If we want to overcome racial inequality, we have to start with an equal playing field for all and remove race-identifying groups. Our country is leaps and bounds from where it was 100 years ago. I don’t want to see us lose that progress. 
Charlie Bonacquisti is a 20-year-old mass communication sophomore from Dallas, Texas.
 
Read Clarke Perkin’s response here