A common response to the #BlackLivesMatter hash tag is a demand for an equal outrage over cop deaths. There's a mix of ideas and logic behind that response.
There's the hero angle. The Cops are putting their lives on the line to protect us. We need to honor those sacrifices, which are made on our behalf. Being a cop is dangerous!
Next is the #AllLivesMatter angle. Cops are people, too. Don't we care about all lives?
And what would we do without cops? That's generally implicit, but sometimes made explicit. Lurid, racist memes pop up around this idea a lot.
I'd rather ask what would we do without roofers? More below the fold.
Roofing is a much more dangerous job than policing. Tell that to a cop apologist and you'll generally hear policing and roofing aren't morally equivalent. Roofing is just a business. A roofer doesn't put oneself in harm's way on behalf of one's fellow citizens. We don't expect sacrifice from our roofers. We do in fact.
Imagine a society without roofers. Roofing would be left to individual homeowners. Individuals would be putting their lives directly on the line. Citizen death and injury rates would rise, since roofing is a dangerous job. The idea that dangers police encounter are more socially valuable than the dangers roofers face every day is ridiculous. Roofers literally place themselves in harms way for the rest of us. Roofers are injured and die in greater numbers than cops. Roofers risk their lives and livelihoods for us every day.
Policing has its dangers, but it's neither morally superior to other jobs, nor is it the most dangerous of jobs. #RoofersLivesMatter.