One man dead, six officers with charges against them, and hundreds rioting, but there is a group missing from the equation. Anyone who has glanced at a television or browsed their social media news feed in the last month has undoubtedly seen the chaos that has enveloped the city of Baltimore after the funeral of Freddie Gray. Gray, a 25-year-old African American man who died due to injuries he sustained while in police custody, prompted the people of Baltimore to riot and wreck the city following his death, but as new photos continue to surface on social media, an entirely different side of the story is unfolding.

If you’re white and think the riots are wrong, you are immediately deemed a racist or a cop sympathizer. If you’re African-American and feel the same way, you’re referred to as an Uncle Tom, or worse.

People telling you that you are out of touch? Insensitive? Maybe even racist? They’re the people, who probably live outside of Baltimore, and are saying that destroying property is the only way to get attention. More than likely, if it were their home, their car, their stores, their community, or their lives that were being put in danger, they’d be of a very different mind. They’re the ones who are out of touch with what’s happening in the city, and they have that privilege because it’s not their community being devastated.

You may think that all minorities in the community are in unanimous agreement that rioting is the way to go. While there are some that say that the rioters are the exception to the rule of peaceful protest, there are many others blatantly saying that destroying the city is the only way to get noticed. However, in all fairness, another aspect of what is happening in Baltimore that the media doesn’t show are the peaceful protesters. They sit or stand in front of lines of police holding signs in complete silence, and most importantly no one gets hurt. Sadly no one knows about these two groups of people, both the non-supporters and peaceful protesters because they are no where near being the loudest voice coming out of Baltimore.

These events have led to several police being injured or killed in the line of duty, and as many pictures have shown, not all minority citizens in the area agree that rioting is the thing to do. In fact, many are taking a stand; protecting police from potential harm by creating a human wall in front of law enforcement. These are the people of Baltimore too, and they don’t want their city destroyed; they know all to well that the riots aren’t helping. These same citizens are the ones picking up the trash and wreckage in their community after the rioters have done their damage.

The medical examiner found that Gray’s lethal injury was caused when he slammed into the back of the police transport van, which broke his neck. His head injury, a bolt found in the back of the police van. This is how the examiner knew what caused his head injury and ultimately his sever spinal injury which caused his death. However, it is unclear whether Gray’s injuries were the result of police brutality or if they were self sustained. Regardless of what truly happened on that ride to the police station, the officers who were involved have had legal action taken against them.

On top of this,the police commissioner of Baltimore, Anthony Batts, stated several times that he and the rest of the police force are not trying to stifle demonstrations, but just keep everyone safe. He of course is referring more to the peaceful protesters. “The Constitution says you should have the right to protest in the street and walk to get your point across. So that’s what we facilitate” Batts told USA TODAY. Standing across from a burned down CVS, Batts is very much aware of the critical situation taking place and hopes that the riots do not devastate areas of the city to the point where full recovery won’t be possible.

There is a rage among the people of Baltimore, but destroying the community is not the way to voice one’s frustrations. With over 200 protesters arrested and more than 20 police officers injured, its clear that the riots are not solving or proving anything. Its perfectly acceptable to disagree with the riots, as many of the Baltimore residents do. Instead, what people, as well as the media should do, is strain to hear the peaceful protesters and non supporters trying to weather the storm in Baltimore.

One African American resident said : “Man, that didn’t need to happen last night. They did that all… they wanted to do that. That was a lot of criminal behavior, like they said. This is our community right here. We have to go to these stores in the morning.”

 It really makes you wonder, are the riots really accomplishing anything? To most residents, who have taken it upon themselves to clean the streets and buildings destroyed by the rioters, fail to see the positive side to the uprisings.

President Barack Obama also fails to see a positive side to the riots, which he made clear when he addressed the issue earlier last month saying:  “It is not a protest. It is not a statement. It’s a handful of people taking advantage of the situation for their own purposes, and they need to be treated as criminals.”

The overwhelming majority of Baltimore residents, liberals and minorities, are not okay with looting and arson. They see it for what it really is: taking advantage of a sad situation to behave like criminals. So why is it the only voice being heard is that of the riot supporters? Because everyone is scared to voice their opinions on the situation in fear of being called a racist, or worse, losing friends on Facebook.

Just a reminder that everyone has a voice that counts, even if its not the loudest. Don’t be bullied into thinking a certain way because its the popular ideal and because someone is armed with the phrase “you’re a racist”. As we know now, the majority of people who actually live in Baltimore, and who are also African American, agree with you.