Comment on the country I live in

I am a very disappointed and upset American.

I grew up believing America was "the land of the free and home of the brave." As a teacher for the past twelve and a half years I've stood while my students recite the pledge: "...with liberty and justice for all."

Last year, I stopped saying the pledge because I didn't believe liberty for all exists in a world where LGBT people are not allowed to get married.

This year, while that situation has improved (though is still not truly equal in liberty, it IS better and getting steadily, inevitably better), I no longer believe in justice for all either.

Eric Garner did not have justice served when he was choked to death by a policeman with no impetus.  He did not have justice when that police officer was not indicted.

Michael Brown was killed in Ferguson, Missouri, apparently without inciting the policeman who killed him to shoot. Whether or not the police officer was justified in killing, he absolutely should have been indicted in the case.

I read a statistic that in 2013, out of 160,000 cases brought before a grand jury, only ELEVEN were not indicted. How could the Michael Brown case, which at the very minimum had conflicting witness testimony, NOT be brought to trial?  How could the Eric Garner case, where we have a man strangled to death on the street ON VIDEO, not be brought to trial?

And what about Tamir Rice, the kid in Cleveland shot with a toy gun in hand?  The police wouldn't even allow a nearby nurse to come help him and prevent his death. Where is the justice there?

Something is very wrong in the country I live in. The right to marry should, must, and will be allowed everywhere in the country. Saying otherwise is ignorant and shows a clear bias (probably caused by religion, though I don't want to get into that now). The right to have cops "protect and serve" us, and be brought up on charges when they act "above the law" should be a no-brainer. I'm disappointed and disheartened that what I'm seeing on the news is the opposite.

There is really something wrong in this country, and I hope things get better before they get any worse.