Last week, Steven Hildreth Jr. was pulled over by police. It was a routine traffic stop. Or rather, it started that way. But this routine stop soon became a new flashpoint in the ongoing national discussion about the interactions between police and minority communities that has gripped the American media over the last year or so. Unlike the cases in Ferguson, NYC, and Baltimore, however, this situation ended not with a shooting or a protest, but with a thank you note on Facebook.

Yet still, with no small amount of controversy.

Hildreth was pulled over "driving while black." He was, in his own words, wearing a hoodie. Despite what we are told happens to every black man in a hoodie stopped by police, however, Hildreth was just fine at the end of the stop. Oh and one more thing? He had a weapon.

Here is part of the Facebook post that made news over the weekend and into Monday (full text at the end of this post).

I'm a black man wearing a hoodie and strapped. According to certain social movements, I shouldn't be alive right now because the police are allegedly out to kill minorities.

Maybe...just maybe...that notion is bunk.

Maybe if you treat police officers with respect, they will do the same to you.

Police officers are people, too. By far and large, most are good people and they're not out to get you.

I'd like to thank those two officers and TPD in general for another professional contact.

We talk so much about the bad apples who shouldn't be wearing a badge. I'd like to spread the word about an example of men who earned their badges and exemplify what that badge stands for.

#BlueLivesMatter #AllLivesMatter

This is newsworthy and noteworthy as a counterpoint to the narrative of activists (and celebrities) around the country suggesting that every cop is just waiting for an excuse to kill every black man they see. However, one should remember that coming out of a routine traffic stop alive should not be a remarkable thing. It should be normal. Being a law-abiding citizen carrying a legal weapon should not be the stuff obituaries are made of. So in that sense, it is something that in a perfect world would not be noteworthy at all.

At liberal website The Daily Banter, Tommy Christopher attacks the Facebook post and the entire premise. He also has video from an interview on Fox News today with Hildreth as he recounts the incident.

HILDRETH: Most law enforcement officers agree that anybody who abuses the power of the badge should be punished and prosecuted. That badge is representing of the public’s trust. So if anybody betrays that trust, they should no longer become a law enforcement officer. I think what happened with the black lives matter movement is that the fringe took their hard-core position of all law enforcement are bad. this is all widespread. this is happening every single day, and every single police officer is complicit in it. They have the loudest voice. and they are defining that narrative.

It is more than reasonable to offer up anecdotes that show the opposite of what the deluge of anecdotes from the movement suggest. If one listens to the narrative, if they believe it, then they would expect that Hildreth would be dead right now. Instead, he wrote a thank you on Facebook for professional behavior. There are thousands of professional cops out there every single day facing not only danger, but also now very real and growing resentment and distrust, who nevertheless perform their duties admirably and honorably. They deserve press just as much as the bad cops.

It doesn't mean bad cops don't exist. And offering up a positive story shouldn't undermine your position, if your position is honest and fair.

There have been incidents in this nation that have rightly angered Americans, and have stirred justifiable and understandable resentment in minority communities. There are those who are fighting to address and correct the factors that led to such incidents. The goal, you would think, is for what happened to Steven Hildreth to become the norm. When law enforcement is done right, you can react two ways. You can be glad and celebrate it. Or you can be bitter and sarcastic about it because it doesn't fit your leftist narrative. It shouldn't be a surprise who chooses which option.

Full Facebook post: