Where Do We Go From Here? Chaos or Community.

I am sure by now you've heard that on Monday, May 25, in Minneapolis, Minnesota while in police custody George Floyd's life was taken. The 10-minute viral video showed now-fired police officer Derek Chauvin--kneeling on the neck of George Floyd--a black man who was handcuffed and who repeatedly said that he could not breathe. This heartbreaking video shows the life leave George Floyd's eye's as he passes out. Derek Chauvin kept his knee on Mr. Floyd's neck while Mr. Floyd was unconscious. Mr. George Floyd died later that evening. The four officers who were involved--Derek Chauvin, Thomas Lane, Tou Thao, and J. Alexander Kueng--have been fired. This story is all too familiar, so much so that The Washington Post is compiling a database of every fatal shooting in the United States by a police officer in the line of duty since Jan. 1, 2015. Black Americans account for less than 13% of the U.S. population but the rate at which they are shot and killed by police is more than twice as high as the rate for white Americans.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey asked, "Why is the man who killed George Floyd, not in jail?"

I believe we all know the answer to his question. The answer to his question can be heard in the chants for justice coming from the protestors. The answer to his question is written in the fearful text I received from my big brother--an essential working in New York--when he asked if my family and I are safe. The answer to your question Mayor Frey is burning in the streets of Minnesota along with the businesses in South Minneapolis. The answer is in the eyes of the family of George Floyd and every person killed by reckless police violence. The Answer to his question is in hearts and minds of every Black Minnesotian who watched Officer Yanez be found NOT guilty after unloading his gun into a parked car with a child in it killing Mr. Philando Castile.

This story is all too familiar a black male is shot by a police officer and the Police Union and the Police Department are slow to enact justice. The officers in the video were fired but there still has been no arrest made. However, it is with careless, reckless, and swift street justice enacted by the police that caused this situation.

Why Not Let the Legal System Do Its Job?

Some may say the protest and riots are uncalled for. We should let the legal system do its job. In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King "The (US) legal structures have in practice proved to be neither structures nor law. The sparse and insufficient collection of statutes is not a structure; it is barely a naked framework".

The legal system, like many other American Institutions, has often let the black community down when it comes to holding folks accountable for racism, discrimination, prejudice and racial bias.

But We Are Committed to Diversity!

A majority of White, non-Hispanic Americans see themselves as committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace. However, research shows that we are all mostly living in segregated communities. Many White, non-Hispanic Americans did not recognize that there are huge gaps and disparities in our country until COVID-19. During the course of its destruction, we are also learning that blacks more susceptible to contracting and dying from COVID-19. Yet Blacks and People of Color are also more likely to be essential workers at

• Nursing Homes,
• Food Manufacturing Plants,
• Bus and Transit workers,
• employed at Superstores like Walmart and Target, or are
• delivering Mail, UPS, FEDEX packages, food, and groceries,

and many of the organizations that are making Millions due to COVID-19 'panic shopping'. This cognitive dissonance is why George Floyd died and this is why there is so much rage in the eye of the young black Americans.

But We Have Made So Much Progress.

Well not really. Some believe we are making progress toward a middle-class utopia, embodying racial harmony. If this sounds like a fantasy that's because it is. Overwhelmingly, many White, non-Hispanic Americans are still struggling with irresolution and contradictions. It is the unresolved issue of Historical Racism and Historical Trauma that is embedded in American culture, systems, and traditions.

Historical Racism and Historical Trauma

The impact of history is still evident today. It is evident in the science that says that there is no intellectual difference between Blacks and Whites. Yet high school and college graduation rates for black students are far behind those of their white counterparts. We also do not see too many blacks as heads of Fortune 500 companies either. It is evident in the lopsided education system that prepares black children for prison by treating them like criminals as early as kindergarten. The lopsided economy that has created a system of codes and hidden rules for obtaining financial wealth contradicts the 'American Dream' ideology. So the 'pull yourself up by the boots straps' mentality is countered by real-life everyday racism. This is incongruence causes cognitive dissonance which is embedded in the system of American Racism. The world for White Americans looks very different from the Black perspective. A routine police stop can cost you your life if you're Black.

A Word About Apathy

Dr. King says this is "comfortable vanity" on the one hand White welcome change but that quickly turns to apathy and disinterest when it is time to take the next logical step or action. We see this apathy in public, private, and nonprofit organizations that claim to be committed to diversity. Yet, they have not hired any people of color past the middle management level -especially not an African-American. These organizations also have no one from diverse backgrounds on their Board of Directors-especially not an African-American. Yet these same organizations are based on a supply of low-paid, underskilled and immobile nonwhite labor. Economic discrimination is also prevalent with significant differences in the wages of front line staff and the CEO. This limited degree of concern is the reflection of an inner conflict which measures cautiously the impact of any change to the status quo.

Modern-Day Slavery

America has evolved and undergone a great deal of change since the Civil Rights Movement, unfortunately so have the many ways to discriminate against blacks. The impact whether intended or not is an adapted form of discrimination that keeps blacks in a subordinate role by keeping their wages as close to the bottom as possible. Keeping them in ill-equipped schools, that socialize our Black children to believe they are inferior to others. Our history books are full of one-sided stories about the White Savior. The textbooks do not say he stole land or kidnapped men, women, and children from Africa. That he tried to annihilate the entire race of native people and brainwashed their children in boarding schools.

During slavery, treatment was harsh, and after slavery was abolished treatment was even harsher. During Slavery Blacks had a premium cost and were covered by insurance so Masters did not want to kill their salves. After slavery was abolished Black had no financial value to Whites so their lives did not matter. Black men were lynched, and communities were burned down by whites. The abolishment of slavery led to what is know as JIM CROW LAW.

Jim Crow laws were an excuse to re-enslave blacks. This is because of the language in the amendment that abolished slavery. The 13th amendment states "No man shall be treated as a slave unless he is being punished by for a crime. That last part allowed the Government to create what is now known as the Police Department. These bounty hunters went out and arrested blacks for things like vagrancy, or for only having a part-time job. Once arrested they were imprisoned in work camps or their labor was hired out to farmers. Today this is why we have a problem with Mass Incarceration and the Jim Crow has evolved into, police brutality and murder.

Black Apathy

The black community has seen this all too often-a Black person is shot and killed by the police, law enforcement is slow to make an arrest when the person is arrested they are found not guilty. We have been watching the police beat, and attack black since Rodney King was beaten with billy clubs on the side of the freeway in the 1990s by four police officers who were later found not guilty. Abner Louima was sexually assaulted by four New York Police officers in 1997 Amadu Diallo was shot 41 times by NYC police officers in the 1990's as well. Fast forward 20 years later and we have the deaths of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice and John Crawford, and Sandra Bland among others.

Americans have become desensitized when it comes to the murder of black unarmed men at the hands of the police. Black Americans have developed an apathetic stance and feel powerless and hopeless when it comes to getting justice. This apathy turns to anger and a defeatist attitude causes reckless danger.

Ok So What Can We Do, Where Do We Go From Here? Chaos or

White America is not psychologically organized to close the gap --in most cases, they want to make it less painful, and less obvious, but they keep it in place. This is where the contention between the Woke Community and White Liberal's stems from.

We need to move beyond awareness to competency, and we need to hold people accountable.