One-Hundred and Fifty-Seven Years Later

One-hundred and fifty-seven years later, blacks are still suffering indignity and persecution at the hands of white supremacists, where the punishment bestowed upon blacks is horrifying and inhumane. Though these descriptions are appalling, it tells a story of historical values. Though this history is one of the recent publications, the horror is sadly under simplified because no truth is attached to its beginning that whites will own. Whites still deny any responsibility for the past, but they continue replicating the punishment, disrespect and killing. Many say that, instead of acknowledging the black plight’s reality, get over it, but that can only be heard if the injustice stops.

My heart skips beats after each untimely death of a black man. My eyes swell with tears hearing the stories of the families who seek justice, but justice never happens. To see the torn flesh that cuts to the bone is a shattering vision of terrible pain. To see the bullet holes piercing the flesh rupturing and destroying vital organs that cripple and paralyze is cruel and unjust.

Some of you who read this article may be angry and grossly impassioned by these incidents as the answers to end this brutality begins and ends with a conversation. But, unfortunately, the time for discussion is over, and the only remedy to quail the anguish, the anger, and the pain is justice without bias or prejudice.

These heinous acts against people of color will one day end, but the cost will be high. Not in terms of dollars, but in the loss of lives on both sides. People will need to sacrifice their safety by no longer turning a cheek but meeting pain with pain. As a few fire shots that kill, those same shots need to be countered before attention is given to the seriousness of racial strife.

If these pictures don’t alarm you, you are a part of the problem plaguing this country. If these pictures never reach your sense of urgency, think about the possibility of it happening to you or a loved one. It’s shameful that the attention needed will only happen when this sits in your living room or somewhere on the streets. Is this an America to embrace? No! Why? Because all of what blacks are enduring comes with the city, state, and federal sanctions. So, remove those top-ranking officials, which will be the beginning of a change in this country.