A Question for White People

Unarmed Black Men Killed by Police

Would you be happy to be treated as most Black citizens in this country are treated?

Yes? .....No?

Minneapolis, Cleveland, Chicago, Baltimore, New York City, Ferguson, Waller County Texas: Jamar Clark, Tamir Rice, Laquan McDonald, Freddie Grey, Eric Garner, Michael Brown & last but not least Sandra Bland. These cities and these names should be on the tip of your tongue. These murders in the last couple of years have all been documented on video cameras, yet not one police officer has been convicted of a crime, most have not been charged:  Reasonable Justification. When is this going to change?

We  White people are deluged with mountains of information assuaging our guilt and justifying our attitude as to why more black people than white are  unemployed, under-educated, stopped for traffic violations, arrested, sent to prison and killed by police. Statistics laden with facts confirming our White Supremacy dictum : All Lives Matter....as long as they aren't Black. The time has come for us to Own our Racism, admit to ourselves and the Black community:  The United States of America is a White Supremacist Racist Country.

Now, we, the White People Already in Motion, must gather our wits and work with relentless energy to change these everyday circumstances for Black citizens. We must courageously acknowledge the depth of the injustice taking place all around us. Perhaps we can't see it in our own community. It's frequently hidden from us as we live our safe and rather uneventful lives, in our quiet white neighborhoods, children and grand children attending schools in our white districts, not too many of us are unemployed, mostly we are pretty much okay. I feel confident in saying, however, there is an ongoing fear for Black people in our own city of an unprovoked hostility from the police. When is the other shoe going to fall. When is it going to happen to them.

It's my understanding there were over 1100 unarmed black men killed by police in this country in 2015. Details Here from the Guardian. As activists, our focus should begin with the police forces of our own cities, inquiring into procedures, training, and accountability for shots fired.  Lansing has had at least two incidents recently involving police and fatal shootings, December 2014; Randy Minier and this Christmas Eve TerrozzoaTyree Griffin. The officer who shot and killed Minier was cleared in fatal shooting. The 12 officers involved in the killing of Griffin are currently on administrative leave. It's true, a career in Law Enforcement is difficult, but it is not the career for the unstable. or untrained. Summarily, when an investigation takes place it must be from an unbiased source. Organizations who work hand in glove, do not file criminal charges against the hand that feeds them. In addition, Guns Everywhere is certainly not a solution. 

My original question came from viewing this thought provoking video [I was unable to locate who this woman is or when the video was created, however those facts have little bearing on the content]: A Question for White People. Maybe we don't understand the question...or maybe we do. What steps can you and I take to create change?

I found the info on the woman; Here is the Frontline link to R.J. Elliott's discussion of racism. A Class Divided originally filmed between 1968-1970....