No Justice, No Peace has been the rallying cry of the Black Lives Matter movement since at least the time of the Ferguson, Mo. riots in 2015 protesting what was essentially the murder of a young black man by police. It resonates with most people's sense of hopelessness when confronted by what seems to be an intractable problem. If only we could all come together in peace and harmony, we would have that kumbaya moment. At least, that's the way it seems.
Unfortunately, the problems go much deeper than that. While blacks have had to deal with the residual problems brought on by slavery and its aftermath, whites also have issues that make the situation we are now experiencing more complex.
Racism comes in many forms. From burning crosses and lynchings in the South after the Civil War to more insidious by nonetheless racist practices such as refusing to rent or sell housing to blacks and segregating them to less desirable areas in northern cities. Second class schools, job discrimination, etc. all make it virtually impossible for most POC to advance to the middle class. Even reliable jobs like police and firefighting which served as middle class conduits for many white ethnic groups like the Irish and Italians are nearly impossible for blacks to break into.
Many people of good will on both sides of the color line say if we could only just get to know each other things would get better. This is undeniably true. There is much less racism in integrated areas. However, there is a reason integration is the exception rather than the rule. I don't know if there is scientific evidence of this, but, it seems to me there is an underlying hatred of the "other" by some percentage of people on both sides of the color line and despite men and women of good will on both sides, this racist core, especially among whites will cause the healing of racial division to be a long drawn out and agonizing slog for America. In the meantime, the protests will continue.
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