We learned the hard way that we don't know the difference between reducing racism and merely suppressing it. [View all]

All the legislation over the years to combat racism did nothing but suppress the racists. We did nothing but cover up their attitudes and drive them underground where it festered like a pressure cooker. The progress that us minorities made just increased that pressure, and today the lid got blown off.

The hard lesson here is that you can’t legislate away racism(and misogyny for that matter), only the actions and behavior. Unless we figure out a way to get at how they genuinely feel instead of just shaming them, this battle isn’t going to end. If I only had a quarter for every time I’ve heard that we have very hard work ahead of us now. Well, maybe this seemingly impossible task is one of them. I hope a progressive think tank out there has the courage to take this up.