It's time

But I did not foresee a widespread awakening to systemic racial bias. But awakening we are. It is long overdue. Why now? I can postulate that we have more time to process and think about it because of the pandemic. I can postulate that it’s because the pandemic helps us see that we are all in this together. I can postulate it is a reaction to the long-standing lack of response from the corridors of power. But everything is the sum of thousands of preceding events largely beyond our control, so I doubt we will ever know for sure.

Perhaps it’s simply time-past time actually. I can tell you that my heart has been and is, heavy. I can tell you the nature of the discussions I have had are deeper, more thoughtful and more prevalent than I have experienced before. I can tell you that I am trying to understand the role I have played and am playing in perpetuating systemic racial bias. I can tell you I see others doing the same thing with real sincerity.  

I can tell you I have hope. I hope this changes our institutions and our psyches. I hope we radically reform policing and our criminal justice systems. I hope we start to really care about economic reform and access to education and power. We have the road maps—they are there in the output from various inquiries and studies on racial injustice, policing, and economic reform. Let’s implement real, meaningful, lasting change now.

It is time.

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