I'm not angry, I'm heartbroken these days...

I have been watching the protest and riots that are unfolding after the death of George Floyd in recent days. It has left me with a broken heart and several sleepless nights.  
The death of George Floyd, after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck as bystanders shouted to stop, has touched off a familiar-feeling storm of activism, nightly chaos, and discussion of race in America.

Several of my mentorship students asked me about my thoughts. It isn't easy to offer my take as I am trying to grasp what is happening in our cities. But I have provided the following to my students as we have discussed the Death of George Floyd.

• Systemic racial biases in the American criminal-justice system.
• The militarization of American police
• The pandemic and the economic devastation it has brought
• And finally, a lack of national leadership on all these issues

This has sparked plenty of discussion about race and justice in America, and as we fight Covid-19, one epidemic we can't seem to overcome is white fear of black men in public spaces - the injustice that ensues. How can we overcome this legal framework that gives police effective license "to shoot, pummel, or falsely arrest ill-fated citizens," and over-criminalization of minor offenses leaves it to the police to "be nice."
What we witnessed in American cities in recent days is what we typically see in the streets of the Middle East. If Minneapolis wherein a developing country with a history of governance issues, how would Western media report on what's happening in the US right now? It's a useful metaphor in checking Americans' perspective biases. In recent years, the international community has sounded the alarm on the deteriorating political and human rights situation in America under the presidency of Donald Trump. As the country marks 100,000 deaths from the coronavirus pandemic, we find ourselves in a downward spiral of ethnic violence. America has been rocked by several viral videos depicting extrajudicial executions of black ethnic minorities by state security forces. President Trump took to Twitter, calling black protesters 'thugs' and threatening to send in military force. 'when the looting starts, the shooting starts,' he declared. Ethnic violence has plagued the country for generations, and decades ago, it captured the attention of the world. Still, recently the news coverage and concerns are waning as there seems to be no end in sight to the oppression. 

One student told me that this is "Normal in America." I told him what Barack Obama told us. "This shouldn't be normal in 2020 America. It can't be normal. If we want our children to grow up in a nation that lives up to its highest ideals, we can and must be better. 
I am not angry. I am heartbroken these days. But it falls on us, regardless of our race, to work together to create a new normal in which the legacy of injustice and unequal treatment no longer infects our institutions or our hearts. 

Yesterday I visited my favorite BBQ joint (Showcase BBQ) in Homewood. A predominately black neighborhood of Pittsburgh. I was the only none black there. The owner told me.  "While everyone is facing the battle against COVID-19, black people in America are still facing the battle against racism and coronavirus." 

He told me: "Dr. King, never burned one building... never robbed one store... never destroyed one town... But he Changed the World. And that's what I'm telling my daughters... We must listen to Dr. King. We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools..."