The fire this time

During the early Jim Crow years, an African American was lynched every four days. In recent years, a black person is killed by the police every two to three days.

The backlash is a form of white rage, which is steeped in centuries old privilege. White privilege is built into the culture and structure of American society. Because of this privilege, and resulting inequity in access to resources, white rage has an air of respectability. When white America wanted to protest the cessation of slavery, they did not take to the streets. They passed laws and found support in the U.S. Supreme Court. In response to President Obama’s successful terms, white America has responded by making racially-motivated changes to voting rights laws. These changes essentially eviscerated the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which many people died and shed blood for.