Black History Month is a time to celebrate the achievements and sacrifices of African Americans. But, how do we genuinely celebrate when so many of us fall short of the vision that civil rights leaders stood for? The civil rights leaders who fought for us wouldn’t be pleased with society today. They fought for justice, peace, and equality. However, it seems that there's no justice, peace, nor equality within our own race. For over fifty years, we've been marching for progression but there has been little progress.
"When you say progress that assumes that we've gone forward. To me, it looks like regress would be better," said English teacher Andrew Kemp.
Individuals who paid the ultimate price wouldn’t be pleased with our progression because of the harm we are doing to each other. There is far too much black on black crime. To improve society, everyone should do his or her part and contribute to the well-being of all people.
Home is where it starts. We must stop letting situations just be and stand up for what’s right. We can't continue just standing by and talking about what's going on. We have to take action and make a stand. We have to demand change within our own communities and fight peacefully like our ancestors.
Think about all the men and women who lost their lives so that blacks can have better opportunities.
"It's [black on black crime] a symptom of a greater problem of systemic racism. In this county the people who don’t have enough are going to find a way to get it. People who are pushed into desperate situations are going to react violently," said Kemp.
It’s like we’re living through a terrible Hollywood movie, and it’s heartbreaking that we treat each other so poorly.
