I have seen a few videos (primarily from Black men) regarding Ferguson and solutions. Still waiting to see how other people will respond. But this is my take in two parts:
We [the Moderns] are like dwarves perched on the shoulders of giants [the Ancients], and thus we are able to see more and farther than the latter. And this is not at all because of the acuteness of our sight or the stature of our body, but because we are carried aloft and elevated by the magnitude of the giants. - Bernard of Chartres
Part one, your history and where you come from is important. The more informed you are about your history, the more stability comes. You have to go beyond these few hundred years and even if you can't get exact, the closer to closure the better. I also think that history (especially US history) is being taught in a way that makes people either feel guilty or feel like they have to stand on a side. I teach my kids that all parts of history, the good and the bad, is collectively our legacy. We have to come to terms and own all of it, regardless of who you are.
"In America, there is institutional racism that we all inherit and participate in, like breathing the air in this room - and we have to become sensitive to it." -
Henry Louis Gates
The second part is, yes race is a social construct and we should do away with it. The current reality is that the construct what the system (and the majority of people) is fundamentally based on in regards to laws, education, and economics. You can't just turn a blind eye to it. The brainwashing continues, so we have to, as a country, break that down and rebuild in a vision that works for all people.
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