If you respond to the title of this post by exclaiming “All lives matter,” you have a problem. Your answer is a cop-out. Especially within the context of what is happening today, in Trump’s America, too many people ignore reality. The fact remains that for this nation’s entire history, the lives of people of color have been largely ignored and have rarely mattered to most white Americans. That is the tragedy—a tragedy whose public face has exploded in this summer of 2020.

In the early 1990’s, when Rodney King was severely beaten by the Los Angeles Police, a major riot ensued. Towards its end, King publicly asked, “Why can’t we all just get along?” Obviously, Americans still have no answers to this question. Let me give it a try.

First, no one is born racist; it’s learned behavior and its onset usually stems from relatives and/or close acquaintances. In turn, as we mature, societal influences become more important. A person growing up in a rural setting in the South will likely have a different set of beliefs than someone raised in New York City.

Then there is the media, an operational variant that never stops influencing individuals. As children, whether we watched the television program The Lone Ranger, with its namesake always dressed in white and the “bad-guys” in dark shades, or Amos and Andy, with its predominantly black cast projecting negative stereotypes on a regular basis, viewers rarely obtained positive views of people of color. Today, it is news coverage, whether electronic or written, that acts as the primary media catalyst in shaping racial and/or religious attitudes.

What about our economy and political system? The former is structured upon a purposeful program of inequality dating back to 1619, when slavery began in the United States. Meanwhile our political system—at all levels—is a mess, built upon years and years of neglect and strong resistance to change, especially when it comes to improving the lives of major segments of the populace.

From the antebellum South through today, the American people, and especially its Black citizens, are enmeshed in the sclerosis cited above. The latter remain victims of a system that for too long has ignored their rightful place in society. You do not have to be a statistician to read the charts and understand the depth of discrimination and inequity besetting this country. When a President looks into a crowd and asks, “Where is my African-American?” (as Trump has), how does that differ from a slave-owner seeking his “Black” slave? If Donald Trump is re-elected, inequality will multiply as will racism and rioting. Remember that when you vote.