“Any state, any entity, any ideology that fails to recognize the worth, the dignity, the rights of man, that state is obsolete” – Rod Sterling

President Trump has repeatedly claimed that those involved in the Black Lives Matter movement want to strip America of its heritage, wants to abolish police.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  The truth is that the Black Lives Matter movement is the new American revolution and it is being fought not by just people of color but by a coalition of different races and nationalities.  A coalition that looks a lot like America of the 21^st century.  A coalition who reject the hatred and racism of the old guard, who have tired of America’s racial and society inequalities and who demand change. 

As with any revolution the goal is not to continue the status quo but to defeat it and replace it with a better system.  The American heritage that those on the wrong side of the revolution fight to maintain includes displaying the confederate battle flag, protecting statues honoring confederate “heroes”, maintaining the names of military bases named after traitors who fired upon and declared war on America.

The police system that they cling to has an unfortunate history, despite the many decent officers who risk their lives every day, of unfairly of targeting and punishing people of color many times with deadly consequences.

It would be foolish to believe that the hearts and minds of those who wish to continue the status quo can be changed as racism and hatred is imbedded in their soul.  It would be equally foolish to believe that a culture and systems that have been developed and nurtured by those same individuals for centuries can be changed from with-in. 

To achieve real change, it is necessary to eliminate the so-called heritage that celebrates America’s racist past.  To educate all Americans of not just the many achievements people of color have contributed to this country’s history but the truth about the oppression that America has perpetrated on people of color for over four hundred years and the advantage of white privilege it has produced.

To achieve real progress the current police and justice systems must be stripped down to the studs, and that does not mean eliminating it as some would have you believe, before it can be build  back up with meaningful reform that ensures that it treats all people equitably.  That is not an attack on police in general, it is a long overdue call for reform that ensures the end of racial profiling and makes their jobs safer

As Frederick Douglass said: “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men” After 400 years it is obvious America’s treatment of people of color is beyond repair it is time to eliminated that heritage and build a new one from scratch.  

The revolution has begun and while some may cling to Donald Trump and his agenda of hatred and racism, they are about to find themselves on the wrong side of history