There are going to be worse things before it improves. We can be sure of that. But what we can control is how we respond to those things.
Let me give an example, going back to 1998. My nephew was a scholar-athlete in his senior year in high school. He was getting a lot of good press, and offers of college scholarships. This upset a hate group from a nearby town, who didn't think a black kid should get such attention. So one night, 17 men attacked my nephew in a dark field, beat him viciously, and left him for dead.
But he lived. And three of the 17 thugs were arrested. We knew that the local justice system would treat a white gang that attacked a black person, far differently than a black gang that attacked a white person. And it did. A friend in the DA's office argued for charging the thugs with attempted murder, but told me the DA was buddies with the defense attorney for the gange leader, and was going to deal us a hand from the bottom of the deck.
Hence, my job was two-fold. Keep my nephew's young friends from going for violent revenge, as they wanted to do, and try the case in the court of public opinion. Two regional chapters of the NAACP attended every court date. The media came from far and wide to report on the violent case, and the failure of the justice system. One of my favorite parts was when that lead defens attorney tried to debate me while the television cameras filmed us outside the court. I made him lose his temper, and make a fool of himself.
The gange leader got a $50 fine for having an open beer while kicking my unconscious nephew more than a dozen times. Nothing for the assault. But we won in the public court. That DA and local town justice lost office in the next election. And we had presented important information to the public about systematic racism.
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