Another unarmed black man dead. This time, it started with something as simple as a stalled car. If this was a white man, I simply cannot believe the outcome would have been the same.

I don't think this is a "new trend". It's the mandatory videos just shining a light on something we'd rather not acknowledge.My thoughts are just mine, but in the hopes that it might help someone (namely, myself) make sense of it all, here they are:

1) WE ARE ALL RACIST at some level. 

It all starts and ends with this realization. And by "ALL", I literally mean every living, breathing, human creature on this earth.

Sometimes the racism is overt, hateful, and violent. That's typically what we call "racist behavior". 

But it goes so much deeper than that.

The micro-reactions that we have, that our face shows when we have momentary exposure to certain images in laboratory settings--that our conscious mind has no control whatsoever over--are undeniable.

Usually, that doesn't create huge problems, but when an imbalance of power, lethal weapons, and split-second decisions are involved, there are huge consequences.

2) The answer isn't "ridding ourselves of racist cops" 

That will never happen, whether the cops are white, black, brown or purple. Instead, we have to get rid of cops who aren't willing to acknowledge that they are racist.

Far from being something to be ashamed of, it is simply part of being a human being. We evolved in tribes for millions of years where everyone around us looked the same. 

When someone who looked different appeared, it was only natural to be afraid.

3) Where do we go from here?

I have no idea what the correct punishment is, but I really truly believe that the only answer moving forward is to admit that we ALL have these tendencies, and that we have to figure out ways to neutralize them.

While #BlackLivesMatter means a million different things to a million different people, I think we can all agree that the solutions they propose here are a good starting place: 

Photo Credit: 1 2 Third photo from Campaign Zero website