Time for words to end injustices turn into actions

I am writing today to respond to the current climate as a white male who’s sister is African American. My parents began fostering my sister, Mira, at eight weeks old and later adopted her at two years old. Her presence in my life has made me more aware of the racial injustices in our world and is the reason why I am responding to the injustice that is currently on display in our country today.

Although my family is from West Hartford, a town with low crime and a good school system, the inequalities that exist in America were never far out of mind. Although these inequalities have not affected my family directly, I also know that one day they could impact us or that they could happen in the town next door.

We live in a country where there are two Americas — a white America and a Black America. This is different than what President Obama said in 2004, but it is the reality. Our country has accepted for far too long that because people are or a different skin color, they can be stepped on and put down in the name of achieving societal goals. Black Americans should not have to live in fear. Whether it be riding in a car, buying something at a store, or walking in a park, African-Americans should not have to be fearful that if they do something wrong, they might die at the hands of police. America is thought to be a place of equality, but that reality is not real in America today. Equality, in fact, is far from a reality.

In the memory of George Floyd, Eric Garner, Freddie Gray, Michael Brown, Breonna Taylor, and so many more, it is time to rewrite that narrative — to make certain that everyone can feel welcome in this society. It is time to change the racial paradigm of our country to reflect that regardless of race, everyone can feel accepted and can succeed. The movement must not stop once the outrage rescinds. To do so, would not achieve justice or progress. Change must come out of this chapter in our nation’s history, otherwise the violence that we see today will continue and more lives will be lost.

It is now time for us to create change. We must act in order to create a society where President Obama’s words — “there is not a black America, a white America, a Latino America, an Asian America, but there is the United States of America” — may become a reality. We must take this moment to enact change so African Americans can interact with the police — the people who are supposed to be charged with protecting them — and not feel threatened for their own safety.

One day my sister Mira may have children of her own, and I hope that the society that we live in then will have been reformed to one where African Americans do not have to fear for their lives daily. It is time for the full prospect of America to be realized — where a land of the free and the home of the brave can be a reality for all. Equality should be the law of the land, and our laws should be equally enforced.

It is time that our words translate into action to combat the racial injustice in our country. Hopefully this new day is on the horizon, but we won’t know if don’t continue working to make that day a reality. In the words of Sam Cooke “a change is gonna come.”

Owen Mohler, West Hartford

“We must take this moment to enact change so African Americans can interact with the police — the people who are supposed to be charged with protecting them — and not feel threatened.”