seeing and hearing systemic racism

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I share this post because it is difficult, but critical,  for a person like me to see racism at a systemic level.

Usually, we (white, middle/upper middle class folk) tend to only be able to think about racism individualistically, as a one-on-one prejudice, and we're not able to see very far beneath the surface.

In many shootings of black men over the past few years, I've heard people who've grown up like me justify the shootings by saying things like, "Well, the victim was a thug." "He deserved it because he was committing a crime."  We don't see systemic patterns in play.

In my opinion, the video above is very strong at helping us see and hear systemic racism at work. None of the common attempted justifications can be used to shift the focus away from recognizing systemic evil.

Why did the officer react with such fear and panic when a black man reached into his vehicle?  That's a sign of the system.

Why did the black man, after being shot for no reason, apologize, raise his hands, speak politely with the officer in an attempt to save his own life?  That's a sign of the system.

Why do situations like this happen, repeatedly, across our nation?  That's the system.

Notice the pain felt by Levar Jones as he puts his hands over his face during the interview and shares that he does not want to see the video of the shooting.  This deep pain is felt throughout our African-American community.  May this pain reach all of our hearts and move us to create a new way forward.