The rebellion now taking place in many American cities has been building for a long time. Trump made it inevitable. Remember when he encouraged police not to “be too nice” when putting “thugs into the back of a paddy wagon” in 2017? He told them not to keep suspects from getting hurt by helping them duck as they enter the cop car: “You could take the hand away.” This is only one of many times Trump has incited police violence. He goads his followers to injure protesters and members of the press. His racism is beyond question.

Then the pandemic increased the pressure on everybody, but especially on black communities. Not only are people of color disproportionately in front-line positions, from hospitals to grocery stores, but services in their neighborhoods have been cut, and cut, and cut, so they don’t have the resources they need to stay safe. Housing is overcrowded. Community health centers have disappeared. Food deserts in cities mean they spend more money for worse diets. Their air is polluted, their water is toxic, public transportation won’t get them to where jobs are…The list of injustices is too long for this blog.

Over the past few weeks, on top of a tremendous death rate from COVID-19, on top of people’s desperation from their money running out with no help in sight, on top of endless stories about white police murdering unarmed black people, some especially shocking videos have emerged. One is of two white men chasing down and killing Ahmaud Arbery for jogging while black. One is of a white woman, Amy Cooper, calling the cops to report a black man was threatening her life, when he was just asking her politely to put her dog on a leash as the park required. And then, the last straw, the one of George Floyd getting strangled to death while in handcuffs by a white cop kneeling on his neck. In none of these incidents has justice been done.

Peaceful protests get ignored. Even if hundreds of thousands hit the streets, the media generally pay no attention unless things turn violent. The movement for justice has many voices but no single leader, so media usually interview some random bystander instead of just reading the damn signs. It’s a terrible truth that a city has to burn before our society really takes notice.

And what kind of action will result? Nothing good under Trump, we can be sure. He would love a race war. He could impose martial law and cancel the election he suspects he will lose. Cities burning distract people from his constant mistakes, provocations, and lies.

The violence against black people has been ongoing and remorseless. Black people can’t stop racism on their own, even with all their intelligence, persistence, and courage. White people have to show up for the rebellion. This is not only a fight for racial justice. It’s a fight for the rights of all of us to be equal under the law, no matter our ethnicity or gender or class, no matter where we live or how much money we have. It’s a fight for the soul of America. No one group can do it alone. We must stand together if we’re going to win.