It would be comfortable for me to continue to believe that the civil rights movement forced an end to de jure segregation and routine discrimination, ignoring the continued de facto segregation and injustices they face. by African Americans, viewing incidents such as the Michael Brown shooting as isolated incidents. I could continue to shake my head and say that these events are tragedies, but they certainly do not warrant nationwide protests. If there is no systematic pattern of disadvantage and abuse, I am not morally obligated to act. In this class, it’s impossible for me to simply dismiss complaints from groups like Black Lives Matters as overreactions. Like the rest of the nation, I must now engage in the serious work of examining reality, recognizing that racism is alive and well in America, and begin actively working to address it.