Reform is not the answer

By Chikamso Chijioke

In what system can a select group of people gain so much power, so much political backing, that the state will help them get away with the murder of innocent civilians? One that cannot be reformed. When someone says, “the system is broken”, I have to scoff-- not as any ill will towards them, just that they fail to understand the system is not broken; it is functioning as planned. It may seem overly pessimistic, but this American system we live in, cannot be reformed. And even if it could, reform is not the answer.

Think about it. Reform simply means to form again. What may seem like small victories in the short term, will lead to the same problems down the line. As Malcom X said, “The white man will try to satisfy us with symbolic victories rather than economic equity and real justice.” Those words have never been more clear to me than they are right now. Nothing the state can implement will stop them from continuing to commit atrocities and evade punishment. The state will never allow justice to be served, because to do so would be to turn their back on the values they hold and to loosen their grip of power. We cannot rely on the state to solve the problems it's caused for years.

I’ve come to this revelation in a disheartening fashion. The news that no charges will be brought against Louisville officers in connection with Breonna Taylor’s murder broke me. It brought me to tears. It infuriated me.

Then I realized, it should not come as a surprise. I realized that if the Louisville police department wanted to do the right thing, they would have months ago. Instead they let her killers walk free for months. They let us believe our protests and cries for justice would be heeded. Days before they announced the verdicts, they put up barricades to curb protesters, and declared a state of emergency. They knew their actions would stoke outrage, but they didn’t care. They would rather pay a 12 million dollar settlement than lock up a few officers. Breonna Taylor’s life was worth more than 12 million. She deserved more than being used for virtue signaling and media promotions. She deserved exponentially more than what she got.

What’s even more is that Taylor is not the only case of justice not served. She is only one example of a horridly failed system. Her case is heartbreaking, but it is not anything new. Black and brown bodies have always been seen as less in this country. Their blood is soaked into the foundation of this nation, and it has never stopped flowing. Our systems were built on the pain and suffering of innocents, and when injustices run rampant in society, the only true solution is to change every aspect of it. The only fundamental change that can be made will be an overturning of the system we live in today.

Revolution might seem like a faraway concept, but rest assured it is within our grasp. They have occurred countless times in the past, and we should not be deceived into thinking it cannot occur once more. It may not happen today, or tomorrow, or in 100 years, but in time, we will reach it. We have to, or we won’t survive for much longer. We cannot continue to allow the punitive state to continue to trample upon us, lift us up two inches, and trample us further into the dirt.