Chris Jepson: Hello. Is anyone listening?

Undoubtedly the most influential black leader and intellectual of the 20th century, W.E.B. Du Bois stated in the forethought of his “Souls of Black Folk (1903)” that, “the problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color-line.” Whether or not America will transcend its racism during the 21st century is as problematic, as challenging today as it was for Du Bois at the dawn of the 20th century.

I’ve started asking my white friends and acquaintances whether their understanding of the black experience in America has evolved over the past several years. There is a part of me that finds such a question insulting. It is maddening to me that any white individual would argue that racism in America isn’t alive and well, thank you very much. For so many American whites, the black experience is unrelated to how they live at all. Their (our) daily interactions with blacks are nominal and incidental. What they (whites) understand of black life in America is what they see on TV.

Black Americans, as “most” whites see them, fall into three broad categories: professional athletes, entertainers and musicians, and the disgruntled. Oh, and of course, President Obama. For much of America, the election of Barack Obama was a watershed event, validating for white America that the nation had transcended its racism and a new day of race relations was upon us. As we have observed, subsequent events since 2008 contradict any idea that American racism today is limited to random, isolated incidents, vestiges of the past.

I view events since early 2012 with the murder of Trayvon Martin and the subsequent examples of police executions and brutality of blacks (caught on video) as necessarily eye-opening for many white Americans. At least I hope as much.

With the advent of body cameras worn by police officers we (white America/the world) are now seeing (as never before) what it actually means to be black in America. Simply recall the black man who was shot in the back (recorded on a bystander’s cell phone), unarmed and running away from a North Charleston police officer. Or, consider the black man shot in the head by the University of Cincinnati police officer.

White apologists will challenge such incidents as unrepresentative of the black experience in America, but I beg to differ.

The first blacks arrived in Jamestown as slaves in 1619, some 400 years ago. Jim Crow laws passed just after the American Civil War were in effect until 1965 (and after, I would argue). Less than 50 years ago, the city of Oviedo, Fla., buried its public swimming pool rather than integrate. As late as 1958 in Iowa, public outdoor swimming pools allowed blacks to swim one day a year—the last day of the season—just before they drained the pool.

I know three successful black professionals who were the first black hires in major American corporations. Unbelievable the stories they tell. And yes, it is better today, but do not think for a moment that racism is a thing of the past.

Imagine, my white readers of living the “Driving While Black” experience in America. Every time you leave your home and get in your car, every time you wonder, “Is it today that I am stopped and become a statistic?”

Sure, all lives matter, but that’s not really the issue is it? The urgent call that Black Lives Matter is necessary because in racist America they haven’t.