Let me lead with this for those who don’t know me. I support the Black Lives Matters movement. I support police reform. I support attacking the roots of systematic racism. In short, I support the mission. There’s only one issue I have with it. No one has told me how we win.
There’s an old saying, “When you don’t know where you’re going, every road leads you there.” My fear for this movement is that it is going to get derailed going after everything at once. Do I believe that Confederate statues should be on government buildings? No. But, I do find myself asking, is that the first fight we should pick? Is tearing down or defacing a statue going to do anything to help those in need, or is it just going to make the angry feel righteous?
I am asking this sincerely.
The term allyship has become trendy lately, and I believe that the vast majority of my demographic (White American males) wish to be one. Still, one of the hardest things to do is understand what needs to be done when you aren’t even sure of what you’re trying to accomplish.
This is how you make a change in your life, your company, and your world. You make S.M.A.R.T goals. For that unfamiliar with the term, it stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely. I believe that as a White person, it’s not my place to say what they should be. I do think, however, as a troop in the line, it is fair for me to ask for direction.
So far, as far as I can see (and I’ve gone looking), I haven’t found someone leading the charge that has laid that out. In my humble opinion, that is all this missing right now—someone to channel this energy into a concerted effort to accomplish a specific outcome. I am ready to follow. Who’s ready to lead?
RAMBLINGS OF AN OL' INFANTRYMAN: 
First, we invite people to the “table” that haven’t been invited before. Then, after we’ve had a chance to speak personally about our shared and divergent experiences, we debate and set some current metrics. Housing discrimination, employment opportunity, healthcare access, educational disparities, and public safety. Once we agree on and PUBLISH those metrics, we set up smaller, focused task forces with subject-matter experts to see what policy changes we can make in those policy areas. Then we get to work on making those changes. Then, after a specified time period, we measure those same conditions using those metrics. It will take time, effort and understanding. It will also be important-very important- to celebrate the small victories.
This is EXACTLY what we need!