This past year has been a sort of reawakening.

It has been a year of civil unrest and outrage at a problem that seems to have gone from bad to worse.

We see blacks being beaten and even killed by police. We see youth turned away from the so-called “protection” of our police force. We see discrimination and hate on so many fronts. We have thousands in the streets protesting for civil rights, and many of those people end up in jail or injured.

Today, I want to focus on the issue of race. When analyzing this problem, we have to ask what the problem is and how we, as residents, can fix it.

This question is answered with a more militant solution by some, such as civil rights leader Malcolm X during his time as a civil rights activist, and by peaceful protest by others, such as the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

When it comes down to it, much has changed, but some things stand stuck in stone.

Since the Trayvon Martin case over a year ago, we have seen more people of color being beaten or even killed.

We have seen no wavering in the way of police brutality, and we have seen little to no action in the way of justice by our government. It has become even more of a problem.

There have been over 290 cases of extreme police brutality resulting in death all over the country since the start of 2015. Those seem like war casualty numbers.

Are we at war with ourselves? Our own residents and countrymen? Who does the blame for this violence fall on? A system of oppression and fear. A system that is so rooted into our American culture that we can’t even seem to come to a conclusion of what to do or how to do it most effectively.

What road do we take as residents, both white and black, Hispanic and Asian? What can we do when our government doesn’t give us the justice we demand, and what do we do when so many of us live in perpetual fear of “the men in blue?”

We have tried to tackle the problem from the outside. And while this worked for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights movement of the 1960s (to a certain extent), we can’t seem to accomplish the same kind of change in our time. So I have a proposal.

Why not try to work our way into the system and destroy the pillars of bigotry, racism and hate that have been built in the nearly 300 years our nation has existed?

We need brave men and women like the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and Rosa Parks to become police officers, governors and leaders in our towns and cities across the country.

People who wish to serve the people, no matter their color. You don’t have to be a person of color to achieve this.

Even whites can make a change as long as we all perpetuate the same ideals for peace and equality.

We need people who wish to destroy the injustice and hate so prevalent in our police force and, in some cases, our legislation.

We need lawyers and police officers, governors and mayors who wish nothing more than for an America that has overcome the racial issues that have so long plagued our society and is on a path to peace and equality. A post-racial America.

So many people think we live in a post-racial America. I hate to break it to you, but as an Arkansan and as an American who knows the South and knows how many people think around here, I can assure you that we do not.

We cannot simply continue what we are doing. We have to attack the problem at its core and destroy it from the inside.

This will take many brave men and women. I cannot tell you it will be easy, but for the sake of our children and grandchildren who wish to grow up in a truly free and equal America, we need to do this, now more than ever.