Breonna Taylor was someone who changed people’s lives as a first responder medical worker. She was someone who cared for her friends and family. She was someone who people gravitated towards.  She was a breathing human being who had a purpose in this world. That someone was killed all because of a botched raid on her apartment in Kentucky on March 13th, 2020.

On the night of her death, officers Brett Hankison, Jonathan Mattingly, and Myles Cosgrove arrived on Taylor’s and her boyfriend Kenneth Walker’s property in Louisville as a result of a search warrant for drugs. According to the lawsuit against the officers, however, they entered “without knocking and without announcing themselves as police officers” (The Cut). This was witnessed by the neighbors surrounding the property. After Breonna asked “who is it?” multiple times, they continued to be despondent, and forcefully entered the house while breaking the hinges on the front door. In any case, this would cause fear in those inside the house due to the fact that those who were entering hadn’t identified themselves at all. Because of this Breonna’s boyfriend, a licensed firearm carrier made the first shot. Following this, the police opened fire, shooting more than 20 times into the house. Breonna was shot 8 times and pronounced dead on the scene. 

After the death of Breonna Taylor, many expected actions to be taken against the officers who blatantly disregarded protocol and caused the death of a young, ambitious woman. At first, to everyone’s shock and disbelief, Walker, Breonna’s boyfriend at the time, was arrested for assault and attempted murder of a police officer. Later, however, he was released from jail and all charges against him were dismissed. Later, on May 21st, a case was opened in order to investigate the police officers involved. Finally, officer Brett Hankison was charged with three wanton endangerment charges against him. However, he was only fired from the police department in which he worked, instead of being put behind bars for taking an innocent life. The other two officers involved still work at the station in Louisville. 

Following Breonna’s death, people took to the streets to protest on the behalf of the Black Lives Movement, an uplifting movement that spreads awareness concerning the racism and prejudices towards black men and women in America. Breonna Taylor became a name amongst all, representing what Malcolm X identified as the “the most disrespected person in America”—the black woman. 

The people of this country have seen how failed our justice system has been over the years. Countless black lives have still not received justice. But what is the reason behind this? Of course, there is no justification for what has happened, but why does this continue to happen? 

As Derrick Johnson explained in a Guardian opinion piece concerning the death of George Floyd, “e [black lives] die because we are overrepresented where it hurts, such as poverty and prisons, and underrepresented where it helps, such as higher education, elected office, and the federal judiciary. We die from many causes, but one stands out from all others: racism.”

Despite the fact that black people only make up 13% of the population, they make up twice the COVID-19 cases and are 3-5 times more likely to die of it. According to Business Insider, the overall income is 42% lower than white Americans. The overall poverty rate for black Americans is more than double that of white Americans. In 2018, black Americans made up 33% of the prison population, due to the fact that black men are five times more likely to be imprisoned than their white counterparts. According to the Washington Post, “As of June 12, 2,469 white people had been fatally shot since 2015 at a rate of 13 per million, whereas 1,293 Black people were fatally shot at a rate of 31 per million.” This makes the rate at which black Americans are killed by police twice as high as the amount of white Americans deaths. 

 These statistics are all manifested in what is known as systemic racism. For example, low-income neighborhoods, where a majority of inhabitants are black and Hispanic, are overpoliced, making it so that people of color are arrested more than white Americans. According to raceforward.com, “over 40% of drug arrests are not for selling any drugs but just for possession of marijuana. White and black Americans are about equally likely to use marijuana, but black Americans are 3.7 more likely to be arrested for it. Even if they don’t get convicted of a crime that arrest can stay on their record and affect their chances at good jobs, housing, and bank loans for the rest of their lives.”

So what can the people of this country do to enact change? Education needs to be more inclusive. The law needs to be enforced on those who discriminate against others. And most importantly, we need to stop seeing others based solely on the color of their skin.