That’s what a lot of folks in the majority are probably thinking. And by the majority, I mean the consensus, the general public…white people.

Our current lifestyle has somehow gone from a response to the coronavirus pandemic to now being a full-blown battle over what is right, what is wrong, and how to move forward. Most people will tell you that this is the greatest country on Earth and that we should be proud to live here. And that's probably true.

Yet somehow, the unfortunate tragedy of George Floyd’s final moments were abrasive enough to disrupt the entire world. Finally, we all had time to pause and consider, how race as an ideal continues to jeopardize the lives of others; the black community specifically. The Floyd story broke over the internet during Memorial Day and as indecent as the entire ordeal was, it even happened in broad daylight. Hands in their pocket, knee on his neck, without a concern for what might happen if the video were released.

This was wrong in every way imaginable and people, of all races, let this be known. There is always a vow to make a positive change after the fact: We Pledge to do this, Vow to do that, No more chokeholds, Defunding the police, and Working together. A lot of it sounds, idealistically, normal. It works like this; bad things happen and the police show up. There’s a murder, there’s evidence against the police, and more often than not a large group of African-Americans are extremely upset. Not surprised, but upset. Then there comes a vicious spin cycle, in which many attempt to amplify what happened arise. What did he do? What did he say? Who was around? Has he ever been arrested? Suspended? And whether intentional or not, these questions make it more acceptable for these types of things to happen continuously.

8 minutes and 46 seconds is a very long time. Too long. But it doesn’t at all relate to 400 years of inequality based on the color of your skin. The number of times I have done anything in life, I’ve always considered what it meant to be doing what I was doing as a black man.

When it came to getting jobs this always came into play. My credentials were usually solid and I had a relatively white first name (Jared). I did have a black middle name though (Dante). In any event each job I applied for I made sure my facial hair was completely clean shaven.

My first job in the golf industry, we were required to be clean shaven. This was the job I worked at TPC Sawgrass when I graduated from undergrad. I accepted the role and actually skipped my own college graduation to embark on this journey. I took a lot from this role and applied the clean shaven technique with many of my job interviews going forward. After graduating from law school, I applied for a number of jobs in athletic compliance and the one that actually paid me ended up being with the SWAC (Southwestern Athletic Conference); which represents HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges & Universities). Prior to that, I had jobs in compliance that simply would not pay me. I had a school select a candidate who was waiting to finish his law degree, another chose someone who was a volunteer outside of the athletic department staff, and another job asked me to work as an unpaid intern. All of this happened while I already had my law degree, a desired preference for the role. Who knows how or why, but fortunately, the current role I am in does not require that. Albeit, it did cross my mind when entering the job interview.

In anything I did growing up, my parents always warned me if it’s close, you won’t get it. You need to be better than your white counterparts, in every aspect, if you want the job or the title. You have to be twice as good to get an equal opportunity, and even then, nothing is guaranteed. So, for the entirety of my life, I’ve understood and lived with that. It is very much normal, as odd as that sounds.

These things probably sound a little racist, and maybe that’s true. But the sad reality is that this is the way of the world. There have been countless incidents that have happened daily but I simply cannot even discuss them with my counterparts. Things seem to press on normally, focused on the most important global issues… everything still moving.

Alton Sterling, Philando Castille, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless others. These are real live issues that we encounter, experience, and vent about on a daily basis, yet our pragmatic sense tells us to stay quiet, keep the ball rolling in the right direction and remain steadfast on the goals at hand.

These are things we can’t ever forget. Everything we’ve been told about what to do and what not to do when encountering the police is invalidated by a technicality. It doesn’t matter if we’re 100% completely innocent or not. Sometimes even your own friends and family will try to find out what you did wrong in order to be treated the way you were. So, the next time you see an African-American nervous as hell when a cop arrives, remember that he’s seen these stories of many people complying and then losing their lives due to police brutality.

There comes a point when you get tired of seeing this. We’ve reached beyond record high totals of unemployment and everyone who does have a job is likely out of work due to the pandemic. There are no sports, concerts, movies or things that usually might steer our attention elsewhere. Everywhere you turn, the only talk is about the pandemic or racial issues. That is both a good and necessary thing. There’s also a feeling of welcome to the life of an African-American; we didn’t ask for anything other than equality.

While everyone was making comments: some genuine, some as a necessity, I just kind of sat back and enjoyed the range of dialogue and discussion. Confederate flags, President Trump, Drew Brees; there has been statement upon statement. I received a few text messages from some very close friends of mine, who happened to be white. I never needed a message from them, but I deeply appreciated their support. Now I feel comfortable bringing up these issues with them, as they often do arise.

You probably have seen my articles on LinkedIn and said, oh boy not again. Well, here is a classic example of what I’m talking about. On my last post, I reached out with a number of facts about why we need more openings for African-Americans on tour. A sponsorship at a non-invitational tournament would be a great start; I believe having one entry fee provided for a player of African-American descent would be tremendous on the PGA TOUR, Korn Ferry TOUR, LPGA, and Symetra Tour. We are not pledging anything, we are not making any vows or contributing any funding. We are talking about one event, per year, for an entire season. I’ve still yet to hear back from anyone on this.

Further, roughly 3 percent of recreational golfers are African American and that drops to 1.5 percent when it comes to competitive golfers. Which companies are ready to implement data that allows African-American golfers to receive equipment at a reduced cost? If we really want to increase traction within our game, our equipment manufacturers will certainly help out.

What visibly is the golf industry going to do to ensure that we are doing our best to promote the issues? I want to see something definitive here.

We’ve had 50 states and 18 different countries reacting similarly to the George Floyd tragedy. But, if you were African-American, then this is just another example of what happens when race becomes the bait for a much larger issue. This is one that we have still yet to officially tackle. We’ve lived in our game where things like diversity and inclusion, carry limited meaning for those in need. Can we get some real positive change?