As much as sometimes our society seems like it is moving forwards, there are moments when you feel like it is stagnant or moving backwards.
 

One of those moments happened for me after I reading about the results from a study focused on black Millennials. The recent report revealed black Millennials say that when it comes to dealing with police violence, poverty and the legal system, they are doing worse than their peers of other racial groups.
 

Considered one of the most comprehensive overviews of Black Millennials, the Black Millennials in America report was assembled by the Black Youth Project at the Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture at the University of Chicago. It comprised of surveys and government statistics of Black men and women ages 18 to 34 from over the past decade. It also compared them with their peers of other racial groups.
 

According to the study’s results, more than half of black Millennial said they or someone they knew had either been harassed or treated violently by police. These reports were made well before the Black Lives Matter movement began. Interestingly, although there various negative findings, the study did reveal that they were more hopeful than whites and Latinos in regards to believing that politics could create change in our society.
 

These results remind me of the video that surfaced of a teenaged girl being thrown to the ground by a resource officer at Spring Valley High School in South Carolina weeks ago. The media went crazy over the situation. The officer, Ben Fields, was later fired due to not following proper procedures and training.
 

 
There are aspects of American society that can no longer be ignored as stories like this one continue to surface. Young girls, especially minorities, are not allowed question adults. They are socialized into taking on adult responsibilities but are expected to act like compliant children any other time. Similarly, minorities are not allowed to question authority at any time without disastrous results.
 

This isn’t the first time this year a teenaged girl has found herself in a similar situation with law enforcement. Remember that situation in Texas with a bikini-clad girl thrown to the ground and grown man placing his knee into her back? Even the young man who recorded the video said he couldn’t believe what his eyes were seeing.
 

Dajerria Becton was screaming, “I’m not fighting you” and begging for her mother when Former McKinney Police Officer Eric Casebolt threw her 15-year-old body to the ground. Sandra Bland, Renesha McBride, Dajerria Becton and this young lady brings to light how to handle there is a way to yourself as a woman in America, especially as a woman of color.
 

From birth, we’re taught how to act as a woman. It’s even worse when you are a Black girl. Black girls aren’t only taught how to wear skirts, heels, make-up and cross your legs when you sit. Instead, they are also taught not to be too loud, not to be too aggressive, not to be too emotional. It’s rare we are taught to question authority or to own our emotions. Black girls are taught there are few places in which we are safe to be ourselves, unashamed, unembarrassed and unapologetic.
 

Lyons: ” Black girls are taught there are few places in which we are safe to be ourselves, unashamed, unembarrassed and unapologetic.” (Photo: iStockphoto/Thinkstock)

Black girls are prepared for the harsh realities of the world. Because being a Black woman in America means you might not survive, if you aren’t prepared. So, instead of only dealing with puberty and growing into a woman, they also have to learn to navigate a world that really doesn’t want them to be a woman.
 

I’m not going to pretend I truly understood this before now. When my mother came home and talked about the “lunch with the teacher” events she’s hosted with her classes, I never understood why it was the girls would always be willing, ready and know how to set up the food, serve the food, and clean up after the food, while the boys were happy to stand there talking, playing and dancing.
 

Black girls are habitually taught to be women way before they are taught to be girls. Black girls are habitually taught to navigate this world before they are truly a part of the world. And if those who want to continue the trend will argue Becton should have complied, Bland should have complied and this young lady should have complied.
 

People, like Don Lemon, want to know what occurred before this video was filmed. While it is understandable to want to know more. But I have to question in what instance would it have been okay for the outcome in Spring Valley High School, for the outcome Becton faced, the outcome Bland faced, the outcome McBride faced? More importantly, when do people of color get to question authority?
 

At times, today often feels very reminiscent of American slavery. During that period, people of color were unable to question authority. If they so much as dared to do so, they were promptly punished. Either they were “sold down the river” or killed. But American slavery ended. And even the Jim Crow era that followed ended. Yet somehow, I feel like people of color are not allowed to question authority…less they will be arrested, assaulted and possibly murdered.
 

(RIZZARR File Photo)

My mind was boggled as people came out, saying that if she had not resisted and had listened to the teacher, then she would have been treated better. I’ve been in a classroom where I was the teacher and I had a student that wouldn’t listen. I’ve called the school administration and security. But in not one of those situations did it result in what I saw in the video. It’s unbelievable that this all occurred, because she wouldn’t put her cell phone away. Many stories I’ve heard and told of situations in the classroom, never involves such escalation of a situation.
 

I also noticed at least THREE male students in the room. All of them looked like minorities, yet not one of them stood up and said or did anything. One guy even had his hand up by his face as if to prevent himself from really seeing the event unfold.
 

A series of photos once popped up on Tumblr from a Big Brother season. Two young minorities wound up in the only place they could be alone and process their feelings. The young woman was in an altercation with some other ladies in the house. The young man took her out of the situation, took her to a place to process the feelings, and (to my understanding) gave up his bed so that she could have a comfortable place to sleep. His reasoning was that he couldn’t stand to see her in such a situation.
 

In some ways, it seems as if chivalry died in such a short time. But I know many of my friends and family members, who are men, would identify more readily with the gentleman from the Big Brother episode I’m referencing. I remember getting a text message from a friend telling me about how he got into a fight because he challenged a man he saw hitting his significant other. I’m only left to wonder, if it isn’t that chivalry isn’t dead but there are situations where it isn’t allowed to occur.
 

For one thing, it isn’t about chivalry so much as it is about protecting other members of the society you live in. It’s easy to say “protecting your women” but it’s so much more than that. Beyond their womanhood, beyond their belonging to a similar racial group, they are members of society.
 

Still, it seems as if there isn’t space to protect Black millennials and other members of society if there is law enforcement involved. I wonder how the narrative would have change, if the situation in Big Brother had involved law enforcement. I wonder if the situation my friend told me about would have changed, if law enforcement were involved.
 

According to some reports, one student DID attempt to get involved, and she was also arrested. Roland Martin points out protecting Black women aren’t on the forefront of our agenda. Martin asks where are the Black women organizations speaking out against this? These are the organizations many Black girls look up to, want to join and be involved.
 

I’m left wondering: If Black women do not protect Black women…then who will? If law enforcement doesn’t protect Black millennials and younger generations…then who will?
 

When it comes to conquering racial issues in our society, we have to be the change that we wish to see.
 
 

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