I feel like I see it all the time. After another death, another injustice, another murder. Terence Crutcher. Keith Lamont Scott. A law protecting the rights of employers to deny prospective employees because of the way they wear their hair. Riots in cities, Trump versus Hillary, constant screaming. I have friends, on both sides of the political spectrum, wondering aloud:

“Is it getting better? It doesn’t feel better. It doesn’t look better. What if we’re trying to step forward and we’re really stepping back? What if, with all of this, what if it’s only getting worse?”

To those friends who are wondering, I’m writing this for you.

It’s like cleaning a house. The metaphor is simple and imperfect, but here it is: trying to remove racism and inequality and injustice from the fabric of our society is like cleaning a house. And not just any house, no. America, my friends, is a hoarder, hanging on to what was once right and acceptable as if her life depended on it. And now, everything is piled so high that we can’t discern the knick-knacks from the trash. And someone, somewhere, living in the house, decided that enough was enough, and started to remove everything that filled the house piece by piece.

And now? We’re far enough into the process that there’s a ton of crap on the lawn. We’re embarrassed because EVERYONE can see it. And we’re fighting with each other, screaming and kicking and killing over what to keep, what to throw out, what to deal with right now, and how to count and go through what’s still in the house.

It only feels worse because it’s all out on the lawn. We’re no longer wading through piles of crap in secrecy. We’re bleeding the same amount. It only hurts more now because it’s more visible. But every video on a body camera or dashboard, every article written with passionate words, every march, every question asked, every fight in the comments section of a Facebook post, it all brings us one step closer to the ultimate goal: a clean house, where we can all stay.

What am I trying to say? That it’s a process. It won’t happen overnight. This system of screwed-up priorities and systems that cause people pain are over 400 years in the making. It’s impressive that we’ve been able to sort through as much as we have in the past 50 years, since the Civil Rights Movement. And the most important thing to remember is that pain is not the antithesis of progress. If anything, it’s vital. It’s how muscles become strong. They tear, they hurt, and then they heal. We’re going through a process right now. It was difficult, it is difficult, and it will continue to be difficult, challenging, scary even. But to my friends who are wondering if we’re on the right path, don’t lose faith just yet. Keep fighting, keep speaking, and one day, we’ll get there.