The Grand Junction City Council just got a wake-up call.

We all did. There are members of our community – people of color – who, at a minimum, feel marginalized. At worst, they feel like targets of open racist hostility. But it took them marching on City Hall Wednesday for their frustration to register.

Mission accomplished. Now, council members and the white majority of Grand Valley residents can’t say they aren’t aware of a problem – one much bigger than how local law enforcement officers treat minorities, though the death of George Floyd clearly helped long-simmering resentment reach a boiling point.

Race relations in America are complicated. Racism is a deep, systemic, cultural, historical – even neurological – problem. Psychological experiments have provided objective evidence supporting the notion that the vast majority of us have racial biases that we may not even be aware of.

It’s the kind of problem that can’t be fixed with a proclamation that Grand Junction is an inclusive community. The protesters made clear that anybody who thinks we live in a colorblind society, free from racial divisions, has their head in the sand.

That certainly includes many of us who have no role in government and presume – based on our own experiences – that things are OK. If you’re not African American or Hispanic, can you really know what it’s like to navigate a white-dominated society?

The question then becomes, who is responsible for cultivating a culture of inclusivity? The protesters who packed City Hall seemed to suggest it’s the council’s job to reach out to minorities. That’s debatable and worthy of an editorial of its own. Regardless, the protesters got the attention of city leaders and sparked a much-needed conversation that has already led to some reasonable suggestions for improving treatment of minorities.

Council members signaled a willingness to empanel a committee of minority community members – one of several demands made by protest leader Jay Bishop at Wednesday’s council meeting.

Bishop asked for police officers, sheriff’s deputies and City Council members “to meet us where we stand. Come and shake hands.” A black citizen’s first meeting with a law enforcement officer shouldn’t be during an arrest, he said.

Grand Junction Police Chief Doug Shoemaker has stated his willingness to re-examine everything his department does to facilitate a better relationship with the public his officers serve. One protester’s suggestion for officers to meet with members of the black community in their homes and neighborhoods seems promising.

But city government is just one piece of the puzzle. The march on City Hall was largely symbolic because the protesters aired grievances over which the city has no control. The City Council was essentially a stand-in for social forces that show up in schools, on playgrounds, in places of business and every corner of life in the Grand Valley. The City Council can’t legislate how people treat each other. But it can certainly set an example for listening and acting, and it seems to be willing to do what it can to address the protesters’ concerns.

The city can facilitate a dialogue about race relations and fair treatment. It can support police department initiatives for cultural sensitivity training. It can go into minority communities and ask for feedback about where improvements can be made.

Beyond that, fixing the problem starts with getting the community to acknowledge that there is one. The City Council plays an important leadership role in this – one that council members appear to be willing to accept. We hope that others in the community will follow their lead.