As the events in Ferguson and across the nation unfold we continue to “dig” ourselves into racially loaded and socio-economically delineated trenches. It is as if we live in parallel universes where multiple narratives define our factual frames of references. As a nation, it seems to me, we can only agree that the tragic death of Michael Brown is exactly that: a tragic loss of a young life. Everything else about this tragedy is politicized and seen as an excuse for fictitious projections of blame in the oversimplified dichotomy of “us” and “them.”

The specifics of the grand jury’s decision not to indict Officer Wilson in the shooting of Michael Brown aside, our reactions to that decision raise some important questions. First, what does it mean to be a citizen of our country and, second, what is the future of our democratic institutions if a significant minority of our population does not have the trust in the very institutions that are supposed to serve and protect them? The “Ferguson case,” in addition to being a legal case, is also a manifestation of unleashed perceptions among a number of our citizens that the criminal justice system is flawed and discriminatory toward a selected population.

These issues ought to guide both our institutional and individual soul-searching and become the starting point in a broader national conversation. Too many of our citizens and communities live segregated and in poverty, while very few of our politicians seriously strive to resolve such problems. That is morally reprehensible and economically devastating for all of us.

Many Americans who are unemployed, underemployed or come from underprivileged backgrounds do not exist in a social vacuum. They are products of increasing economic inequality that ravages our nation, a type of economic inequality that does not stimulate individual initiative, hard work or ingenuity, which I support, but the type that effectively paralyzes the chances of millions of young people to hope for a better future simply because of where they live or go to school or who are their parents. Often, the most underprivileged in our society are non-white, disproportionately incarcerated, disproportionately stopped by the police, and left with a K-12 educational system that is underfunded, dysfunctional and shamelessly inadequate.

These accumulated structural inequalities are anti-democratic. They threaten the very fabric of the American creed and preconditions necessary for a citizen’s life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. Even more specific to this case, these structural inequalities directly endanger the interactions between residents of affected communities and the police officers, positioning them against each other. As a result, the culture of mistrust, potentially bad policing practices, discrimination, crime, and fear among all involved is reinforced.

Way too often we hide behind the idea that all of our citizens have an equal opportunity to reach their full potential. Actually, many do not. Too many Americans struggle daily to confront joblessness, low pay and discrimination or to adjust to structural changes in the economy. Our history of racial tensions and discriminatory practices further exaggerates problems. In such a context, the reactions and behaviors by many of our citizens after the grand jury’s decision have become a microcosm where larger societal anxieties, preconceived notions and insecurities are played out.

To confront these structural issues, I propose the establishment of an “Education and Democracy Security Investment Fund (EDSIF),” that would be financed by all taxpayers and invested directly in community schools, services, job creation and general infrastructure. We need to rebuild communities where people want to come, not leave. This is not a handout; it is one of the most important investments that we can make. This is a national security issue and should be treated as such by our elected representatives on the local, state, and national levels, and by the rest of us. Through this investment we will start addressing some lingering structural issues that plague our country.

That’s how we create a new generation of educated citizens who are actively engaged in democratic processes. That’s how we live up to some of the basic creeds of this American project — that we are inherently equal and invaluable as individuals and that ours is the nation of equal opportunities for all. That’s how we remain a significant factor in knowledge-based world economy. That’s how a kid from Ferguson or a kid from rural Kansas knows that his country invests in him, embraces him as an individual, respects him as a member of his community, and sees him as a productive American citizen. Such citizens return tenfold to their country, regardless of the color of their skin.