As we celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr, there is a lot to be grateful for when it comes to the development of racial equality in the United States. More Black people are being educated and reaching a state of economic security, but the disparities between Black and White Americans are still growing. For example, in 1963, the average white family’s income was about $121,000 greater than that of the average Black family.

And now? A study by the Urban Institute shows that in 2016, the average white family in America made seven times more than the average Black family, and five times more than the average Hispanic family.

Source: Urban Institute calculations from Survey of Consumer Finances 1963-2016

The ugly truth is that many Black families will never be able to close the gaps between them and their white counterparts. Black people are still underpaid. Our programs, schools, and neighborhoods are underfunded, and our men are incarcerated at higher rates than any other race. It’s hard to say what progress has been made since Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s death.

Disparities will continue to grow, especially if our ignorance is continuously weaponized against us. More people are getting their news online in our new digital world, but this method of informing yourself also comes with a cost. 80% of Black Americans receive their news from a digital device or platform, according to the Pew Research Center. According to the same study, 13% of those that get their news digitally, are learning via social media.

While social media is a great way to be exposed to new ideas or current events, unfortunately, that’s where the search for information stops. When things like Young Thug’s song “Lifestyle” are being played in court as evidence against him, we get to laugh and shoot off jokes. On social media, it seems like just a funny clip of lawyers bopping their heads to a song we all know and love. In reality, these social media blogs and news sources, aren’t explaining the brevity of what this might mean for the average American.

If Young Thug’s song lyrics, a form of art and his protected free speech, are being used against him in court, who else might be in danger of being charged with something they said in a song? Who else is in danger of having a tweet they posted in 2013 being used as evidence against them in the court of law? This is the important message that we miss in the sea of memes and podcast reactions online. Precedent is power. This incident isn’t isolated to just this one case. We consistently miss the bigger picture when it comes to stories that affect our rights as Americans. If more Black people are charged based on evidence that infringes on their free speech, more Black people will be incarcerated. This lack of understanding of what’s happening right in front of us is what contributes to the national disparities between Black and White Americans. The only difference is, there are people in power using this ignorance to White people’s advantage.