I have an idea of what the protest is about.  It is the fact of blacks being treated differently, but even more it is the complacency of  whites who refuse to believe the evidence.  
From the 60's on, living in mostly white communities, I took for granted we were making good progress in this country.  Didn't we ban educational discrimination based on race, so everyone had a chance at college?  Didn't we make it illegal to reject employment apps based on race?  Then I witnessed two examples of how easy it is to circumvent the law.  I was on a committee to choose applicants for maintenance management.  Even though employment applications didn't show race, subtle comments were passed to the head of committee about which were from Black applicants, and those applications were 'lost'.  I saw a Black woman wait for service at a restaurant while several others were waited on, the excuse being that she 'was alone'. And I started paying closer attention.