They had finally done it. The smart kids at Florida A&M University had created the drug that would wipe out racism and injustice in all of its forms. But, of course, none of this would have happened if not for the 2024 Reparations Act that funneled millions of dollars into historically Black colleges, creating countless opportunities for African-American students across America. A considerable amount of the funding was targeted to social programs addressing racism and social injustice.

However, a small group of pharmacy students at Florida A&M took a different approach to the issue of social injustice. They felt that a medical approach to the problems of racism would be a better and more direct approach. After all, centuries had passed since the first Africans arrived on the shores of America as enslaved people. After years of research, they created the drug Empathy-1619. Following FDA approval, the drug was widely marketed, with commercials being shown around the world heralding the arrival of the new drug.

The drug was marketed as follows: “If you suffer from occasional episodes of racism, bias — implicit or otherwise — discrimination, sexism, homophobia, or xenophobia, then this drug is for you. Do you get angry when you hear words like white privilege, Black Lives Matter, and Woke? Do you suffer from occasional thoughts of secession and guilt? If you suffer from a lack of social and cultural awareness and understanding, then Empathy-1619 Empathy is made for you. Empathy-1619 has been shown to lead to extreme compassion for humankind and a desire to come together to resolve health disparities, social injustice, and other societal ills.

“Side effects may include decreased social media usage, more reading, more participation in cultural events, more family time, becoming more neighborly and empathetic, and doing unto others as you would have them do unto you. If, after taking Empathy-1619, you are not experiencing these effects, please consult your physician so that the dosage can be increased.”

Surprisingly, Empathy-1619 was not widely accepted. Many people felt that it was an infringement on their rights. Many believed that such a mandate was unnecessary given humanity’s ability to reason; it was supposed that humankind would eventually figure everything out if left alone. We would all live in peace and harmony.

Soon the protests and riots began. Vitriolic social media posts began to pop up exponentially, and everything became politicized. Ironically, society’s devolvement occurred because it refused a drug designed to prevent the very behavior magnified due to the creation of the drug itself. Interesting, perhaps the ability to reason is overrated. After the drug was banned, research documentation was discovered that showed that another significant side effect of Empathy-1619 was common sense.