The difference between a protest and a riot needs no explanation.

Starting last summer in Ferguson, a series of protests has taken place across the country aimed at police tactics in addressing African-Americans.

But with far too much frequency, the protests have turned into riots with property damage well into the millions of dollars.

An alarming poll was released this week, with 96 percent of respondents predicting more riots as the summer unfolds.

But the most striking poll result was the racial difference on why these riots occur.

White respondents overwhelmingly attributed the riots to the desire to loot and rob while African-American respondents overwhelmingly said the riots were in response to "police brutality" of African-Americans.

Regardless of the results, this is clearly not the post-racial America that was promised by the current administration.

Maybe this increased racial tension began with an incident involving a Cambridge police officer and a college professor that brought about a beer summit long on style and short on substance.

Maybe it began with the Trayvon Martin episode in Florida that ended with the acquittal of the shooter George Zimmerman.

Or maybe it began with the Michael Brown incident closer to home. Despite massive riots in the north St. Louis community, the police officer involved, too, was found innocent.

Similar protests were held in New York following the Eric Garner death but those remained relatively peaceful.

Which brings us to Baltimore.

In the wake of the Freddie Gray death, riots there brought the national debate over police actions to the forefront once again.

Now that the state has indicted six police officers -- three white, three African-American -- the fever in Baltimore has subsided.

Two questions remain: Will this indeed be a long, hot summer with more urban riots? But more importantly, how do we as a nation get past this simmering disconnect between police and African-Americans?

The liberal response is for police to reduce their actions against minor violations and address larger crime issues.

The conservative response is that a crime is a crime and to ignore even minor infractions is to give a free pass to those who seek to be lawless.

Should police have ignored Eric Garner selling illegal cigarettes, a crime for which he had been arrested a dozen times?

Should police have allowed Michael Brown to walk down the middle of the street and not told him to move to the sidewalk?

Should police have ignored it when Freddie Gray ran away when asked to stop?

The answers to these questions depend on whom you ask.

These three episodes all started with minor infractions and ended in death.

Were Garner, Brown and Gray targeted because of their skin color? Or were they targeted because they were breaking the law?

The poll results and every coffee shop conversation tell us your response is based almost solely on your skin color.

That's the problem. But where is the solution?

Michael Jensen is the publisher of the Sikeston Standard Democrat.