I have an uncle who was a cop.
His kids, my cousins, were around my age and when we visited our family in Québec every summer I practically lived at their house. As soon as we got to my grandmother’s house, all rumpled and grumpy from our eight hour drive, I would start dialling my cousins’ number on her beige rotary phone. I spent the whole damn school year waiting for summer, and my time with my cousins, to come; we wrote each other letters all through the dreary winter, hatching plans for new summer exploits. Life with my cousins – swimming in their pool, family barbecues, playing hide-and-seek in my grandmother’s mammoth hedge at twilight – was lightyears better than my boring life in Ontario.
Pretty much every summer my uncle would, at some point, take us to visit the police station. He would pretend that we were criminals and take our fingerprints, maybe a pretend mugshot. He would let us explore the holding cells they had at the station; I remember being utterly fascinated by them – bare blank rooms in miniature, each with its own personal toilet and sink. One time I lingered so long that he threatened to lock me in if I didn’t come out soon. I said that was fine, and asked what the prisoners were going to have for dinner. I wasn’t afraid. I had no reason to be afraid.
Like most white people, I grew up with the idea that the cops are on my side. Over and over again, I was told that the police were here to protect me. As a little kid, I was told that if I was ever lost or in danger, the first person I should try to find was a police officer. I was taught that this is the system; I was taught that the system was here to take care of me.
What I was never taught was that the system takes care of white people like me first, and everyone else second. If at all.
I’ve been trying to figure out over the past few months how white people can be so blindly outraged over the events that have unfolded in Ferguson. It’s honestly baffling that they can argue that it’s fine for a police officer to fire six shots at an unarmed man because he maybe stole some cigars and also wasn’t walking on the sidewalk. I’m in awe at the vast mental gymnastics required to believe that there’s nothing wrong with a cop shooting an unarmed man six times in “self-defence.” The same goes for white reactions to the cases of Trayvon Martin, John Crawford III, Tamir Rice, and countless other young Black men who have been murdered for no reason. I’ve lived a privileged enough life that the white responses to these crimes still shock me; I know that for Black folks, these responses are just par for the course. I can’t even wrap my head around what it would feel like for this spew of racist hate to just be part of another average day – and that’s my privilege showing right there.
White people have been taught for their entire lives to believe in the system. The system is civilization; the system is democracy, the courts of law, the way the state cares for and supports us. We’ve been told over and over that the system is what allows us to live safely, free from fear. But every time something like Ferguson happens, we white folks see glimpses of how completely fucked the system is. And those glimpses terrify the shit out of us, because they shake the foundation of every bit of patriotic jingoism that’s been crammed down our throats since day one.
A popular belief among progressive white people is that the system is broken, but it’s absolutely not. It was built this way; it was built to prioritize the safety and security of white people over everyone else. The way the system works is by oppressing Black people and other people of colour. As Ta-Nehisi Coates said at a recent talk that I attended, “the machine is running as intended.” The very foundations of the American economy are based on the enslavement of Black people. Throughout American (and Canadian) history, there are so many examples of state-sponsored marginalization and oppression of people of colour. These examples continue today – just look at the overrepresentation of Black men in prisons. This is the fucking system – this is how it is meant to run. We don’t need to “fix” the system, because it’s operating exactly the way it should be. What we need is to completely overthrow it and start again from scratch.
I have friends who have Black sons, and today, as they struggle through grief and pain and fear, they are trying to figure out how to make sure that their son isn’t the next Mike Brown or Trayon Martin. They want to know what they have to tell their kids in order to keep them safe. I wish I had some kind of answer for them, but of course I don’t – both because I’m white and this is so far outside of my realm of personal experience that I am absolutely not in a place to give advice, and also because there are no answers. The only way to ensure these boys’ safety would be for them to be white – and that’s both an impossible and terrible response. There is nothing about this situation that doesn’t feel impossible and terrible – and, again, that’s me as a white person saying that, and I can’t even imagine the depth of horror Black communities are experiencing right now.
We – and by “we”, I mean white people who want to be allies – need to take action. We need to de-centre ourselves, and start promoting Black voices. We need to, in the parlance of social justice circles, take a fucking seat. We need to take a whole goddamn chair factory’s worth of seats. We need to listen, and then we need to turn around and share what we’ve learned with other white people. We need to let Black people lead, and we need to learn to be good followers. We created this broken system, and now we need to humbly help build a better, fairer system.
Because maybe even right now my friend is sitting her three year old son down and telling him that he can’t always trust the police. Meanwhile, some white kid with a cop for an uncle is being taught that a police station is a neat place to visit and a fun place to play. The only difference between those two kids is the colour of their skin. And that is both incredibly fucked up and also exactly how this machine was designed to run.
Below are some excellent pieces by Black writers. If you are white, please take some time to go through it and educate yourself. That is our job right now. If you have any other articles (or blog posts, or videos, or whatever) by Black writers or activists, please share the links in the comments and I will include them in this list.
The Case for Reparations by Ta-Nehisi Coates
About Ferguson, White Allies and Speaking Up When It Matters by Awesomely Luvvie
America’s Not Here For Us by A’Driane Nieves
A Letter to My Unborn Black Son by George Johnson
Youth Are on the Frontlines in Ferguson, and They Refuse to Back Down by Muna Mire
If There Are Good Cops Out There, Prove It by Albert L. Butler
The Belle Jar 
Reblogged this on Jessica A Bruno (waybeyondfedup).
exactly, Belle. White people need to control their cops, white people need to fix this.
Well said.
Thank you for those links. I’m working my way through them now. I don’t live in the States, but I think it’s important for everyone, worldwide, to be up with the play on these issues and speak out. Thank you for helping to educate me and a lot of other people, and thank you for speaking up.
“These examples continue today – just look at the overrepresentation of Black men in prisons. This is the fucking system – this is how it is meant to run”
Uhhhm except if you look at the statistics:
-Blacks are seven times more likely than people of other races to commit murder, and eight times more likely to commit robbery.
-When blacks commit crimes of violence, they are nearly three times more likely than non-blacks to use a gun, and more than twice as likely to use a knife.
-Hispanics commit violent crimes at roughly three times the white rate, and Asians commit violent crimes at about one quarter the white rate.
Of the nearly 770,000 violent interracial crimes committed every year involving blacks and whites, blacks commit 85 percent and whites commit 15 percent.
So maybe……
Just maybe…..
There’s more black people in jail because black people commit more crimes than white people.
Just like there’s fewer Asian people in jail than white people because they commit less crime.
Ask yourself why. People of colour are not predisposed to act differently. Being treated DIFFERENTLY in a system that was SET UP in colonial times to oppress people of colour is where this story begins. Look at the entire picture. If you’re gonna call stats, lets look at the stats of slavery and oppression first. Do you really think it’s a coincidence that those who owned PEOPLE are still in power? It’s takes more than a few hundred years to break to shackles of oppression because of inter-generational trauma, and changing laws which happens so slowly over time to gradually offset the negatives. Having people like yourself minimizing real pain pain is what makes this process so slow. You’re blind, because you don’t feel the pain and this system works for your benefit. You are part of the problem, and so it anyone who minimizes and refuses to see what’s really happening.
Wanna hear some more stats?
-93% of black homicides between 1980 and 2008 were committed by other blacks (US Bureau of Justice Statistics)
– While making up only 12% of the population, blacks are arrested for 50% of murders, 33% of forced rapes, and 25% of all sex offenses that are not forcible rapes or prostiution. (2011 FBI crime stats)
– In Fact, A white women is over 2000 times more likely in the US to be raped by a black men then the reverse (2009 Justice Department)
Seems to me people like Anne Theriault should be talking about things like that than making excuses for people.
I don’t care what happened 200 years ago, there’s no excuse for violence against anybody regardless of gender, race or sexual orientation.
If people of colour are not predisposed to act differently, then it should be easy for them to stop
So, are you both really trying to say white people never cause violence!? never commit a crime? come on, stop acting like white people are so much better were not. All it is, is a privilege to be white, and that is pretty sad.
Nice stats. They are true yes, but you just make it sound like if someone has a different skin color other then white your gonna be in jail. You can stop making it sound like “white” people are better. You ever think why there are more black people in jail? Just because there skin color is different doesn’t mean they ALL commit crimes! You sound like a complete racsist
Please,
you know nothing about me; don’t throw out the “R” word.
I’m better than nobody Everybody in this world matters
I believe that #blackpeoplematter
OK so then why don’t you give some statistics that actually make it look like you care? Like, African-Americans comprise 13% of the U.S. population and 14% of the monthly drug users, but 37% of the people arrested for drug-related offenses in America. ok how about : Studies show that police are more likely to pull over and frisk blacks or Latinos than whites. In New York City, 80% of the stops made were blacks and Latinos, and 85% of those people were frisked, compared to a mere 8% of the white people stopped. Or even this one:After being arrested, African-Americans are 33% more likely than whites to be detained while facing a felony trial in New York. This whole case is on white vs. black. The whole point is this should have been brought to trial. Hes a cop, so what. HE KILLED someone.
Your responses perfection. People are way too willing to just say “Oh black people commit all the crimes, that’s why they’re in prison” because its easier and requires less effort than to recognize that the system we live in specifically targets African-Americans.
If the system is made by white and for white people, there is a big number of white criminals out of that list, I’m sure we will tell is different story if the cop that shoot would be white, statistic can be makeup, including, in my point of view, the cop that shoot 6 times a black guy, just because…
The level of ignorance in your statements is terrifying. Do you believe that Black people are innately more violent? Or that Asians are genetically peaceful? Your statistics may be true (although I’d be surprised if they came from a reliable, unbiased source and you didn’t just pluck them off conservativewhiteguy.com’s latest meme), but even so, it’s staggering that you, and millions that share your opinion, don’t recognize that those differences are social in nature. There is absolutely no justification for believing that someone from another race is born less… less civilized, less intelligent, less anything… simply because of their race. The only explanation for such statistics is that society is not providing an environment of equal opportunity and protection. It is extremely comfortable to pretend that it’s a Black problem and not everybody’s problem. It’s also cowardly and disgusting. And the only reason someone would want to allow such inequality to exist in society is because they can comfortably sit at the top of the mountain and pretend they were born better.
No, those stats are misleading. Surely you know blacks are equally disproportionally the victims of violent crime. In fact, if we balance the populations, whites commit violent crimes against blacks at the same rate as blacks do whites. There are six time as as many whites, but the same fraction of both populations are victimized by the other.
“Surely you know blacks are equally disproportionally the victims of violent crime.”
Over 90% of the perpetrators of those violent crimes are other blacks.
No,the same fractions are not victimized by the other-
http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2013/crime-in-the-u.s.-2013/offenses-known-to-law-enforcement/expanded-offense/expandedoffensemain_final
The point is that if you commit a crime, you do the time. I don’t have white privilege. I have a pile of student debt and am unable to work full time because of Ankylosing Spondylitis. Most people who have AS are white men. The least occurrence is in black men. Should I be angry that my “white privilege” could be contributing to my illness?
Anyone can torture statistics to mean whatever they want.
What about the mentality that (not just blacks) but people on the government dole decide to have more babies to “earn” a few more bucks a month. These incentives are nothing more than financial slavery, yet people choose to be on the dole than to earn an honest living. Is working for a living hard? You’re darn right it is.
Ultimately, you are trying to patch a broken system that is created by sinners. Social justice is great, but if you don’t share the salvation that can be attained in Christ, it’s like giving a cup of water to a drowning man.
I’m not sure I’ll ever dig through that data, gamegetterII, I’ve been down that rabbit hole before, with the DOJ stats, and that’s where I got this opinion. But here, I don’t think I made myself clear, so I’ll try again. There are something like six times as many white folks in America as blacks, and approximately the same portion of the black population is victimized by interracial crime as whites. There are six times as may whites, so six times as many white victims of interracial crime, but the same fraction of each population.
Someone with sense. Thank God.
As long as these black men continue to commit crimes against humanity their fate will always hang in the balance
It’s their choice
And just for the record the Police Officer was beaten nearly unconscious by Brown
Justice has been served
Amen.
I’ve never liked cops. But I also know that if I rob a liquor store then make a move on a cop’s gun, I’m probably gonna get shot. And if I did, I would sure as hell hope that folks didn’t burn down the minority run businesses near where I get killed.
Okay so it’s okay for Charles Manson to be getting married to have slaughtered many people and still think anti-American sentiments and be not facing death by cop or capital punishment but marriage as his punishment? The guy has been locked up all these years, he has been given chances to redeem himself and he is White. Unabomber also almost got the same deals and he is a certified terrorist but he is White. People do whole length documentaries on telling on how Ted Bundy and Ed Gein were traumatised or abused and then killed so many different people among their own race and they were White too.
Almost all serial killers are more or less documented to be White yet you are made to sympathise with many of them so where is the “As long as these white men continue to commit crimes” statement? There is a racial stratification here. If Brown had punched the Police Officer and tried to take away his gun he should have been punched out too and tackled down not shot six times. You need time and focus to shoot someone very carefully six times. If you are disoriented it is very hard to do.
There is no Justice with the attitude that just because someone is a cop they have all the exonerative legal powers and can do whatever he wants for his self-defense and this goes for any cop of any ethnicity. If this was a Black cop who shot a White young man for the same crime he would be easily fired or suspended. Media outlets would talk about how wrong it was to shoot a young man in the start of his life six times, show his family history and all the poverty and drugs that made him go down the wrong path. This should be done with all races of people but it hardly gets done like that. This decision was called to show that the system is airtight and safe if it were so a man would not lose his life needlessly and another man would not become a symbol of police corruption and associated racism.
I can understand that maybe you think there is nothing wrong and I am not showing any vitriolic towards you all I am saying that shift the bases and see the differently aligned responses then you will get a broader picture.
I hope that straw man keeps the crows out of your field. If Manson or the Unabomber had made moves on the cops who were serving their arrest, they’d’ve been shot too!
Also, around the same time as Ferguson happened, a “non-white” cop shot an unarmed white 20 year old in Utah. We didn’t hear about it, though, because the Klan didn’t drive in from three states away to burn down the Bass Pro Shop.
Actually, Scarecrows are still an effective method in almost all agricultural fields all over the world.
Well, they did more harm to ordinary people and ordinary people are the priority of cops who they are trained to serve and protect. I think some cops did want to attack them. Also serial killers have shown aggressive behaviour to cops before without cops not becoming too violent.
Yes, if that did happen it is wrong. No cop should easily shoot any unarmed person of any race unless they are X-men with Cyclops vision XD also you said “shot” I presume it was one shot and that maybe the person didn’t die. There is a difference between a six time firing with a coup de grace and a shot. Context is something that matters.
None of what of you said is negatively taken I am happy you decided to be sarcastic though we can talk about this in other dialogues. Also, Ku Klux Klan is not the face of White people so you shouldn’t be using them as a symbol neither akin them to the Black people/Supporters Brown of Ferguson. That is offensive to them.
All of us should practice a bit of empathy. I am not White nor Black. I am not going to only support policies regarding race. I am going to say if something is wrong pertaining to how systems handle things.
There is no malice against you either. I am just being honest.
What ever happened to personal responsibility? Am I an embezzler because I’m white? No, I know right from wrong and act accordingly. If I act like a rabid animal, I expect to be treated like one.
” You need time and focus to shoot someone very carefully six times. If you are disoriented it is very hard to do.”
I did not follow you for much of the rest but this is not a true statement. My assumption is that you are not familiar with firearms. The shot placement (understand I am not passing judgement either way, just pointing it out) was not indicative of a particularly careful aim. More like just pulling the trigger in the general direction.
I was mentioning from the sort of account he gave. Apparently Brown really overwhelmed Wilson so you are focused in that situation in a scuffle as in adrenalin peak your body goes to hyperdrive. Shooting an unarmed man six times fatally when you have honed your senses towards deadly situations and firearms is questionable. Most people even when shooting in the general direction would probably miss a few times or empty a clip haphazardly. I am not saying I am a firearms expert and I am happy you are detailing the ballistics I genuinely am. I just wish to reiterate that a novice with a gun and a seasoned cop with a guy will have variable ballistics involved. And there was a time frame that covered the shootings. It’s a dire situation.
Well, I am relatively skeptical of the eyewitness testimony in general, Wilsons included. It seems to me (from my comfy armchair) that he was pretty close to a panic. I think Brown was out of line and Wilson did not take measures to de escalate, rather both parties got in a pissing contest and one had a gun. Not a good recipe. When two people doing stupid things go head to head, it seldom ends well. That is really my issue across the board. Wilson acted badly but so did Brown. There are no clean hands in this one.
Well if that was the case Wilson should not be so easily exonerated; his actions should be scrutinised because anyone regardless of race, gender, etcetera should be given a fair analysis. It is imperative that any system be it in whatever country make revisions of itself and take tabs of the contexts involved. I see this in many places that people will do so much to protect the system but not people in it.
“And just for the record the Police Officer was beaten nearly unconscious by Brown”
Have you seen the picture of the cops injuries? He as one tiny mark on his face. yea right he really looks like he was beat…….
Do you think that cops should allow people to hit them in the face – in any capacity? Do you think we should have jobs where it’s OK for people to hit whoever is working those jobs? Would you want to be a cop when people like you seem to think it’s OK to punch them? Your premise is lacking, so you can’t present a logical argument. Maybe we should have rules where, if someone is black, they can hit people.
Omg seriously!? You are being so fucking judgmental that you can’t even see that if the cop was almost beaten to death he would have marks on him. He doesn’t. When the fuck did any of your words come out of my mouth? Oh wait they didn’t because I’m not a bigot like you.
RACISM IS A LIVE AND WELL
Thank you. White people (yes, not me, but I’ve still benefitted from the results, and anyone else who also has benefitted needs to stop pretending they haven’t) owe the world their support in changing this lopsided, corrupt system.
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If you don’t want your friend’s sons to become Mike Brown, perhaps we should tell them not to assault police officers? Why is it being overlooked that this grown man punched the officer in the face and attempted to take his gun? His thumb was grazed by a bullet that was so close, there was soot covering his finger. How would it be that close if his arms weren’t inside the car?
I understand your point of view, but I don’t agree with it. I think its offensive to say that officers will always put white people before people of color. My husband is a police officer, we have many friends of color, and to say he would always choose our white friends over the friends of color in an incident is pathetic. It isn’t about the color of someone’s skin, it is about their actions, the way they present themselves, their CRIMES. If you punch a store clerk in the face to rob them, perhaps you shouldn’t then assault a police officer, and then be outraged when you don’t live to tell about it? Actions actions actions.
I agree that their is a problem, but I think it’s more about teaching our kids (of every color) to be better human beings. To live within the law instead of outside it. To try to get the best out of the world. I’m not saying that there aren’t instances of racist cops, or bad cops, because let’s face it. There are bad human beings in every profession. But it’s offensive to say that all cops are this way, that its just society.
I am not familiar with the exact facts of this case but taking them as you have written them: Are you really OK living in a world where one person can punch another and then the person who was punched can shoot the first person dead (someone said six bullets?) and that is perfectly reasonable?
I agree with you that not all police officers are bad but I think the racism of society comes in when a grand jury can exonerate such an egregious over reaction. If someone assaults you then you should attend to your own safety but surely the aim should be to disengage not escalate?
I am okay with the fact that if an officer has a gun, and someone punches him, reaches for the gun, that the officer can defend himself accordingly. If you put yourself in his situation, would you let him kill you first? Honestly? If he gets your gun, he is going to shoot you. To be an officer, you have to be prepared that anyone with the “means” to kill you, will kill you. Otherwise you are unprepared for the job. He had a bullet graze his thumb, then walked away from the car. Then the officer got out of the car, when the man turned and charged the officer, at which point, the officer fires. If the officer was your husband, what would you have told him to do?
I honestly would like to know, what do you think should have happened? Should the officer have let this man take his gun? Or waited for him to knock him out? What if the guy wasn’t shot, took his gun, and proceeded to kill others? Then would it be the cops fault? You have to realize that the cops priority at that point was the safety of everyone surrounding him.
I am entirely okay with that world! That world highly discourages folks from punching one another. 😉
This is a reply to Shauna841505’s reply to me further down the page. I can’t click reply on her second post.
Honestly? I don’t think there are a lot of easy answers but I err on the side of trying to keep everyone alive. I don’t think police officers should have guns. There is less escalation if they don’t. Police in the US are more likely to kill citizens then police in many other countries and I think carrying guns is part of that. But you are right the safety of others (and the police officer) are important factors as well. So what do I wish had happened? That the police officer had more non-lethal options at his disposal. That the police office did not get out of the car but called for back up and subdued Mike Brown without killing him. I agree this is not always possible but I think it would be a good idea to train police in non-lethal responses and give them tools that support that. Pepper spray, tasers, net guns, batons, water cannons etc are all ways to bring down someone who is a danger to others without killing them. Killing someone surely should be avoided?
OK so you are the cop. Somebody punches you in the face and tries to wrestle your gun out of your hands. The gun goes off. Plus he’s just committed a robbery. So by this point you both know that he is going down for a long time for robbery and now assaulting and attempting to murder a cop.
The next thing you know the guy is charging at you even though you have a gun drawn on him. You already know he is prepared to wrestle the gun from you. You know he has nothing to lose now (his life as a free man is already over by this stage due the the crimes already committed). You probably suspect he is high on drugs (turns out he was). You know that due to his size (he was very big guy) if he gets to you again he will probably overpower you take you gun, shoot you and become a fugitive with a gun and nothing to lose perhaps killing others in a stand off or hostage situation. The cop had no option but to open fire in self defence and in the interests of public safety.
All the allegations of him being shot in the back, shot on his knees, shot running away have turned out to be LIES. The wounds show he was shot while charging at the cop, and eyewitnesses back this up.
An apology for the racist accusations and all the rioting have yet to be made, to the local store owners and rest of the local community as much as everybody else.
So anyway you are the cop. You decide to not shoot. He reaches you, knock you down, takes you gun, shoots you. Now he has a gun and a life sentence with back up cops already on their way. How is this situation going to end now in your opinion? What happens next?
When anyone is attacked they have the right to self defense! Skin color is NOT a prerequisite for this. If you behave in a civilized manner you are treated in a civilized manner. Too many blacks eat, crap, sleep the thug mentality and it comes back to bite them. Sad but true. Dr Ben Carson is an EXCELLENT example to young black men, even though I don’t agree with his every drive, I respect him greatly.
Those who present themselves humbly and respectfully are treated thus, regardless of skin color. Those who do not, are not.
I am the cop. I don’t shoot, I don’t get out of the car. I deploy the water cannon on the car roof and subdue the attacker. Or I fire my net gun at the attacker, again from the car. Also if I don’t have a gun not only is it not possible for me to shoot people it is also not a worry that the attacker will take it from me. Also if I were a cop I would want a camera on me at all times to make my actions crystal clear and defend me with incontrovertible evidence. Why don’t we do that now?
Reblogged this on Xkluziv Magazine.
The evidence is still being reported by everyone differently. I heard 12 bullets today. Anyhow… that the jury was 9 white people and only three black people seems like poorly balanced representation. Why did they wait to announce at night time after creating the look of a threat and gearing up with troops? They created this to make the black community lash out and look crazy so things can quiet down and you can all go shopping. Christmas and thanksgiving is business… “black friday” is deemed more important to the economy than black lives. So the evidence might have worked against Mike as an individual case basis, but the system was already rigged against him.
I don’t usually “like” comments. But yours truly deserves it. This is so much bigger than Mike Brown, his case was just the seed crystal.
Previous actions warranted the actions, however the nighttime announcement was insanity!
Hi Liza, I appreciate your commenting to me… but “Previous actions warranted the actions” isn’t the whole truth.
Mike Brown could have been maimed instead of killed, had the officer been better trained or equipped for his job.
Officer Wilson speaking about fearing for his life, having time to think about if he had no other recourse, and the time they gave him to rehearse and memorize his lines when he finally gave an interview to George Stephanopolis, all felt a bit off to me.
If society has to kill young black people to stop them from doing anything at all, we have gone too far.
Mike was just a kid. He made stupid belligerent choices like most kids will at some time in their lives, and he didn’t get a fair trial, before, during or after his mistakes.
Why was mike brown not handcuffed before he was in the car? How is it possible he could wrestle with the cop inside the car?
Why were only three jury members black?
That there are inequities in the justice system is not immediately accepted by white people… and white people being predominantly in charge of those systems, of course will hold onto that power balance.
I am not against policemen-women. They have to view civilians as our worst selves and look for crimes, facing daily violence and their job requirements are changing now as we learn more and more about mental health, addiction, and special needs people…
The sensitivity required for a police person will need to go beyond that of a “soldier”.
Please read the ENTIRE database of info.
Maiming someone of such size and demeanor likely would not have stopped him. As seen many many times in previous incidents around the world/country.
Officer Wilson made the choice to live, Mike Brown to die. Any idiot knows that attacking/charging a police officer is a death sentence. In fact they have a term for it, suicide by cop. Rehearsal, really? God help you if you are ever in such a place and have to decide what to do in a split second. Did you know cops are REQUIRED to go to a gun range often? Do you know why? Because when the chips are down even the best trained will pause and it will cost their lives or that of bystanders. Believe me he lives that second of his life 1000 times an hour and will for the rest of his life. It will cause nightmares.
If young black men had any decent upbringing perhaps they wouldn’t need to be shot. When I hear a black man say he was told he wasn’t black enough that disgusts me. In other words, if you don’t wear your pants below their butts, speak guttural english, show gang signs, and bully whites down, you aren’t black. Think about that, the black community TEACHES their offspring to be of this mentality, then when one dies they are angry. Why? If they had raised them to be decent, upright, citizens who were contributors to their communities far fewer would be killed. Now keep in mind also that black are killing other blacks in massive numbers? Why? Because they still teach the jungle mentality that is seen in African tribal wars.
Don’t get me wrong, it makes me so sad. I know of a couple who wanted to adopt a child and fell in love with a little boy about to turn two. They were white, he was black. The community uproar was unreal, claiming they couldn’t teach him to be black. They would rather he be an orphan than raised by a white couple. They were denied. THATS SAD!
Mike was 18, not a “kid” but by all legal definitions an adult. It was time to make adult choices! It was an adult man who robbed the store and roughed up the store clerk, an adult man (and a very large one) who attacked a police officer when he told the boys to get out of the road. It was a man who hit the officer in the fave, preventing him from exiting his vehicle, and trying to take his gun.
Fair trial? He chose no trial when he attacked a cop! Stupid is as stupid does!
Handcuffed? As the officer attempted to exit his vehicle this ‘child’ pushed him back preventing his exiting the vehicle. When the officer was able to exit this ‘child’ moved away and the officer pursued to arrest him. However this ‘child’ chose to put his head down and attempt to charge the cop. Stupid decision, bit his nonetheless. Wrestle inside the car? You’re right, why did he reach into a cop car and try to take his gun? Ignorance? Drugs? Stupidity?
Jury makeup? A grand jury is chosen and ALL cases come before that grand jury during its session. It was in session BEFORE this occurred. Color makeup? Not relevant to any case! Would you chose all white for white cases or all black for black, etc? Not if you are intelligent.
The last paragraph doesn’t justify an answer, it is like a child saying “she doesn’t have to wash dishes” or “why does he get to go on a date and I don’t? Just because the is 16 and I am 9 shouldn’t matter”. Fact is one must try to be lawful, upstanding and a positive contributor to society to qualify for serving the law to others. Do you want gangbangers patrolling the streets? Or uneducated persons for attorneys? I think not, same rule applies! If you want to change the system, educate yourself and help it evolve. But remember we reap what we sow.
Officers are put through the mill and some bad ones get through of all colors. Crap happens but we work to change and not attack. Cops must be all things now as you stated and it is most difficult. How to choose in a fraction of a second who lives or dies. They must pass many tests to even be considered (written, physical, psychological, physical agility) and they must study constantly, virtually never getting out of school.
Time to stop blaming society, cops, and the system for our personal choices in life and accept responsibility for our decisions and actions.
It hurts that anyone, black, white, yellow, should have to die for those stupid choices but we must raise our children to know right from wrong and make the right decision EVERY TIME. That means not robbing stores, not bullying others, not attacking cops, not charging cops. And remember that one of the reasons this officer was not indicted was that blacks verified his story of the incident.
Why was one of those killed for telling the truth? Yes, he was, shot and burned for choosing right over wrong! Teach right and not wrong and you have less chances of death by cop!
YOU know WHAT LIZA?????
I stopped reading your lengthy tirade after you used the term IDIOTS.
You call me an idiot and END of discussion, young lady. You are no fit judge coming at a human being like that and with NO cause to do so with me. We can be kind around this touchy subject and SHOULD be!!!!!!!!!!!
Mike Brown DID NOT deserve the death penalty by cop. The case was mishandled start to finish at no fault of Mike Brown. You are operating out of fear. I’m not going to tolerate your insults because you feel angry and fearful.
Officer Wilson was a mediocre policeman who was not good at his very, very difficult job. I don’t want to lynch mob him, I just don’t want him working in a job he’s not prepared for when it requires a significant degree of better training and ability and decision making.
The black communities are NOT making the inequities of the justice system up and you are casting Mike Brown in a light that does not allow his whole human. He was not a bad boy. He mad some exceedingly bad choices.
By writing that he deserves what he got, you are just trying to perpetuate the black man as a big thug who deserves to be feared and shot. And I think that really really really shows a lack of understanding, compassion, and reason.
I am not condoning crimes or violence. But those are symptoms of the real problem, Liza. And yes those crimes will be paid for regardless of a fair system and the black community has to live with a target on it’s back while being treated as second class citizens when they aren’t being exploited by sports and entertainment franchises.
First off, I didn’t call you an idiot. So whatever, the truth sucks!
You re-read what you wrote… you were calling out “idiots”
and that is a generalization in a conversation I’m not tolerating, sister.
The facts have been a bit tampered with an elongated in a rigged system…
So yeah, it sucks. I’m glad we are talking about it so we have a chance at changing things for the better, how about you?
I agree, but that begins with fact. You can’t pick and choose which you will hold onto.
It breaks my heart that anyone has to die in such a manner, but we ALL make choices. Sometimes they are stupid ones. Just like the white guy on LSD shot by a black cop; no outrage, why? He made his own choices!
We must stop lowering standards and sugarcoating things to suit the audience and deal strictly in truth. If we do so more people will become honorable people and more will make less bad choices, or at least one would hope.
If only people would look at all the facts/evidence before they make stupid choices. If so the riots may not have occurred. If the blacks who lied and are now possibly facing charges for perjury; had told the truth in the beginning instead of trying to bully a white cop all of this may not have happened.
I studied criminal justice, and am cursed with an uncanny ability to clearly see both sides of issues that often leave me in an internal turmoil, so I don’t put up with concocting ones story to suit oneself. The entire situation is heartbreaking, but if some hadn’t lied there may not have been riots.
Now don’t get me wrong, some couldn’t care less about truth.
I want to deal only in facts too… and think the new idea of all police people wearing helmet cameras or whatever is probably going to have to happen so we do have the real facts. The first time they used tear gas and armored vehicles in anticipation of riots and crime was indicative of a police force that has already decided a huge portion of it’s population is guilty just by being black. It’s so much like the abuser pushing the victims buttons to get a response in order to blame the victim and our institutions are doing that to the black communities historically, consistently and currently, so that simply saying they should stop committing the crimes and then they won’t be punished, doesn’t address how the problems manifested and are perpetuated in the first place.
And, Yes the black communities have to take responsibility and do their own work(s) too, and many of them are and or are trying to. I hope they will rise in numbers to all vote. I hope they don’t give up just because Obama didn’t represent them or the change that they deserve. I hope they invest more in this country, not less. I hope they discover that because of Mike Brown’s death and so many like him, that have been shot by policemen, or people thinking they are citizen-cops, that black lives matter more, not less…
We can only speak of crime during each case based on those narrow facts, and do the best we can with character witnesses, like what you are saying (if you don’t mind my paraphrasing) and so it’s always going to be an imperfect process, as we do live in a racist country that isn’t granting black lives equal trials. They are paying for the same crimes twice as long as committed by white people for example.
A lot of the riots and looting had to do with outsiders coming in with their own agendas and had nothing to do with the actual protesters. They did this to silence the people as much as any other tactic.
I don’t believe in concocting stories either, but I do think micro-cosm and macro-cosm observations are in order. The context of how this country was built and how it does business effected Mike’s choices even if he wasn’t thinking about that at the time. The way it was dragged out since august just in time for Black Friday and Brown Saturday so that people would be escaping to football and turkey and shopping… is a political maneuver. The length of time taken is a way of allowing people to vent when a topic is hot. A way for the people to decrease in numbers as seasons get colder or their own lives require attention. It’s a way of causing rumors and gossip to meme and tamper with the integrity of a case. There are a lot of variables.
So this is bigger than Mike Brown… and his mistakes or however one would see his crime as having been justifiably punished, has less to do with “liar witnesses that caused riots” and everything to do with how white privilege creates the lies we live in.
I think we all lost on this one. It’s beyond heart breaking. It’s making white people worse.
I agree with this one 99.999%.
There must be personal choices for better and right. Godspeed, my new friend. We all hurt when others do, and we must all strive for truth.
I agree 100% with the political release of info, STUPID AND STUPIDITY at its best. So wring on so many levels. They ramped it up with the help of Sharpton, Jackson, Obama, and Holder; cost the entire country a lot. So sad!
Okay Liza… if you mean Sheila Jackson, I like her. She does good work on behalf of girls and women to stop things like FGM for example, and I am as close to a liberal, progressive, democrat as one could be but I am unhappy about corporations and banks in the way of and diluting my “parties” principles. I think we need campaign finance reform. I like my Senator Jeff Merkley and I like the Progressive Independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont. I usually agree with what Bill Moyers has to say and gather great information from the diverse people he interviews.
If you meant Jesse Jackson… well, he was there with Martin Luther King Jr. and marched in the rainbow coalition and the million man march and never gave up… so I just think he cares and everything got political and obstructing.
As for Obama, I voted for him and think no matter what he did right or wrong (and he did a lot wrong) he was set up and got left holding the bag.
If you want to talk about corrupt politics we can highlight everything that was and is related to BUSH. I’d be more than happy to talk about the corporate NBC morning show highlights that Jenna gushes about on their private network reality show… that is NBC…(Although, she voted for Obama too she’s more than compensating now for her disloyalty to her Klan. And she’s having the time of her life, world as her playground, after all of her father’s and grandfather’s unjust oil wars)
As for Holder… well… I am not prepared to judge his work fully yet.
Al Sharpton is neither here nor there. Some love him and some think he’s a “rat”. He’s not quite a leader. He’s a face to lend to a cause.
So I think maybe, you and I are politically divided actually… in that I don’t need to degrade the black community further by highlighting examples of their failures as we perceive them.
Those people you indicated are all working within the white establishment and they are working towards equality using a white tool box. Hypocritical things are going to happen. They don’t outweigh the white oppressor-oligarchy though.
I think the black white divide has to be spoken of if we are ever going to bridge and relate honestly and so I really appreciate you taking the time to go back and forth.
In any case, personal choices for the better and right can only happen if we listen to the anger and find out what hurts. We are committing crimes against the black communities if we just tell them to calm down and do the right thing.
It’s like how we hush rape victims so the football players can keep playing.
Anyhow, peace to you, Liza. I know we both want the hurt to stop and will be working on those things however best we can. I am glad of that.
Those I mentioned were only to state they ginned up the issue instead of encouraging a peaceful demonstration to push their agenda, which I agree was well within their right. Outsiders, those mentioned, do not have clean slates to begin with (neither do most of us) but we don’t bait others into things either.
I hope relations will improve between all races so that none suffer I’ll. I believe that comes by education and coherent conversation, leadership by example (Dr Ben Carson, for example) and calm.
Ratcheting up issues to inflame one or the other NEVER helps and hurts far more in both than coherent conversation.
I disagree with most of your political ideology but support your right to it PEACEFULLY and believe that calm pursuit of our issues helps more than hurts.
Yeah well, when I was too calm as a kid about getting raped, it ended up hurting me. I learned how to be of great service and help to my abusers.
I support the right of anyone feeling loud and angry to shout loud and good.
Thanks Liza.
I support the “shout loud and good”/but without violence. I am sorry to hear of your rape, as a victim myself that is hard to recover from. God bless.
Thank you, Lliza. Sorry to hear of yours too. I appreciate you sharing that. It’s hard to do, but empowering to acknowledge survivor stories.
I was thinking about you saying how you and I differ ideologically… and so what do two polarized people do when they actually organize facts differently? Because we both believe we are operating out of the facts but then not all facts are treated equally. We value some more than others depending on who we are. The legal and justice and prison systems have to strictly enforce the laws, as swiftly and precisely as possible, but the larger societal order which currently defends the right to bear arms and the funding of political campaigns by the NRA, helps force the extreme attitudes and is in fact cashing in on violence as an industry causing a more violent culture.
“We can’t solve the problem on the level at which it was born” is a paraphrase of Agnes Whistling Elk.
Thanksgiving as one Native American friend of mine has put it should be called Native American Annihilation and Cover Up Day.
Ferguson will have a similar ring to it, if we fail to recognize and change the current systems.
We can’t just say, because black people commit crimes they get shot. Or they don’t know how to protest peacefully, so they get shot. Martin Luther King and Gandhi were peaceful and still they got shot. There’s a reason white people shoot “colored” people and the excuses are running out.
Wrong is wrong, no doubt. Problems occur and should be rectified. They should be done peacefully and within the constraints of the law.
I am a criminal justice grad, paralegal and private investigator so I do tend to judge strictly by the law. However, there is room for improvement in everything!
I am Native American and also have to consider that while blacks are free to roam where ever they choose, many Native Americans are not. Injustice is not a black or white issue, but rather a humanity issue that we all should be concerned with. I heard a quote that went something like… All it takes for evil to prosper is for good people to do nothing. That means coherent conversations may save many.
For folks who seemed so different, we at least, know and exhibit the benefit of conversation. 🙂
I personally want peaceful approaches/solutions too because that’s more comfortable for me and I do think they are ultimately more effective in the face of “tyranny” on a basic human rights level, especially if everything is going to be put on t.v. but I understand why revolution erupts and how families, communities, and civilizations tip due to greed. Not just money greed but ideological greed.
I’m not suggesting or encouraging people resort to violence ever. I am understanding why it’s happening. And It’s inevitable unless real change can be felt. Short term and long term goals are needed at a time when the gap in wealth disparity is only widening. We can’t fake it anymore. This is about money, pitting police against black kids and who is keeping the money. I was listening to a Marvin Gaye song called inner city blues and there’s a line about trigger happy cops. I hadn’t heard the song in years, but then there it was… You know? It’s just been going on for too long.
Anyhow, revolution is not a state people can exist in permanently, and should only be used when leadership has gotten “too big to fail” and even then, what it looks like, should be questioned at every step so it doesn’t just create or elevate another tyrant. So yes, we need to find and teach the tools for social reorganization that happen during and after revolutions. The non violent things conducive to family and community. And when violent things happen, as perpetuated by young people, our first response should not always be to meet it with violence. Our children are abused. We live in an abusive culture. It’s not okay to shoot the kids now as a response.
I don’t think you and I are arguing as much as we are expanding on the conversation and I’m grateful to you for taking the time.
Your unique background in law and as Native American is very interesting. Thanks for telling me part of your story.
Please feel free to converse with me anytime, Liza. 🙂
Wow. Soooo many interesting comments above from different perspectives. As a black woman in her late 20s who will more than likely give birth to children in the near future, a future where I have to heavily equip and raise them a lot more than the average, whether they are male or female (unless I move out the country, which is in the realm of possibilites), I can appreciate this.
Hey thanks Nitika,
I wish you didn’t have to think about these things at all when preparing for motherhood or the future. You deserve so much better than my offering of fear (or hope) and a bunch of arguing.
I’ve been “fighting” with white people lately… on blog spaces… and apparently I’m “angry”. I’m being measured on my blogging etiquette like a graded school girl. Some of the exchanges do degrade into name calling or condescending jabs (I just called a man a fool after telling a different one he couldn’t call women idiots.) I can only take another deep breath and keep on going.
Good luck in navigating the comments… It isn’t the best glimpse of human interactions… no one ever comes out a whole person…as we size up, stand off, or connect, and it’s all too brief to be truly good or fair or just… for long.
But that being said, it’s nice to meet you on the scene
and I don’t believe in giving up. Your future kids deserve to feel safe and beautiful.
Reblogged this on str8fact and commented:
Enough said…..
Reblogged this on matangala and commented:
That’s family.
Amen!
Reblogged this on Conversations I Wish I Had.
I’m an Asian. I have watched 12 years a slave. I was reminded by the terror of the story when yesterday I was waiting for the grand jury decision. It stocked me that the cop was cleared from all criminal charges above all the evidences presented. It’s so sad. Equality is a far cry because of color.
Thank you.
Reblogged this on theheartsdialogue.
I guess I’m not surprised at some of the comments and reactions although it is disappointing. I lived in Ferguson…was raised there back when it was a “Leave it to Beaver” sort of place….for white families. The municipal pool was for white kids. That wasn’t much of an issue because there weren’t many black families in the area…that came later. I don’t recall any signs — we just knew it, or more likely our parents did. I moved out of town in the mid 1970s.
I think part of the anger in St. Louis among whites is based on the recollection of what those communities used to be — little make-believe places on the fringe of the city. There are over 90 little municipalities surrounding St. Louis and each has its own little police force. Whites moved away or aged out of their homes and black families moved in and things changed. My high school lost its accreditation a few years ago and was taken over by the state.
I steadfastly believe that the issue of excessive police use of lethal force is one of power as much or more than it is one of race. Race influences everything in the criminal justice and law enforcement arena and blacks are disproportionately represented in the numbers (victims, if you will) but homeless and mentally ill are also victims. I worked in criminal justice for twenty years in Missouri. Police will get more firing line training and experience than training on negotiation or conflict resolution and mental health issues. Since we have a gun culture they need to be proficient with firearms but they need to have other tools that they use first. There is a saying that if the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. (Sorry this is so long)
Reblogged this on iheariseeilearn.
My goodness, it’s obvious you did not research the details of this case when you state ‘he maybe stole some cigars and also wasn’t walking on the sidewalk.’ And pretending that there is no culture of violence being cultivated among urban young black men is not helpful. There are more black men in prison than any other group…because white cops are all racist? Only racist jerks become cops?
Just like in any other group comprised of humans, there’s going to be a few jerks amongst cops. I worked at a police station as a secretary right out of college. I met some amazing people who are cops. Compassionate men and women who break down sobbing after witnessing disgusting crimes against children of any race. Many are a bit cynical or even jaded because they’ve seen such awful things – but they’re still people who do what they do because they want to protect others.
Black men are responsible for a disproportionate amount of crime. It’s an ugly, terrible, sad problem. A solution remains heartbreakingly elusive. Darren Wilson was assaulted by a black man, shot him, and a grand jury found that Wilson should not be tried for murder.
Lynching Wilson and burning Ferguson to the ground aren’t a step in the right direction.
I don’t even know where to begin with correcting the uneducated, ignorant b.s. in this comment.
And so you didn’t. At least she could find the starting line. Saying someone’s comment is uneducated is not a valid argument and only shows you are the one who is uneducated.
Reblogged this on Iconography ♠ Incomplete and commented:
“White people have been taught for their entire lives to believe in the system. The system is civilization; the system is democracy, the courts of law, the way the state cares for and supports us. We’ve been told over and over that the system is what allows us to live safely, free from fear. But every time something like Ferguson happens, we white folks see glimpses of how completely fucked the system is. And those glimpses terrify the shit out of us, because they shake the foundation of every bit of patriotic jingoism that’s been crammed down our throats since day one.”
—– written by a White person of the ongoing tragedy at Ferguson USA
“It’s honestly baffling that they can argue that it’s fine for a police officer to fire six shots at an unarmed man because he maybe stole some cigars and also wasn’t walking on the sidewalk.”
If you think those are the most salient details of that encounter, you are either willfully ignorant or incredibly stupid. Maybe both.
Read the first comment of one of the links provided. First lines are:
“There are no good cops.Yes, you read that right. From where I sit, right now, in this moment in time, in the wake of tragic incidents that have transpired over the last few weeks, there are no good cops in this country.”
I think ignorant AND stupid qualify here.
I get what you’re saying, but I don’t agree that the reason there are more people of color incarcerated is because the system is against them. True if you have a white person of privilege verses a black thug, the tables will be tipped in the white person’s favor, but are you saying if a highly educated black professor was up against a white trash thug, the ruling would be in favor of the white person? I don’t think so.
I grew up in Brooklyn. My best friend in grade school was black. Whenever I’d go to her house in the projects, she’d say, “Tell everyone you’re Puerto Rican. If you say you’re white, you’ll get your ass kicked.” The majority of crime back then was caused by the blacks and Puerto Ricans, just like the majority of crimes in CA are probably caused by Hispanics. I live presently in an all-Mexican area. Now I’m not saying there aren’t any white people committing crimes, but come on–the gangbangers I see around me are ALL Mexican or black. And while I try not to stereotype, it’s almost impossible. Like for example, my 30-something neighbor who just popped out her 5th kid–all from different fathers. Is every Hispanic woman like this? No, but the majority are too ignorant and/or Catholic to use birth control and so the “true” stereotype continues…
I understand racism. My stepfather was black. He wasn’t allowed to come to any family get-togethers with my grandparents who were from “that” time. But I also have a cousin who is a cop, and when you’re dealing with the worst scumbags day in and day out–a job that not a lot of people want to do, mind you, well, you do what you have to do if you feel threatened. Are there racist cops? Of course. Just like there are deadbeat dads and folks who abuse welfare. Doesn’t mean everyone does it though.
Reblogged this on Scarlet Cable and commented:
I also like this.
Reblogged this on marielayepez1.
WOW, You are doing the work….Thank You
A Black Mother
Reblogged this on Trovato Associates.
What shocks me, is that people overlook the fact that the police officer told the man to not walk in the middle of the road and hold up traffic. Instead of saying “ok” and getting on the side walk he ATTACKS the police officer (while he is still in his car) and tries to take his gun from him. It doesn’t matter if you are white, black, asian, hispanic, or middle eastern… You can not violently attack a police officer and try to take his gun! PERIOD! That is a felony and it makes you a criminal.
The forensics are saying the young man was hit in each shoulder ( or side of chest?). If the police officer wanted to take him down on the first shot he would have aimed for the head or heart first. I don’t think the intention was to kill but the people who actually viewed this said the young man charged at the police officer after the attack before the fatal shot.
Again, you can’t be threatening the life and safety of a police officer whether you are black, white, asian, hispanic, or middle eastern OR anything in between!! You can’t do whatever you want to a police officer! Thats the obnoxious part… people think that despite this brutal attack on the police officer and this young man charging at him- that lethal force shouldn’t have been used.
Then this crap about burning the buildings and looting in your own community… unbelievable. That is the community for which your children grow up in and your elderly people take walks through. Its where small businesses strive to keep that part of the city alive… and supposedly this mindset of “destroying” things is somehow retribution or justice or “self expression”. You’re just hurting your own community and nothing else.
And yes I’m white BUT yes I have black people in my family. We (black and white etc.) are AMERICANS and you have a choice to be a productive member of society or you have a choice to be a destructive criminal. If you choose the latter then you suffer the consequences and it is a terrible and unfortunate thing that has happened on BOTH ends.
Every country and society has a horror story behind it… every single one. But whatever has happened in America’s past (racism and slavery) I don’t see how attacking a police officer and threatening his life with force gets you a “free pass” to do whatever you want to others.
This is a very complex issue. Whatever happened between Michael Brown and the police officer, the response of the rioters of Ferguson do them no justice. What happened on the street the day Michael was shot was horrible. No young person should lose his life, no policeman should feel forced to respond in such a drastic manner. However none of that excuses what has happened since. Brown’s parents have suffered the loss of their son. They should not have to suffer the loss of their community as well.
The system is kind of broken. When it was working enough white were on cool with it to keep criticism on the margins. Enough whites are not living the high enough life nowadays so system isn’t getting the love it used to.
I’m from New Zealand and though I’m not white I consider myself privileged that I don’t live in America and that our cops don’t carry guns. People who think that that cop had every right to shoot Michael Brown in self-defence need to take a look at America’s statistics of cops killing civilians and compare them with the rest of the world. If you think arming your police force ensures their safety, think again.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and for the links, I really appreciate your opinions.
Reblogged this on icantmakethisshitup.
Police procedure may well be in need of serious reform. If you look at the amount of police involved shootings from the 1960’s till now you will see a significant change… that being said, this isn’t one of those cases based on the evidence presented. Further, even if it was, burning down your neighbors business, robbing your neighbor is far from appropriate. Unarmed makes no difference when you are not properly trained and giving up over 100 lbs to your attacker. Anybody who doesn’t realize that has never been in a fight, let alone one for survival. Crimes being committed by criminals under the guise of moral outrage is an absolute joke. Almost as big of a joke as white people today who walk around today apologizing for being white… the most racist thing currently happening in this country is the blanket labeling of all white people as being racist anytime they support this officer or disagree with the President. The black community does not own a patent on the term racism, and white people aren’t the sole perpetrators of said racism. Those who believe otherwise are the actual racists…
Reblogged this on msktb.
This is utter nonsense. I read Officer Wilson’s grand jury testimony when it was released yesterday. What this blogger is willfully ignoring is the fact that Mr. Brown attacked Officer Wilson first, hit him in the head at least twice, and tried to take control of the officer’s sidearm. The only legal justification for use of deadly force is a reasonable fear of death or great bodily harm — and if that is present, then you aim for the center of mass and shoot to kill. This is a tragedy for everyone concerned — but Mr. Brown instigated the sequence of events when he chose to attack Officer Wilson, who acted according to his training in the circumstance in which he found himself.
Stop racism…. say no to racism… for a better world
Youre canadian! I knew there had to be a reason behind your naive, simplistic yet weirdly militaristic views.
That is so true!!!
Reblogged this on Chaos in Ferguson, Missouri.
you are a Moron. Brown was a thug who attacked a asian man and stole his property. get a real job, cus your unqualified to comment on anything.
I’m not saying what happened was okay, it wasn’t not by a long shot. It’s a tragedy that he was killed, on that note, I honestly doubt race had anything to do with it or if it did not to the extent that it’s being portrayed. He robbed a store, tried to take the officer’s gun, he wasn’t perfect. I am not saying that he should have been shot, but it is unclear what was happening at the moment he was shot (the 2nd time on) the first it is known there was a struggle for the gun, but when the kill shots were fired they don’t know what was happening because there are so many contradicting witness statements, maybe discharging his gun was his only option. Now, it has been released that he did not have his arms raised as some witness statements suggested. If he was still running away then it was totally unnecessary but what if he was attacking the cop? He definitely, under no circumstances should have been shot 6 times, but the 2nd time may have been necessary. I’m not racist, not by a long shot, but I think we need ALL the facts which isn’t possible with witnesses contradicting each other. Why is it that when a white person shoots a black person it’s racial but when a black person kills a white person race is not brought up?
Reblogged this on cat rose wright and commented:
As yet another spoiled white girl here, it’s often difficult to find the balance between when to be a supportive voice in the conversation and when to take a fucking seat and listen — listen to those who have first hand experience with systemic subjugation and those whose voices have been silenced, ignored, and pushed out of the mainstream.
I related to this piece a lot; growing up, I was blissfully oblivious to my own privilege. I have a distinct memory from elementary school of talking with my other white friends about how we “wanted to be black.” I can’t remember exactly our reasoning, I assume it had to do something with the fact that being black would be different (than most people we knew), or maybe we thought it would just be “fun” or make us more “interesting” or something (I assume I was completely clueless to the concept of Otherness at that age). How little we knew of the consequences of being born with dark skin in this country (and many other counties).
Jon Stewart is my fave heterosexual white male on TV right now (okay, maybe after John Oliver) because he consistently reminds himself and his audience to acknowledge his/their own privilege. To quote Mr. Stewart, “race is there; it exists. You’re tired of hearing about it? Imagine how fucking exhausting it is living it.”
Be mindful, look, see, acknowledge, ask questions, and listen.
This post is so important and I’m so glad you wrote it! Love your blog.
Danika
http://www.danikamaia.com
This post questions the concept of law and order…who is protected by the law, and who it is imposed upon…arguing that in poor and black communities, when social narratives prejudge who is seen as a criminal, violent or a threat, before the story begins, these presumptions may impact on outcomes.
It doesn’t mean that all police men are bad, or that all criminals are good. It means that it’s important to ask questions about what happens in the world around us everyday, and who that world benefits? It’s a post about reflexivity, about questioning the system and about exploring the historical circumstances which lead to a horrible situation.
I see these questions as very important.
This piece is spot on. Thanks for the links, I’ll be spending my afternoon on them!
Reblogged this on bonneame.
I am a police officer, before that I was a corrections officer. Over the years I have seen a lot, heard a lot. This is what the problem is in some of the African American communities in my area. Young aspiring black men or women have their dreams and aspirations taken from them by their leaders telling them that they already have the cards stacked against them. Telling them that they will never amount to anything because the caucasian holds them back, keeps them down, oppresses them; so they loose hope and stop trying to better themselves. Some do not let their leaders hold them back and get out of those communities, but those are few and far between.
this is part of it here:
Reblogged this on Trending On.
took the words right out of my mouth; more people like you need to speak up!