Martin Luther King Jr once said that rioting is the voice of the voiceless. I don’t think I have ever read words that seemed so true. The voiceless act out, in order to make those not listening hear. Sadly it also gives those that belittle them more reason to do so. They say violence creates more violence. This case is a perfect example. A cop uses excessive force in order to kill a teenager who hit him and allegedly ignored his orders. Another case of police brutality, especially towards young black men. It is an epidemic that the main stream media refuses to acknowledge .
Darren Wilson was a cop in Ferguson, Missouri. That is after he was removed from duty in the Saint Louis police department for his treatment of minorities. He was hired because it is cheaper to hire an ex cop then to train a new one. Ferguson’s population is over 80% black. Of the 53 police officers only 3 are black. There is only one black person on the School board and one more on council. So a city with the population being a majority of black Americans is being represented by predominantly white people. Over 93% of the arrests in Ferguson are of blacks. While 1/5 of blacks were found with illegal contraband, 1/3 of all whites arrested were found with illegal contraband. The prosecutor who announced the grand jury verdict has prosecuted 5 cops, all have gotten away free and clear. Most grand juries return the verdict the prosecution looking for, I guess that explains what this prosecutor was looking for.
If Mike Brown did attack a cop, he was wrong. But for a cop to fire 12 shots at a suspect, hitting him 7 times, all in the upper body seems like overkill to me. For a cop to fire at an unarmed fleeing suspect seems even worse. For a cop to fire at a surrendering suspect is worse yet. For the prosecutor to wait 100 days to bring it to a grand jury is ridiculous. For the prosecution to allow officers who weren’t there when the altercation happened seems a bit out of the ordinary, considering only the cop, Mike Brown and a few other witnesses were there. To not cross examine the cop who committed this act is positively ludicrous. All of the inconsistencies in Wilson’s testimony are blatant. The fact no indictment was found is baffling, unless we believe what we don’t want to believe.
The system is rigged and black people still do not have the rights of white people. I am a 40 year old white man, I could never understand what a young black man goes through. Is some brought upon themselves? I am sure there is but shooting an unarmed kid is disgusting. If anyone really believes that racism is dead, they must be living under a rock. A kid shot in Walmart because he was holding a b b gun, Trayvon Martin and how many others that it happens to daily. I thought all that was fought for in the 60s was rock solid, truthful and all of us believed in ut. How naive myself and how many others were. It is not just at this level, but racism is prevent in the Republican party, as well as the Supreme Court. How can you hate someone you don’t know?
As the fires raged in Ferguson, I thought to myself, change always seems to come from violent acts followed by peaceful protests. A leader needs to truly emerge to lead this change, AL Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are not those leaders. These fires burning in Ferguson represent the rage and hate at being treated as if their lives mean less. It is a blow to a system that holds a rich white man to a different standard. Sean Hannity told Clive Bundy that he was a true patriot to fight the government with guns because he refused to pay taxes and they were taking his cattle. But the people in Ferguson were wrong. Hypocrisy be damned. Ferguson burned in the hopes that the next time this happens maybe there will be justice for the victim not a thug with a uniform. Ferguson burned for every person that was bullied, beaten and shot by the cop who thinks he is above the law. Ferguson burned as an example. It is an example of what we need to do to effect change in our country.
