If you haven't heard of what's going on in Ferguson, Missouri, then you are an idiot, or you live in a cave, or you are deaf and blind. No offense, but educate yourself people.
Long story short, an officer named Darren Wilson shot and killed black teenager Michael Brown when the two were in some sort of altercation. The stories are all different. Some say Brown was aggressive, some say he wasn't, and they say the same for Wilson.
On Monday, the Grand Jury in Ferguson announced that they did not think there was enough evidence to indict Darren Wilson under any criminal charges. Since then, the nation has been in chaos. Riots and protests have been going on across the country by people of all ages, sexes, and races, for all different reasons.
So though I know that plenty of people with more credentials than I have shared their opinion on the matter, I would still like to share my own, and hopefully some of you will read it and learn a little, and maybe agree.
I have opinions that fall to both ends of the Ferguson debate spectrum, and therefore I think it is important for people to read what I say.
1. Rioting is not the proper response.
Regardless of the issues, violent protest, especially in Ferguson, is not the way to respond. I understand that people are upset by this decision, but burning buildings and destroying business is wrong. Many of the businesses being burned down belong to the people of Ferguson who are already suffering from this event, not to mention that we are heading towards the holidays and now these people have lost tons of money and will have trouble providing for their families because of this. I watched a couple on the news be interviewed whose restaurant had been burned down. These people were part of the Ferguson community, and were colored themselves, so they were part of the hurting community. How is it okay that they lost so much as a result of a circumstance that already caused them loss? Go ahead and be upset, but don't destroy things that people worked so hard to put together. Go to the government- talk to your judge, mayor, representative, senator, etc. In case you didn't realize, legislative and judicial action come from political movements, not violent outbreaks.
2. Police brutality is real.
It is a fact proven by math, science, psychology, history- you name it- that people of color are stereotyped and targeted by law enforcement. For my American Politics class I wrote a paper on the NYPD stop-and-frisk policy and how society felt it was an excuse to target people of color in the city. In my Corrections and Criminal Justice classes I read a ton of studies on the fact that police naturally seek out colored individuals causing crime. It's a fact that there are more colored people in prison. It's a fact that colored people tend to serve longer sentences. It's a fact that there are more white police officers than officers of color. And guess what? It's a fact that a police officer is more likely to shoot a black person than a white person.
It is true (or at least I think so) that Michael Brown was aggressive with Darren Wilson, and that was a poor idea. I think it's common sense that if you fight an officer, you will get hurt. Does that mean a kid deserved to die? No. The people making the argument that this has nothing to do with race need to open their minds and realize the fact that RACISM IS AN ISSUE.
I don't think Michael Brown was shot because he was black. I think he was shot because he was fighting a police officer.
As for the other 11 rounds that hit him? Well, there's a strong chance that those had to do with race.
3. White privilege (and ignorance) is real.
In my last poly-sci class before Thanksgiving break, we talked about the Ferguson decision, and our professor asked if we thought this would be a topic of discussion among the family at Thanksgiving. I said yes right away. My family consists of a lot of older, conservative, stubborn people, and political debates are not a rarity for us. So wouldn't you know that I came home Tuesday and had the conversation with my parents, then again with my grandmother on Wednesday, and again with the whole family on Thursday. The bulk of the conversation consisted of the statement that people are taking things too far, and are not responding properly- this is true. But what was implied by the family discussion was that the people are overreacting, and shouldn't be angry, because they (black people?) are at fault. My aunt decided to back up her argument by sharing a video posted by a black man. In the video he says something along the lines of "black people need to stop using slavery as a crutch, because no black person in the states today was a victim of slavery, (true). Black people need to stop using civil rights as a crutch because the civil rights movement happened in the 60's, and had its success, and the world has moved on since then. If black people want to stop the violence against them, then they need to change their lifestyles- stop being violent, stop selling drugs, stop committing crimes." While part of me wants to agree with this, part of me hates it. First of all, it's like this is somehow more important because it comes from a black person. So what? It's about the content. First of all, yeah I agree with the slavery thing. But civil rights? Just because the civil rights movement happened, doesn't mean racial equality exists- just like the fact that the women's rights movement already happened but women don't have equal rights (that's a whole other argument for another day). Like I said earlier, racism is completely real, so black Americans have every right to argue civil rights. As for the final statement, it may be partially true, but it seems to imply that the responsibility to change the stigma against the black community falls entirely to the black community, and that's bullshit. Much of this stigma is caused by white people, so why is it black responsibility? It's not. And you know what? White people sells drugs and commit crimes, so why is it only the black community that needs to work to reduce this?
And here's the problem with trying to explain this at the family dinner table- when you are surrounded by a bunch of people who have the luxury of a white privileged lifestyle, it's easy to argue that the fault lies with the black community. It's so easy because there's no one around to tell you otherwise because they don't know any different. This is why it's so important to educate yourselves. Learn about people who are different than you and experience things much differently than you- you'll have a whole new outlook on life. But when you're in a room of people who have never faced racial inequality, it's hard to know any better.
Today I watched a video by Meghan McKay, a youtuber I follow who focuses on a lot of political issues. She spoke about Ferguson and stated something that I really agree with. She said that the problem we are having with this issue is that the black community is using the argument 'black lives matter' and the white community (and cough cough my family) is responding with the argument that 'all lives matter'. Meghan explains that this is just more imposition of white privilege, because in saying that all lives matter, white people are just saying that hey, white lives matter too, and in doing so are making the issue about them when it's not. Personally, I think that a lot of people are trying to make themselves feel better by ignoring the fact that they are racially prejudiced by saying 'all lives matter' because they don't want to turn their face to the racism issue.
They pretend like they are fair towards other races, but when it comes down to big family political debates, true colors show.
(Personal info: I wanted to bring a friend home for Thanksgiving because he was stuck alone at school, but I was worried my family would be upset because he's black. How horrible is that? And though I know they would be upset with me for saying that, the fact that I was scared at all is proof that some kind of racial prejudice exists.)
4. You weren't there.
As an aspiring lawyer, something that bothers me about legal issues is that people don't understand, and make stupid judgements. All I have to say is: you weren't there. You weren't at the crime scene, and you weren't in the courtroom, so please stop acting like you have the right to decide the case. And by the way, it wasn't a court case. Grand juries don't decide guilt, they decide if there is enough evidence to hold a trial, so people need to stop saying that the jury wanted Wilson declared innocent; that's not how it works.
But back to the real issue- no one other than the jury heard and saw the evidence, so no one really has the right to say what the jury should have decided or what the judge should have done.
I wish everyone had this outlook. But it requires a lot of faith which is hard for people. I have faith that the jury knew what they were doing. Yes, I am skeptical, but I don't have the right to say if the jury was right or wrong.
5. We can't fix the race problem by fighting with police officers.
Though I stated that stereotypes against black criminals are most definitely held by police officers, that doesn't mean that I think black people, or anyone, deserve leeway when it comes to a police encounter. No, a boy did not deserve to die, but here's a word of advice: DON'T FIGHT WITH COPS. It's freaking common sense. You may disagree with an officer, but take it to court, don't fight, because there's no positive outcome for that.
6. There isn't one right answer.
It's not just about race, just about violence, or just about justice.
A friend posted on Facebook that people need to stop worrying about property damage and need to worry about the death of a teenage boy. Well, yes and no. It's not only about this death. These riots and property are an issue, and the death of a young boy is an issue, and police error is an issue, and aggression towards law enforcement is an issue. There's no reason to capitalize on one or the other.
Here's the problem: we're selfish. And we're lazy. We can't handle more than one issue at once and we don't want to. Well you know what? Grow up. Take the responsibility to learn about all areas of the issue and talk about all of them. There isn't one angle of the issue that is more important than another. They are all important.
Phew, that was a lot. Have some thoughts on Ferguson? Comment. Tell me what you think. Go read a newspaper, talk to your friends about their thoughts, be involved, but don't be ignorant.
