Ferguson Shooting (Is my thinking on this all wrong.......)

by out4good3 229 Replies latest social current

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  out4good3

  I think everyone here can agree that walking down the street, even in the middle of the street, is not cause for having a clip emptied in your ass........

  I can understand how the black community would be outraged by the injustice of seeing another black man dead in the street at the hands of the police under mysterious circumstances......

  I hope that I'm not succumbing to the attempts to assinate the already well impuned character of the dead man.....

  However

  I can't help but think that this could all have been avoided by exercising the proper discretion with fore-knowledge of the disadvantages people of color have when they are dealing with law enforcement in the United States. It is not as if this disadvantage has only since recently came to light. It is a uniquely condition people of color, particularly black men, have had to live in with in this country for a long time.

  As a black kid growing up in the south, with strong and positive male figures in my life, I was taught and practiced making every effort not to come under the subject or scrutiny of law enforcement officials black or white. No Stealing, no drugs, and certainly not walking down the middle of the street with a handful of "cigarillos" I just stole attracting the attention of\and mouthing off at cops. Doing so would have garnered me a grade "A" ass whipping when I got home.

  Perhaps I am just out of touch and looking through this situation through the lense of a middle aged man living a middle class law trouble free lifestyle.

  What say you all?
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  sir82

  You seem to be saying the victim brought his on himself...

  Are police entitled to use deadly force for a "mouthing off" unarmed kid?
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  OneEyedJoe

  I get what you're saying, and while I don't know all the details of this case, I do know that incidents like this almost always come down to the fact that both parties made mistakes.

  The difference, in my opinion, is that one party has training, ostensibly to help him resolve situations like this peacefully. That party also wears a badge that probably has something like "to serve and protect" written on it. While I have empathy for the fact that the police put themselves at risk to help the community, they knew the risk going in and still wanted the job. Not to mention the fact that the job isn't nearly as risky as most assume.

  All this leaves me with the opinion that police officers should be held to a higher standard than the rest of us.
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  Marvin Shilmer

  A troubling aspect to me was summed up by a black parent who was asked by her small boy whether he could run from a policeman if that policeman was hurting him. She told her son, "No."

  I know white-against-black racism is part of this circumstance because essentially that's where the whole thing is rooted. But I can't help but recoil at images of the numbers of black men seen looting in the aftermath of protests. They are seen standing in line to get their share of loot. These men are part of the problem, and cultures that raise men like this are part of the problem no matter the race. Historically, communities are not lifted from above out of dispair. Rather, communities raise themselves out of dispair. The work of peaceful protesters in the Michael Brown incident I laud and fully support. I wish the same community would likewise protest just as loud and regularly against thugs in their own community.

  I'm white. I don't like racism, whether a white thinking suspiciously of a black because of the color of his/her skin or a black thinking suspiciously of me because of the color of my skin. In my neighborhood if you're white and found looting a store you'll get your butt turned in to the police by a white resident. It does not matter if the criminal is your next door neighbor. You turn in criminals no matter the skin. Eventually the community is a safer place to live the result. It does not matter to me (or anyone else in my community insofar as I can tell) that the nearest law enforcement is primarily staffed by black officers, including the chief.

  I have no idea the whole story of what happened in the Michael Brown incident. Eventually it'll come out and I say let the chips fall wherever the evidence says they should fall. In the meantime we have looters. Who's going to watch that video and call the State Police Captain and turn in the ones they can recognize? Those who don't call are part of the problem.

  Then there's that black mother I spoke of to start with. What she has to tell her boys is wrong. We can do something about that by choosing not to tolerate bad behaviour no matter who's doing it. And it starts at home.
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  out4good3

  That is exactly what I am trying not to say.......

  .......or think.
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  Marvin Shilmer

  "...police officers should be held to a higher standard..."

  We can characterize it however we want, but the fact is there is a statutory standard that law enforcement officers are held to. Abiding by that standard is what Darren Wilson should be held accountable to. That's what he should have been trained to and it's what he swore a duty to. Rightly that's the scale he should be judged against.
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  jgnat

  The incident was a fuse on a powder keg. The poor boy was a symbol of all that is wrong. However the blame is allocated, there's been an unsettled injustice in that city that has to be dealt with head-on.
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  jgnat

  Data.

  Median family income for black households; $20-$30 thousand a year.

  Median family income for white households; $60-75 thousand a year.

  http://www.city-data.com/income/income-Ferguson-Missouri.html

  Is this a normal distribution in the US?
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  Slidin Fast

  I'm afraid that walking down the street looking at your shoes and saying "yes massa" just to avoid getting shot doesn't wash for me. I know that criminals of any hue have to face the consequences of their actions but those are very different according to your race and class.

  Yes you can be subservient and avoid trouble but is that any way to live?
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  designs

  Powder keg for other issues.

  Constant fear of Officers of the Law.

  Get off the streets after dark(if you are colored)- This has a lot of history throughout much of America.

  Criminal minded people will always look for opportunities.