I had commented on Tilting At Windmills last week that I was concerned that the grand jury decision would be about preventing civil disobedience, rather than justice.
I was wrong-they made a decision that they had to know was going to be unpopular with many Americans.
I do not know the truth of what happened, but as fires break out in Ferguson, I am saddened that the frustration of this community has to be released in this way.
My prayers go out to the people of Ferguson-I do not pretend to understand what it feels like to be in your shoes, but I pray that casualties are minimal and that cooler heads can soon prevail.
It has felt like race relations had come a long way in my lifetime, but the perspective is different for a white man from the Philadelphia suburbs.
I know racism is not eradicated, but am I blind?
Are things truly no better than they were when Dr. King was assassinated?
While Michael Brown's shooting was not necessarily racially motivated, all of the destruction and violence happening in the wake of this decision is racially motivated.
Tonight, as I watch live television coverage of my fellow Americans running into a burning auto parts store with the intent to steal, I feel sad.
Sad for the community, because when the night is over and the fires go out, the sun will rise on the carnage you will have to live with until things can be rebuilt (if they are rebuilt).
This is not the answer.
I wish I knew what was.
I think many people are scratching their heads over this one. You've raised legitimate questions, to which I don''t have an answer. I THOUGHT things were better, but it seems like in the last few years (dare I say since Obama was elected???) things have only gotten worse. I find it impossible to believe that starting fires and looting is the answer. I just don't see how that helps the town. As you say, when the new day dawns all that is left is a bunch of burnt buildings (bad business for the owner of that building/car and less availability of products people need). Why do people cut off their noses to spite their faces?
ReplyDeleteThat is an interesting idea-that the Obama presidency may be a trigger of divisiveness rather than inclusion.
DeleteIt just feels like people are always looking for racism as an answer.
Maybe Brown was not shot just because he was black, and maybe Wilson was not acquitted just because he is white.
The problem between police and minorities in Ferguson (and many other urban areas) is a real one-there are obvious law-abiding citizens complaining here-it is not just the looters.
But like you, I thought things were better.
Very sad.
"Are things truly no better than they were when Dr. King was assassinated?"
ReplyDeleteIf they are not, it isn't the white man that is driving the problem any longer. It is the something-for-nothing crowd, the politicians (both sides) and the MSM (both sides) that drive it now.
I don't know how you solve this one, CW-I feel like I imagine you may have on that post a few weeks back where I'd inferred you as giving up on the world.
DeleteHating anyone is waste of effort, but hating someone because their skin is a different shade of pigment is just silly.
Whether there is more racial tension these days or it is just covered more, it makes me very sad that we've not come farther.