Right now protestors in Boston and around the country are demonstrating solidarity with the family of Mike Brown and the community of Ferguson MO. Though they are far away from the site of the original outrage, these protests are right now setting the standards for the relationship that we expect with the police and law enforcement in our own community.
Protestors are perfectly capable of speaking for themselves, and everyone has their chance to hold forth. But to sum up how I see it:
- We expect that the police shall protect and serve — everyone. We expect a neighborly attitude from the cops as a default. They are there to protect and serve Mike Brown, Trayvon Martin, and the 12-year-old kid from Cleveland as much as anyone else.
We will not accept an adversarial relationship between police and community, poisoned by toxic racism. In Boston we recently had the 25th anniversary of the Charles Stuart murder. We’ve seen this movie before: Racist hysteria and violence — police rioting, really — inflicted by police force on entire African-American communities. Oh do tell us about “lawlessness.”
- Blacks and whites are marching together. Many, many white people are outraged at the injustice. This must not be a cross that our African-American neighbors must bear by themselves. The issue is not invisible to us. It is not “someone else’s problem.” May we guard against the privilege of getting away from it, that we may forget, that compassion shrinks, that outrage recedes.
- Structural racism as not only cruel and unjust to its victims, but as a hideous waste of human potential. Protestors in Boston stopped outside the South Bay Correctional Center, where inmates pressed against the windows to see them. A bloated criminal justice system that imprisons blacks at a shockingly higher rate than whites; discrimination in hiring, wages, and promotion; neglect of public institutions that serve communities of color — those losses go well beyond the immediate communities. They keep everyone down. Again, these are not “someone else’s problem.”
It’s just shocking and sad that any of this actually needs to be said. But if we take something away from Ferguson, let’s just start to imagine what its opposite would be like.
Jasiu says
I read this tweet yesterday which stuck with me.
I think that is the big difference in reaction between blacks and whites. We can be angry and outraged over the Ferguson decision, but it doesn’t make us afraid. I think we need to understand and empathize with that fear to really move forward.
petr says
… and so I agree with the bulk of your comment, I disagree with the title: “need to feel the fear.” Moving forward involves erasing the fear for all. Having more people afraid, which is distinct from having the unafraid feel empathy for the afraid, would be, I daresay, moving backwards.
No fear. For everyone.
Jasiu says
My point is that “No fear. For everyone.” doesn’t just happen in one fell swoop. Yes, that is the ideal, but there are steps along the way to get there. Before the problem (which has existed longer than my 50+ years) gets solved it first has to be acknowledged, and a whole lot of white people don’t see the problem. I didn’t mean literally that white people have to be afraid of the cops. But they do have to feel – in their gut – what it is like to be black and living in America in order to really get it.
Christopher says
It is not a privilege to not have to be afraid of police. It is a right and an expectation that all people should have. Privilege sounds like something extra whereas this should be the norm.
whoaitsjoe says
Would there be outrage if this officer was indicted? Because that would be injustice. 5,000 pages of transcripts, 70 hours of testimony, an unprecedented amount of transparency for a grand jury investigation and those 12 members of the community determined there wasn’t even probable cause to prosecute.
When you conflate 3 completely different and unrelated situations like Brown, Martin, and the 12 year old in Cleveland, the cause is done a disservice because you build an expectation that every time a black person is killed by someone who is not black, we should pick up the mantle of our white guilt and start apologizing for it. We shouldn’t.
We should recognize situations where people are killed by police and the police had cause to do so. We should do that so when we witness true miscarriages of justice (I would probably put Martin in this boat) it actually MEANS something when the protests occur.
Michael Brown isn’t an innocent little kid who was just trying to get by until the man came an assassinated him. All the evidence – evidence, not social media outcry, unsubstantiated witness reports, hearsay and conjecture, supports the cop’s story. We can’t convict a man for a crime he didn’t do out of white guilt.
And that 12 year old in Cleveland? Anyone, and I mean ANYONE who is told to put their hands in the air because the police think you have a gun, and rather than putting them up, you reach for the gun, is going to get shot. Black, white, young, old. 100% of the time. The police do not mess around with people who have guns.
jconway says
I hesitated to comment since I feel unqualified to say anything. These incidents never happen to people that look like me, people that look like me never end up in jail for drug related offenses at the rate blacks to, people like me haven’t been pushed against the wall for no reason by a cop who didn’t even bother presenting himself with a badge like a co worker of mine, people like me never get stopped when we drive nice cats by the cops like by black supervisor does all the time, people who look like me never get shot shot when we riot over sporting events or pumpkin festivals.
My fiancées best friend whose wedding we just attended is scared to death about raising a black son in America, my fiancée is brown with a Hispanic last name , and has endured far more racism than I realized-and she is scared for our future kids. This is not the America many of us thought we were still living in, but it is. We got to recognize the flaws, stand up against them , and stand in solidarity with our fellow citizens who still are routinely denied the equal protection too many have fought and died to secure. It needs to end now.
Christopher says
…to drive a nice CAT?:)
hoyapaul says
An indictment would not have been “injustice” since it is merely the first step to a full examination of the evidence before getting to questions of guilt or innocence. Based upon how grand juries typically operate, and the information that is now available about the case, there is ample reason to believe an indictment was appropriate in this case.
This is easy enough to say when you are not among those who have to worry about being “told to put their hands in air” on a regular basis.
fenway49 says
Unless the DA spends half the time presenting defense “evidence,” which never ever happens unless it’s a cop shooting a black male.
And no, “all the evidence” most certainly does not support the cop’s story. There have been about nine different stories meant to smear the victim. He stole cigars? Last I checked that wasn’t a capital offense, no theft was reported by the store, and the cop had no idea when he stopped Brown. But that was one of about five stories used to justify the initial stop. Doesn’t help that an official report wasn’t released for weeks.
First it was, “The cop thought he had a gun.” He didn’t. Now the right-wing folks seem to have settled on “He went for the cop’s gun.” That one surely explains shooting someone from 100 feet away. All I know is there’s not a chance this would have happened with some preppy kid where I live.
Unless they have AR15s pointed right at the police and Gadsden flag t-shirts at a ranch in Nevada in defense of a guy who’s stolen over a million dollars from the United States treasury and defied countless federal court orders.
Or it’s some Ron Paul douche in camo exercising his Scalia-given right to carry semi-automatic weapons around Kmart. Then it’s, “OK, sir, could you please exit the store.”
If it’s a black kid shoot first and ask questions later, and cops know enough to say the magic words, “I thought he had a gun,” I thought he was pointing a gun,” whatever. I don’t believe a word any cop says in these situations.
jconway says
“Shouldn’t we stop him?” “No, he’s on a roll”
Al says
the fear of a fatal confrontation in these situations? Their response seems to be utilization of the deadly force they have at their disposal, until this fear dissipates. There doesn’t seem to be any intermediate tactic between simple demands and deadly force. It’s a little like the situation when walkers cross the street when faced with blacks walking toward them on the same side, or teens wearing ‘hoodies’. Is it a rational reaction, or an irrational generalization?
centralmassdad says
There may have been a lot of evidence, and the review of it may have been fair, but no one knows because it was a secret grand jury proceeding– which are generally used only when the outcome is known in advance.
sue-kennedy says
There is some evidence that backs up Officer Wilson’s story, other evidence that conflicts with his story and much evidence missed. In police interview Officer Wilson says Michael Brown struck him in the face 10 times. He tells the Grand Jury he received “2 full force punch”. He declines medical attention until after consulting with his attorney and then goes to hospital. Hospital report, “well appearing, well-nourished, no apparent distress…no bleeding, no laceration, no ecchymosis (bruising)”
Officer Wilson estimates Michael ran 20 – 30 feet and then turned and charged back 10 feet, although Michael Brown’s body was found 150 feet from the police car.
These are estimates because during the 4 hours investigators were there on the scene, there were no measurements taken. The medical examiner testified there were no crime scenes photos taken because the camera batteries were dead!
Clearly Officer Wilson’s description of being like a 5 year old against Hulk Hogan is clearly inaccurate. The officer’s testimony of telling Michael to get down on the ground and instead Michael charges the officer pointing a gun at him, looking like a demon and continues to bulk himself up and run through the bullets is to fantastical to believe.
My favorite witness that backs up Officer Wilson’s story says he was afraid no one would believe him. His explanation for being in Ferguson that day was that he decided to “take my random drive to Florisant. Need to understand the black race better so I can stop calling Blacks N________s and start calling them people.”
Justice might be better served by a public examination of the evidence and witness’ with cross examination – a trial.
In any case, it is time for body cameras!
fenway49 says
If actions are justified it will be seen. If they’re not it will be seen. Right now we’re supposed to just take the word of someone like Darren Wilson.
Al says
officer Wilson accompanied by, or in the approximate location of other police? For example, across the street, or close enough to approach during the situation?
jconway says
“Only wrongdoers need to be worried” is always the justification government uses to justify mass surveillance. Let’s apply to to cops for once, and watch the watchers, after all-only bad cops need to be worried.
Christopher says
…but having not been a grand juror with a chance to see and hear all the evidence I don’t feel it appropriate for me to be outraged or otherwise second-guess the grand jury.
fenway49 says
As this link says, “Grand juries nearly always decide to indict. Or at least, they nearly always do so in cases that don’t involve police officers.”
I’m not second-guessing the jury as much as I’m calling out the prosecutor, who never, ever, ever presents an endless stream of mitigating evidence to a grand jury in a typical case.
merrimackguy says
I have been on a grand jury, and there’s no attempt to make it balanced.
” The accused, a dirt bag well known to us (the local PD) as a minor criminal, was seen….”
Christopher says
This question falls in the chicken/egg category. Is there something about police culture that induces itchy trigger fingers, especially against minorities, or is it more accurate for some reason policing attracts people who already have violent or racist tendencies? Also, I thought police training was supposed rein in impulses if nature hadn’t done that already. If it were I, I’m sure I would do everything possible to avoid pulling the trigger.
jconway says
Broadly, particularly in larger urban jurisdictions, I would say police culture and the reality of policing can give way to itchy trigger fingers and radicalized policing. Even in Chicago where great strides have been made in recruitinge a far more diverse CPD and having officers patrol their own communities. In the 80s we have a white commander who systematically tortured black suspects in a black precinct, and today we have a black Commander in a black precinct who is getting indicted for assaulting his tenants and abusing his position to run a slum lord realty operation on the side.
Unchecked power will always be a corrupting influence.
That’s broadly.
In Ferguson we have a situation where a nearly all white police force recruited from rural, strongly white towns, some as far as 40-50 miles away, gets military style equipment to police a majority black community. It also gets an obscene chunk of its revenue from speeding tickets, police stops, and booting the cars of its citizenry. It was a recipe for a disaster like this.
White cops from far away rural white towns policing a black community, their primary reactions being antagonistic and around substantial and frequent financially confiscatory actions against a low income populace, and lethal equipment routinely displayed in non-lethal situations.
Indicting Wilson and having the trial would have forced us to confront this micro and macro level implications of our policing policy , even an eventual acquittal would have driven that conversation in the open. Instead, it seems that those in power conspired to shut that door and keep the disempowered in their place. And race definitely has a lot to do with that.
Christopher says
We shouldn’t be dumping military surplus on local police departments just ’cause. That’s asking for trouble I think.
I have long thought that revenue collected from fines should be put in a rainy day fund rather than counted on for the general operating budget. That’s too much incentive to collect, though it the same time those should not be violent occasions. Police should assume that no violence will come of them.
I don’t think coming from a white town 40-50 miles away is much an excuse for treating non-white people differently. This is the part I just cannot understand. Bullying behavior on account of physical differences such as skin color is frankly the stuff of schoolyards which no self-respecting adult should engage in. I’ve grown up and have almost always lived in a very white environment. I don’t know if it’s religion or more generally just the way I was raised, but it would simply never occur to me to treat someone differently than I would want to be treated myself on such a superficial basis the shade of one’s skin.
fenway49 says
Survey the white folks there about their racial attitudes. It would be eye-opening.
jconway says
Even whites within metropolitan St. Louis, when interviewed, seemed to blame rap music, thug culture, pot, and everything but the cop for why the incident happened. I even argue-let’s say everything bad about Brown is verified to be true-none of it would be used to justify a police homicide against a white victim. And the whole, leaving the body out bleeding and baking in the August sun reminds me far too much of those old lynching photos where the whites in their Sunday best looked at a corpse rotting in the sun, extra-judicially killed. This one just happened to be judicially sanctioned as of yesterday.
Christopher says
Still doesn’t make it right or logical – that’s the part I don’t get.
Jasiu says
I’m not sure what it is you don’t understand. How people can have such attitudes? If that’s the case, take the logic out of it. It’s almost pure emotion ingrained since childhood. Go to almost any online news site that allows unmoderated comments and tell me that you are going to get anywhere with logic with any of these Yahoos (which happens to be a good example site to check).
Maybe growing up in a rather racist white suburb of Detroit at a particular time (60s and 70s) allows me to understand this all too well.
Christopher says
It makes no sense, especially 150 years since emancipation and 50 since the Civil and Voting Rights Acts, to look at another person and see anything other than a reflection of your own humanity. To treat someone as you would want to be treated yourself isn’t even higher order logic. It is especially ironic that I suspect many people who have such attitudes would also claim a strong religious, specifically Christian, background, yet if Christianity teaches us anything it is that we are all children of God and that anyone can be our proverbial neighbor.
Nice pun with Yahoos, BTW:)
paulsimmons says
Those attitudes are not particularly rare in “progressive” cities like Boston or Cambridge.
In fact the “I’m not racist but…” variety is pretty common.
fenway49 says
I was going to say so. But I’ve spent some time in small-town Missouri and I’ve never seen ANYTHING here as pervasive – and casually expressed in any company – as the racism there.
scott12mass says
I admit to associating certain crimes with certain groups. When I see an older white male in a suit, I think insider-trading. When a particularly heinous crime, such as the murder of Channon Christian, has racial overtones it should get special attention from police and prosecutors. The best outcome from this situation is that more and more police will begin to wear cameras, and statistics show complaints against police drop when they do.
couves says
A lot of the problem is directly or indirectly related to fighting the war on drugs. The voters themselves are already starting to de-escalate the conflict. It’s time to get a few more lawmakers on board.