Refusal to Accept Grand Jury Decision

            It’s been a week or so since the grand jury in Ferguson, Missouri, decided not to indict the Officer Darren Wilson who killed Michael Brown.

            I mentioned in a previous post that I am not agreeing with either side because I was not there as a witness not was I privy to the evidence, or lack of evidence, given to the grand jury. It may be possible that there was too much contradictory evidence and testimony for the grand jury to believe that an indictment was possible. This is the way the court system works.

            Yet the fallout from the decision is continuing and it is getting worse instead of better.

            I had said that Brown’s mother wanting a country where all black people can live without the color being an issue. Sounds like someone who wanted calm. But his step-father may now be arrested and charged with incitement to riot.

            Then again, there is the hands’ up gesture saying “Don’t fire”. I believe this is a symbol indicating that the people are absolutely positive that the officer was wrong and Brown was trying to surrender. These people refuse to accept the grand jury’s decision. This gesture has been used by the public, by five members of the St. Louis Rams, and now, unbelievably, by members of Congress on the floor!!
 

            In my opinion, this is a gesture that thumbs its nose at the judicial system. The people are saying they know better than the grand jury. How many of these people actually saw the incident? Probably only a couple. Everyone else got their information from second, third, or fourth hand sources. So how can they know better? I find it disrespectful of the judicial system and the members of Congress should know better. I think this also borders on racism.

            It may be that the gesture is a sign that people are tired of police violence and believe that the criminal system is broken. But this is a case of a grand jury sifting through what they are given and coming to a conclusion based on what they are given. Is police violence getting out of hand? probably. But that is a discussion for another post.

            If you will remember the case of O. J. Simpson, the white populace did not riot or perform some kind of body language when he was acquitted. The judicial process continued and Simpson was eventually found guilty.

            Like it or not, these expressions are wrong. It is serving only to divide this country and it intensifies racial split in society. If there is to be another trial, and I strongly believe there will be one, let judicial process advance. Hopefully, at that time, the evidence will be more conclusive and definitive.

Old Habits Refuse to Die

            I will state right at the outset that I do not have the wisdom, the intelligence or the information to make an appropriate and legitimate decision in the case of Officer Darren Wilson’s shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

I was not part of the grand jury and thereby did not hear the multitude of evidence given both pro and con to make any judgment in the case no matter what has been printed or discussed in the media. Nor can I begin to imagine the kind of pressure these people were under by the community in Ferguson and like communities around the country. To everyone, there was one and only one outcome that could be accepted – that the officer was guilty. This is the latest in a series of similar crises over the years.

In this passage I will not render any determination or opinion as to the grand jury’s finding. However, I will address the outcome that occurred away from the court.

            In a previous post, I indicated that the tone of racism has been an ongoing issue around the country and especially in the South since the Civil War. As an example, I’ve heard in clips of the way some white people in the South talk about President Obama. They hate him, not because of any policies, but because he is black. There can be only one reason to me, and that is the way that they are taught at home and perhaps in school. The kind of education that exists reflects the attitudes that people have toward each other.

            The family of Michael Brown indicated that they want a country where all black people can live in a nation without being impaired by their skin color. I absolutely agree with the sentiment. But someone needs to tell me how this is at all possible when we see the result being the jury’s decision going opposite of the community’s passion. As we have seen in similar episodes in the past, immediately after the issuance of the decision, we saw arson, gunfire and looting. People were stocking up on guns before the decision was made public. How can anyone looking in from the outside take any stance other than the negative picture of the black people? The nature of education indicated above must change if we are ever going to make any progress and put the heinous issue of racism behind us.

            I for one am passionate with the desire for a time when we can get past this. When I look at people of other colors and creeds, I do not see a black man, a white woman, an African child, an Australian individual, etc., etc., etc. I see a person. That is all we should see. I may be an idealist in this matter, but I’m a realist.

Racism is ugly, sickening, disgusting and revolting. We must, as a society, find ways of putting an end it.