1960 or 2014
The turbulent times of the 1960s Civil
Rights Movement are long behind us, or are they? I would like to believe that the world has
changed significantly since those days, but every time a young, unarmed African
American male is murdered, it causes me to pause. Michael Brown’s death marks the
latest in a long string of untimely deaths of African American males. I have found myself personally drawn to the
situation occurring in Ferguson, Missouri for a number of reasons. I have been reading articles, watching
interviews and researching similar high profile cases. I do not like to jump to conclusions or discuss
topics that I have not researched thoroughly.
As I researched information about Michael’s death, I came across some
startling pictures. One of the pictures
I stumbled upon depicted a scene from a 1960s protest juxtaposed with a scene
from a recent protest being held in Ferguson, Missouri. But for the captions on the picture, it would
have been nearly impossible to determine the year that the two scenes
occurred. Honestly, I would have been
inclined to believe that both images depicted scenes from the 1960s. How have race relations changed from 1960 to
2014? That is a question that cannot
easily be answered in a short blog post.
ENDANGERED SPECIES
Young African American men are being
killed at an alarming rate. For the most part, the national media is not
covering many of these homicides. But,
every now and again, a case comes along with facts that are compelling enough
to be covered by the national media.
Recently, the facts covered by national media outlets involve: (1) a
young, unarmed African American male being killed by a non-minority male (see
Trayvon Martin case); or (2) a young, unarmed African American male being
killed by a member of law enforcement (see Oscar Grant case). Each time either of these scenarios occurs, we
have a platform to discuss the state of race relations in the United
States. This conversation may be
uncomfortable, but it is often times the proverbial “elephant in the room” that
is ignored. When you ignore problems,
those problems fester and become pieces of larger problems. As citizens of the United States of America,
we simply cannot afford to ignore the problem, while hoping that it will dissipate
into thin air.
Although the facts of this case are still
developing, some facts are undisputed. Michael Brown was unarmed when he was
shot and killed by Officer Darren Wilson.
Officer Wilson shot Michael more than a few times. It took the Ferguson Police Department six
days to release Officer Wilson’s identity to the public. There was some kind of physical struggle
between Michael and Officer Wilson before Michael’s untimely death.
There are also a number of facts that are
currently in dispute. The Ferguson
Police Department has advanced an uncorroborated account that Michael Brown
tried to take Wilson’s gun and that led to him being killed. However, according to Dorian
Johnson—Michael’s friend and person who was walking with Michael before his
death—Officer Wilson yelled at Michael and him to get the f**k out of the
street. According to Mr. Johnson, he and
Michael told the officer that they were only about one minute from their
destination and would soon be out of the street. Johnson said that this enraged Wilson and he
pulled up very close to where he and Michael were walking and attempted to open
his door. He opened the door with such
great force that it actually bounced back and hit him. This infuriated him further and he grabbed
Michael by the back of the neck and threatened to shoot him. As Michael tried to get free, according to
Johnson, Wilson shot him. Then, as
Johnson and Michael started running away, Wilson opened fire on Michael and
eventually fired the shot that killed him.
Several other eyewitnesses have corroborated significant portions of Mr.
Johnson’s account of the story. According to a recent autopsy report, Michael was shot six times.
The media’s role in this case cannot be
understated. The media’s portrayal of a
victim of a crime is critical to the court of public opinion. Their portrayal of a person can make the
world feel bad for them or, conversely, make them feel that they somehow caused
or contributed to their own death. Unfortunately, for Michael Brown, the media’s
introduction of Michael to the world was not done in the best light. Michael Brown was an 18-year old high school
graduate who was set to begin his college career just days after he was slain. People often say that a picture is worth a
thousand words. Instead of using a
picture of Michael graduating from high school, I have seen a picture of Michael
Brown wearing a tank top and throwing up the “peace” sign (which some folks in
the media have alluded to as being some kind of gang sign). Painting a picture of the victim as a thug is
one sure fire way to convince people to not have any sympathy for him.
Six days after Michael was murdered, a
video surfaced of a young, African American man robbing a convenience store. This also happened to be the day that the
Ferguson Police Department released the identity of Officer Darren Wilson. The Ferguson Police Department revealed that
Michael was the primary suspect in a strong-arm robbery depicted in the
video. The robbery, which was caught on
tape, showed a large man physically stealing a box of cigars from a convenience
store. A strong-arm robbery is one where
a person uses physical force to take something that does not belong to him from
another person. By definition, a
strong-arm robbery does not include use of any kind of weapon—that would be an
armed robbery. The Ferguson Police
Department released a statement that Officer Wilson did not approach Michael
because he was a suspect in the robbery.
He approached him because he was walking in the middle of the street and
was blocking traffic. The timing of
release of the video diverted attention from Officer Wilson’s identity being
released and placed negative attention on the victim. Let’s say that Michael
was involved in the robbery, did that give Officer Wilson a license to kill
him? I think not.
FRUSTRATION
The citizens of Ferguson, Missouri are
frustrated. They have seen parts of
their city destroyed by looters. Many of
them have no confidence in the criminal justice system. They want to know why Michael Brown’s dead
body remained in the middle of the street for four and one half hours after he
was dead. They want to know why Officer
Wilson has not issued a statement regarding Michael's Death, since he the person
who killed Michael. They want to know
why it took the Ferguson Police Department six days to finally release Officer
Wilson’s name to the public. They want to know why police officers appeared at
their peaceful protests in riot gear and allegedly fired rubber bullets, and
tear gas at unarmed participants. Most importantly, they want to know whether
justice will be served.
Each time a situation like Oscar Grant, Trayvon
Martin and now, Michael Brown occurs, there is always a chance that violence
will engulf the area. Violence is not
the answer, but people must be shown that their lives are not worthless.
The world is watching, so those
individuals involved in the investigation of this crime better do all they can
to make sure justice is served. If not,
more riots, looting and death could arrive on the steps of Ferguson, Missouri,
as well as other oppressed communities.
Let’s make sure that there is a clear line of demarcation between 1960
and 2014.
Peace
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