Some facts.
Ferguson, Missouri is a predominantly black/African-American suburb of the Midwestern State of Missouri. Missouri, or the "Big Moe" as she is sometimes called, has been famous for its enthusiastic law enforcement since the end of the Civil War, as Missouri was originally a Southern state but was forced at canon-point (meaning the opposing party in our traditional two-party American system) sent troops into our State capitol, and this was not necessarily a bad thing as the keeping of any human being as a slave is....well, a bad thing. And Missouri promoted, utilized and capitalized on slavery. In fact, it made us rich! Ever hear of the Kentucky Derby? Well, that could have been the Missouri Derby because of the wealth, at the time expressed in horses (today it's cars) in a pre-Civil War Missouri.
But then, disaster struck. And by "disaster" I of course mean justice...but that doesn't mean I necessarily agree with said dispensed justice. We Missourians were force to do the right thing, abolish slavery, at gunpoint. Our republican system of government was overthrown, our forces of self-defense thwarted, our way of life destroyed. And the reasoning for this, the explanation for sending armed troops with canon into our State capitol in 1861, was totally justified. No human being, no child of God, should ever....EVER....be demeaned into a state of servitude (much like we have now in the current state of worker relations in the US). Slavery had to end, period. Exclamation point. Maybe even a semi-colon!
But the consequences were terrible. Missouri was laid waste, a prosperous State no more, no longer sovereign (that was forfeit), no longer independent, no longer a happy place to live.Instead we received....occupation. Yes, federal occupation in a political system that did not endorse or sanction a legal federal presence in a formerly independent State.
We've struggled with this ever since. We struggle with it still.
That's the backdrop, the history. Now for the current stuff.
Michael Brown was a thug. He, at a towering 6+feet, beat up shop-owners and plowed his way through criminality and base behavior. He was unhappy and miserable and wanting...and he fulfilled his needs as he saw fit. Mainly through criminality, which is an easy venue in these United sovereign States.
He was wrong. He probably went on a drunken or drug-induced rampage (I have no real facts here, as facts are hard to come by in our argumentative two-party system) and when confronted by the authority that so many of us trust to keep safe and in-line...he rebelled. Yes, the same kind of rebellion that spawned the colonies and provincial government against which we all, as Americans, initially rebelled. He fought back: blindly, stupidly, wantonly. And an officer of the peace responded.
When confronted with this gentleman, who was quite huge by the way, and angry, said officer feared for his life...or at least his respectability as a gainfully employable member of the law enforcement community. These members are endowed with the use of deadly force. One can see the use of deadly...or at least dreadly...force by Michael Brown when he robbed and beat up a shop owner earlier the same day, but one will not see what happened with Officer Wilson when he shot Citizen Brown.
He did. He shot him. Killed him dead. I wouldn't have done the same thing, I'm a softie. I like people and will avoid killing them even at the expense of my own life. But I'm a selfish bastard, quite spoiled, and will gladly employ strong-armed killers to do my dirty work for me, to shoot thugs on a rampage. This is what Officer Wilson did, and he shot straight. He was NOT indicted by a grand jury, which is a respectable political process, and is free of any charges.
My Brown, however...even though dead....is as guilty as the day is long. He beat up a shop keeper, stole valuables, and assaulted a police officer
He died. He was shot. He was shot by Officer Wilson...who is probably looking for another job about now, perhaps in the fast food industry.
And then all orchestrated hell broke loose.
Understand, we're still talking about the same thing here: a two-party system. It's more dangerous than our European counterparts who have a little something by way of political parties for everyone. Here, it's all or nothing. Here, someone MUST win, of one party or the other. Let us jump back in history for a moment....
Missouri has a long history of law enforcement. We were a State in rebellion, so the law naturally came down or else we would have degenerated into anarchy and perished. So when people...yes, even black people, begin to burn down their own neighborhoods and threaten the lives and property of other citizens, law enforcement responds. And that's what happened in Ferguson. The cops came when called, and they did their jobs. I personally don't think the military by way of the National Guard had any place there, but they did keep (and are keeping) the peace. It is ironic that the peace being kept is in the exact same place as the shooting of Michael Brown by a cop, which means the houses and stores that have been burnt to the ground are actually those of supporters of the justice for the young black male who was killed. Crazy, eh? But that's the world we live in. I hate Missouri cops for killing a youth who was justifiably unhappy with his political condition and I love the cops that have kept the peace in the aftermath, just as I love the system that has allowed this to be adjudicated and I hate the system that empowered and exonerated the officer that killed this young black fellow.
If you want to know what's going on in Ferguson, Missouri....that's easy. And hard. It's total confusion. Current events befuddle me, but I do know that slavery hasn't existed for a long time in Missouri nor is it ever a good idea to burn down your own neighborhood. Likewise I know that cops that indiscriminately shoot and kill a Citizen with no repercussions are a threat to the very system of government they have sworn to uphold. Maybe Officer Wilson could have used his Tazer? Maybe he could have shot past Michael Brown's ear and said "Stop! You're really big and scary and black! Don't make me shoot you in accordance with the law!" I don't know.
What I do know is this.........I love all parties involved as my brothers and my sisters and my friends. We're human beings. We should never, EVER be shooting at each other. We have mouths to speak and brains to reason and we should use this. Bless poor Michael Brown and his dead life and his bereaved mother and bless Officer Wilson and his traumatized conscience and his disabled career.
Bless all involved...and to use the words of one for wiser than I: love one another. Please.
No comments:
Post a Comment