A Time to Speak By Bill Stack The truth is, I have friends in the law enforcement community of various nationalities locally and nationwide, as well as friends in the black community locally, nationwide, and in St Louis. I would like to say something, if I may. First of all, my heart goes out to Michaels family. I believe anytime a teenager dies, it is a tragedy - regardless of the circumstances. Secondly, I am upset about those that are trying to make political hay out of one familys pain. Many of those instigating and encouraging the looting and ongoing riots do not even live in Ferguson. Activists are on site threatening to bring in 100,000 outside protesters into Ferguson, and Mr Sharpton and the President have both made speeches and a national issue out of Michaels death. Many have said this has got to stop in Ferguson. Truth be told, it has never started. St Louis averages about 130 homicides per year, with 120 last year. The police in all of St Louis County are involved in 3-shooting deaths per year, with none noted or found from the Ferguson police department before the tragic altercation with Michael last week. Considering that the police are the ones called to deal with violent people committing violent crimes, 3 people per year, while tragic, seems to be a very small number of people killed by police in an area as large as St Louis. (None, however, in Ferguson, until last week). Dont get me wrong - we do have a large problem in Missouri. We are often the worst state in the union for black homicides; that is, more black people are murdered in Misssouri, per capita, than in any other state. But the problem is not from police. It is not from whitey, hispanics, aisians, arabs, or rednecks. Sadly, the overwhelming majority of black people killed in Missouri - whether by beating, stabbing, or shooting, are killed by other black people in Missouri. What makes me angry is to see people come in from outside - pretending to care about black people in Missouri - when all they care about is raising money for their organization, and inciting local people to destroy their own community. If they really cared, then why dont we know the names of any of the 105 black people murdered in St Louis last year? Sadly, 105 of the 120 people murdered in St Louis last year were black - and neither Al Sharpton or the President mentioned any of them, or came to town to even speak about it. I believe the place of the Reverend should be to wade into the issues that are causing many black lives to be cut short - and help prevent that from happening. Perhaps I should try. Help rebuild black families - and stop waiting for black teenagers to be killed by someone of another race - or by a police officer in an altercation in a town that hasnt had a police shooting death in 50-yrs, and act as if it is a daily occurrence. Every 3 days, a black person from St Louis is murdered in cold blood, most often by another black person from St Louis. If we really care about black people, or any people - shouldnt we be focusing our efforts and energies on rebuilding families and strengthening communities - not tearing them further apart? Much is also said about Ferguson having a white mayor, and a white police chief, while having a large black population. Guess what - the Swedes or Fins didnt elect them - the people, largely black, from Ferguson elected them. Before throwing mud on their credibility just because they are white - ask the local people who voted for them why they believe they deserved their trust. If we can have a black president, surely we can have a white mayor, in modern day America. May God forgive us all, help us get along, and treat each other better, and bless those families experiencing great loss among us...
Posted on: Fri, 15 Aug 2014 02:58:02 +0000