“History doesnt repeat itself, but it does rhyme.” ― Mark Twain In an era of 24 hour news and instant social media it is remarkable how the old play book of white establishment law enforcement in African American majority communities remains little changed since the 1950s; 1) Meet mostly peaceful protest with disproportionate violence, 2) Assault the Press in a vain attempt to intimidate and obscure the facts, 3) Attempt to change the subject by demonizing the victims of their unjustifiable acts (again to obscure the facts). Yes, the fire hoses of the old Civil Rights era newsreels are missing, replaced by surplus Iraq War military vehicles painted with protect and serve (an irony Orwell might have predicted) and SWAT teams at Mickey Ds. But much is the same. The point of todays press conference was to release the incident report on the initial shooting (which is, of course, a public record that should have been available days ago). Instead, the Police Chief sought to change the subject and ineptly at that. And, so what if Michael Brown had stolen the. Cigarillos? It doesnt change or answer the central charge that Brown was shot while trying to give himself up. Now we know the Ferguson PD let the Officer (potentially a felon) flee the jurisdiction, making someone in the department a possible co-conspirator after the fact. AND, the incident report remains unreleased. Bull Connor would be proud. The role of the eloquence of MLK Jr.s Letter from the Birmingham Jail will, in this rhyme of history, be have to taken by the combined raw emotion (and occasional reflection) of individual tweets and social media posts. Missouri Governor Jay Nixon should be applauded for replacing bumbling local police with a media and community savvy Highway Patrol Commander. He still must answer for his reluctance to act earlier and failure to attempt to remove County Prosecutor Robert McCulloch from the case after McCulloch sided with the Ferguson PD, an action that hopelessly compromised his credibility. In the meantime, the Ferguson PD should release the incident report, read itself the Miranda Warning every employee has long since memorized and heed the part about the right to remain silent...for their own good and for the good of the community.
Posted on: Sat, 16 Aug 2014 04:08:44 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015