On Ferguson (13 points) 1.) Racism is always wrong. It is stupid, but it is a good deal worse than just being stupid. Racism is UGLY, AWFUL, and stupid. A few times in my life, I have had to witness just how dehumanizing and just down right blasphemous (I mean that as truly and strongly as possible) racism is. It is the opposite of goodness. 2.) Letting our biases trump what is actually true is very wrong as well.....EVEN when it is politically correct and popular to be lead by our biases. We should always reverently let the truth be one of our foremost priorities. (It usually steps on all of our toes if we care enough to let it.) 3.) It is just a plain and sad fact that the people I know often tend to divide on these Ferguson issues along political lines. What does the event that happened between Darren Wilson and Michael Brown have to do with political viewpoints? Your guess is as good as mine. This disturbing fact of how much our minds are controlled by our desired politics should clue us all in on just how unguided by truth we as a people really are. We prefer to see certain things. Then we see them. 4.) We cant pick and choose when to be logical. Neither can we overlook morality at one turn, and then sneak it in the back door when convenient for our arguments “side.” A CNN reporter in Ferguson last night reported that he heard the protesters say while breaking a business window, “That is black owned. Leave it alone.” This is racism. If the KKK said this same thing while perpetrating violent acts, it would be considered a hate crime....as it should be. 5.) I witnessed a Missouri Congressman blame the national guard and police for what happened. I dont know what the right answer is. Maybe the police could have done better. However, two things seemed to have alluded the congressman. He passionately lambasted the police and national guard for abandoning the city while never saying a word about the people who actually were actively destroying the city. This is not logical. It shows a basic denial of reality....a willful and BLATANT bias. Also, I wonder what the reaction would have been if the police and national guard did come in heavy and with force....what would have the reaction been then? We all seen the unmitigated chaos. How do you stop it? It would take overt force which would have been the very thing that would have verified how evil the police are. The police would have set off a brand new firestorm with how cruel they were if they performed what it would have taken to quell that chaos. 6.) A lot of flack has been given to the prosecutor. Our criminal justice system is broken...no doubt. I dont even have any faith in the Fayette County district attorney let alone a bigger area such as this. However, to assert that the prosecutor performed the Grand Jury proceedings the way he did because of racism is probably ridiculous. The most convenient thing in the world would be to be able to convict Darren Wilson. Politicians will take the popular road anytime it is possible. Hell, there was unspoken pressure from the White House on down for that matter. This prosecutors hands were tied by the only facts he had to work with. My solid guess is that the prosecutor knew there was no way the evidence would ever convict Darren Wilson, and thus went through the motions out of appeasement of the public, and in hopes that he would not inherit the blame of the inevitable decision. It appears that the facts of the case happened to be that the physical evidence corroborated Darren Wilsons story. It also appears that the facts of the case directly contradicted the witnesses who claimed that the officer murdered the teenager in cold blood. It also appears that many African American witnesses gave an account that correlated with Darren Wilsons story as well as the physical evidence. In other words, there probably never could have been a conviction. We can debate whether the prosecutor was a coward, but I think the end result was inevitable which is why he so eagerly wants to give the evidence to the public. The prosecutor trusts that the evidence will exonerate his job performance. If we care at all about what is true....we have to care about the evidence. 7.) Just because the evidence supports Darren Wilson doesnt mean he is truly innocent. We dont know. He could have antagonized Micheal Brown. He could have said awful things that caused the situation to escalate. He could have shot him unnecessarily. Then again, Darren Wilson may be telling a story that is pretty darn close to the truth. The evidence cannot tell us the whole story. What the evidence is telling supports the officer and directly contradicts the portion of eye witnesses that paint Wilson as a cold blooded killer. The evidence is our only clue to the truth....if that is what we are after. 8.) The truth does not have a team. It does not care about political correctness. As such, the truth has legitimate challenges for both “sides” of this debate. On one hand, as a good friend of mine pointed out, consider what two ethnic groups seem to have some of the deepest struggles in our country presently? (statistically and otherwise) The same two minorities that have suffered the most severe injustices historically. Undoubtedly, the African American and Native American ethnic groups immerge as two groups that are disproportionally impoverished. (along with other sad trends) Do you see the correlation? The minorities with an unjust history still stand out as communities under turmoil. This fact should not be overlooked by conservatives. It isnt a coincidence. Also, it is no doubt a statistical fact as well that an African American is much more likely to be convicted and sentenced in a tougher way than a white person tried for the same crime. This will remain true no matter how much some conservatives would like it not to be. It is also no doubt that our criminal justice system favors money. Money gets better justice. However, there are statistics that are tough realities that need to be talked about by the other “side” of the narrative. African Americans make up 12.5% of Americas population. Over 50% of Americas homicides are committed by African Americans. Barrack Obama alluded to these sorts of problems when making a speech about Trayvon Martin. The problem that these numbers indicate has to be discussed if we are to care about what is actually true at all. There is a quote I like, and it goes something like, “Let me write the songs of a nation, and I do not care who writes its laws.” That was said by a politician ironically. The point here being, that the music and entertainment of a culture yields more formative power than the lawmakers do. The fact that we are the kings of the entire history of the world where it concerns entertainment and music means that our ears should perk up all the more. All of our philosophies and value systems have probably largely been manipulated by the arts. This should trouble us all in different ways. Think about the sorts of music that appeal specifically to young African American males, and I dont see how we cant see a correlation. 9.) I wish we lived in a world where there was no such thing as “sides” on these matters. With such sides comes one sided narratives that make the truth secondary. 10.) The police are not above being questioned. I work in a prison. It isnt fun to be cussed at, disrespected, or threatened for no warranted reason. It happens all the time. It isnt fun to be accused of being a racist for no apparent reason either. That happens too. What I am saying here, is that law enforcement jobs are not very pleasant. They really arent. Some consideration should come with that. However, at the same time, police are human beings who have been given power over other human beings. Humans with power can be and sometimes are dangerous, arrogant, and/or abusive. There can and should be legitimate questions about how the police serve their communities. Police systems are just as prone to immorality as any other group or system. 11.) Taking pleasure in “being proven right” about Ferguson because of the violent events of last night probably means that your heart is very far off from the right place. 12.) Love, kindness, forgiveness, compassion, humility, and grace would produce so much more fruit than what I fear is happening. Hateful posts, “victory” posts, and divisive posts really arent going to accomplish anything other than rallying people who already agree with you while simultaneously pushing those who are different further away. The only way to reconciliation between estranged parties always revolves around forgiveness and the actual desire for reconciliation. Sounds simple, but Im afraid we miss the self-evident too often. Peace and reconciliation are not the same thing. You can have peace with someone you dont mix well with. Reconciliation is greater than peace. Reconciliation isnt just the absence of violence, it is also the presence of togetherness. That is what I hope everyone would want.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Nov 2014 22:28:22 +0000