"There's a difference between white and black in America. A black man unarmed, standing in a vestibule of his house is shot 41 times. A white man waving a rifle on the lawn of the White House, 150 yards from the leader of the free world, they negotiate with him for 10 minutes and shoot him one time in the leg. That's the difference in being white and black in America."Another example: We only have to think back to last year and the endlessly analyzed and discussed murder trial of George Zimmerman for the killing of Treyvon Martin. Take the exact same circumstance, but replace Treyvon with a white boy -- he would not be dead.
The list is endless, because new examples happen almost as fast as we can relate those already on the list.
Capt. Ron Johnson, who replaced the local police chief in handling the crowds in Ferguson, had the right idea; and things were calm for one night. But then the police chief ruined it at his press conference by selectively releasing certain materials, while withholding others. The effect was to put the spotlight on Michael stealing a few cigars instead of a police officer shooting him dead. And the crowd's rage roiled up again. Whether this was deliberate or simply tone-deaf cluelessness is not clear. Either way, it was a huge mistake, complicating a devastating wrong.
Ralph
It has now been revealed that the U. S. Department of Justice had asked the local police chief in Ferguson not to release the video of the convenience store robbery -- because it was unrelated to the policeman's stopping him minutes later, since he did not know about it. And the DoJ felt it would likely be inflammatory.
ReplyDeleteThe police chief did hold off -- until Friday, when he released it anyway. And, yes, the way he released it has been inflammatory; rioting and looting have recurred and now we see police in riot gear again on the streets and tear gas being used.
I'm tempted to think that the police chief did this deliberately to reignite the unrest, hoping to justify his own tactics. Even now, he seems not to realize that it is his tactics that are the problem. And now, rather than vindicating himself, he has simply proved again how wrong his thinking is.