Anarchy in Ferguson...
Rational Nation USA
Purveyor of Truth
Violence, looting, and rioting commenced last night in Ferguson Missouri following the announcement of the grand jury decision. Reaction to the decision not to prosecute the police officer who shot and killed Michael Brown is as anticipated.
Ferguson is know dealing with people who can only be considered anarchists. In response to a decision they did not agree with they are now creating additional victims. Innocent people who having nothing to do with the legal decision are having their businesses and property destroyed.
Rule of law means nothing to these individuals. In fits of irrational rage they are destroying property within their own community and creating destruction, not to mention jeopardizing public safety. Unacceptable under any circumstance these actions must be denounced in no uncertain terms and law enforcement must be allowed to restore order and calm.
Having said the forgoing, America has a race problem. Inequities of history have a way of coming home to roost. When they do, as often as not the result is not a desirable or pleasant one. Even as it is understandable.
It is time, no, it is woefully past time for this nation to face it's past and have an open, honest, and rational discussion on race. At the risk of being called many names by conservatives isn't time we confront our nation's history on race, admit the obvious hypocrisy that has existed, own up to the fact it still exists, and take the responsible actions most of us know is necessary?
I'm not holding my breath.
Purveyor of Truth
Violence, looting, and rioting commenced last night in Ferguson Missouri following the announcement of the grand jury decision. Reaction to the decision not to prosecute the police officer who shot and killed Michael Brown is as anticipated.
Ferguson is know dealing with people who can only be considered anarchists. In response to a decision they did not agree with they are now creating additional victims. Innocent people who having nothing to do with the legal decision are having their businesses and property destroyed.
Rule of law means nothing to these individuals. In fits of irrational rage they are destroying property within their own community and creating destruction, not to mention jeopardizing public safety. Unacceptable under any circumstance these actions must be denounced in no uncertain terms and law enforcement must be allowed to restore order and calm.
Having said the forgoing, America has a race problem. Inequities of history have a way of coming home to roost. When they do, as often as not the result is not a desirable or pleasant one. Even as it is understandable.
It is time, no, it is woefully past time for this nation to face it's past and have an open, honest, and rational discussion on race. At the risk of being called many names by conservatives isn't time we confront our nation's history on race, admit the obvious hypocrisy that has existed, own up to the fact it still exists, and take the responsible actions most of us know is necessary?
I'm not holding my breath.
Almost one year ago (December 12, 2013), there was another news story that captured national attention:
ReplyDeleteThe Affluenza Defense:
A 16-year old teen, Ethan Couch, was the drunk driver in a fatal car accident that killed four (4) people. The boy did not receive the maximum 20-year prison sentence sought by the prosecutor. Instead, the boy received 10 years probation based on an “affluenza defense” - plus a short stay in a posh rehab center.
Here are the facts of the case: “Authorities said the teen and friends were seen on surveillance video stealing two cases of beer from a store. He had seven passengers in his Ford F-350, was speeding and had a blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit, according to trial testimony. His truck slammed into the four pedestrians, killing Brian Jennings, 43, Breanna Mitchell, 24, Shelby Boyles, 21, and her mother, Hollie Boyles, 52.”
The term, ‘affluenza,’ describes a condition in which the children of rich families are irresponsible, dabble in alcohol or drugs, and suffer from an impaired sense of right and wrong due to their entitlement and privilege. The more simplified term is “spoiled brat.”
Is there a similar defense for poor black kids living in inner cities? A defense that takes into account the harsh conditions of growing up in violent neighborhoods, raised by a single mother, and surrounded by crack addicts, drug dealers, and criminal gangs? Would a judge make allowances for how these kids are raised?
Hardly! There is a double standard depending upon whether you are rich and poor. A white kid steals two cases of beer; a black kid steals a box of cigars. The white kid, driving while intoxicated, kills four people and serves a posh rehab sentence but no jail time; unarmed black kids are shot dead on the street, walking through the wrong neighborhoods, in a stairwell, on a playground.
This Apartheid is neither imaginary nor invisible.
Unfortunately money and or connections talk. As wrong and unethical as this is hasn't it for the most part always been thus way?
DeleteAnd it does seem to be getting worse.
Justice has, in far too many circumstances, failed it purpose.
We need to resurrect Mayors Koch and Daley - that would stop this bullcrap ASAP.
ReplyDeleteIt would very likely stop the lawlessness and the destruction of innocent people's property and businesses. But I doubt very much it would change the distrust existing between the races in general.
Delete