The impetus for today's argument is the stupidity that is currently going on in Ferguson, Missouri.
Before we delve too far in to this, it is time we revisit a scene from the not too distant past:
March 3, 1991. Yes, that's right, the night of the infamous Rodney King arrest/beating. The video evidence suggests fairly strongly that the LAPD may have gone overboard in their attempts to bring King into submission. Watching the video, there definitely appears to be one officer who is intent on striking King as many times as he could. Whether it was necessary for that many strikes, only the officers on the scene, and Rodney King would have known. That beating and arrest would eventually lead to the the LAPD officers being tried and acquitted by a jury trial for their alleged excessive use of force. A subsequent federal trial, for violations of Rodney King's civil rights led to the convictions of officers Stacey Koon and Laurence Powell, each of whom was sentenced to 30 months in federal detention.
In between those two trials, however, is what needs to be discussed. Within 62 minutes of the officers' initial not guilty, LA had erupted in riots that would eventually lead to the death of 54 innocent persons and the destruction or theft of over $1 Billion in property. Most of the deaths that occurred were minorities, specifically citizens of Korean and Latino ancestry, though there were exceptions. Reginald Denny was one of the major ones, because there was video footage of him in his tractor trailer, being pulled out by a group of black men who proceeded to beat him with a claw hammer and a cement cinder block, fracturing his skull in 91 places. There were no riots for Denny, though he did pick up the nickname Reginald Denty from news media and his daughter alike.
A more direct connection perhaps to the death of Michael Brown in Missouri is that of one Gil Collar at the University of Alabama in 2012. Collar, who was a white freshman, was shot dead by a campus police officer who happened to be black. Because the person who was killed was white, it allowed for the legal process to occur in a manner that should have occurred. Was it sad that the campus officer felt the need to shoot Collar dead? Of course it was, and is. Was the officer in fear for his personal safety? He believed he was, and based on the evidence, so do I. Collar acted in a manner far less aggressive than what it has been reported that Mike Brown did in his encounter with Darren Wilson, but nonetheless, he had forced the officer to retreat, and like Brown, he continued to charge at the officer who fired a fatal shot.
My question goes out to Michael Brown's mother who stated moments after Wilson was not indicted "Burn this bitch down!" and to President Obama who stated that he understood that some Americans would be 'deeply disappointed, even angered' that Wilson was charged. While we're at it, let's ask the 'Reverend' Al Sharpton exactly what the Hell it is he does to help promote racial unity in this nation (that last one's just a joke. There's no money or power with unity, just happiness for all. Sharpton is only interested in his own personal happiness and welfare.), and it's this: Where were you when Collar was shot dead? Better yet, where were you when Brendan Tevlin was brutally murdered by Ali Muhammad Brown as part of his nationwide spree of domestic violence?
Brown's mother (who should be charged for her role in helping to incite further rioting) at least can lay claim to being a person who is in grief over what she perceives to be a lack of accountability on the part of the grand jury. Where do Obama's opinions come from, and what end is he attempting to gain with his choice of words. Certainly it is not about unity, and if I was reading between the lines, I'd think that he was giving a nod and a wink to the violence that he knew would soon erupt on the streets of Ferguson. That, ladies and gentlemen, is not leadership. It is kowtowing to the dregs in the hope of gaining some political hand.
Back to Jackson, though, and why he doesn't feel the need to show up at the other incidents that I mentioned above: That's right, there's no money and no looting there, so there's nothing to get all up tight about, and that's the bullshit of this situation, and any other one like it. However, just as was the case in LA, so it is in Ferguson, or anywhere else an event like this might occur: Once looting and violent rioting begins, any claim of caring about the person who is deceased (whether the death is justified or not) loses credibility. At that point in time, persons that are involved are nothing more than privateers looking to cash in on a deteriorating situation.
There's no other way to parse it but to say it comes down to personal responsibility, something this nation is sadly lacking at this point in our history (it's been a steady downhill trajectory for at least the last 80 years on many fronts.) Every action, no matter how indefensible, is someone else's fault. It simply isn't true. Actions have consequences, some that are unintended, and others that may prove fatal. The lesson that should be learned is that when a police officer tells you to stop and get to the ground you listen. You know why? They've got the guns! They've got the authority to use their weapons in a legal manner if you put their life in peril, (and they should have that right.) Whether we agree with it or not, they are the people who are responsible for protecting not only the citizenry, but themselves.
Are mistakes made? Of course. Are their officers (of all color) who take advantage of their position in any number of ways? That goes without saying. Are there those that are pompous, pretentious, and in general tools? Yep. Still, the majority of officers of the law are in their jobs either because they truly care about the communities they live in or because they look forward to their pension after a relatively short time protecting the streets. Most are not bad people, though our individual experiences may cause us to see otherwise.
**Of course, if we all just listened to Chris Rock, then we'd have a lot less to worry about in our lives.
