In response to a posting, titled "Equality for All?," written by Miss Amber Star, on her A Tale of a Political Nobody Blog she talks of the recent events of protests over the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown. First off I would like to say that I agree with you and I love that you wrote on this!
These events have taken place all over the world, not just nationally and I think that it is beautiful. I agree with Amber in that peoples voices need to be heard and sometimes you have to be forceful to be heard. I also know that the way that things were handled in St. Louis is NOT the way protesting should be handled! That is NOT the way to get your voice heard! Yes, maybe you will get heard for a short period of time when you act like that. Yes, it will make people stop and look at you and wonder, "Well, what in the world is wrong? What can we do to fix this?" But not the majority of people. All I have seen over all of this is friendships be torn apart that have lasted a lifetime, and the worst in some have been brought out.
Let me explain the different perspectives I get to see this from. I am a white woman married to a black man with whom I have 3 biracial children (boys), I was born and raised in St. Louis and the vast majority of my family, friends and loved ones are still up there. My dearest, closest friend from high-school had to go through the agony of worrying about her husband all the nights of the rioting in Ferguson as her husband was in riot gear prepared to protect and serve. I stayed up with her all night on the phone as she waited on the next update from him letting her know he was safe and moving locations as the chaos moved rapidly and violently through the city. As she sat there trying to console their two precious little girls as they worry if and when daddy is going to come home because they accidentally overheard mommy worrying. I had a friend who lives a couple blocks from there that told me of the smell of gas coming into her house and her kids freaking out and she went out on the porch to access the area and see if she needed to gather her family and EVACUATE! When she went out there she saw the tactical team walking down her street with gas masks on and holding their weapons!
The Michael Brown case in particular is a tricky one in that there were no dash cams installed and the initial "witness" who could have been the very best one ever, turned out to be not even credible as his stories didn't even add up and continuously changed. The city had just gotten all the dash cams for all the vehicles but did not have the money to get them all installed at once so they have been gradually getting them installed as funds allowed. The autopsy reports have proved that his hands were not in fact up and that he was not shot in the back. On top of that, there is a witness captured in the background of a video that "accidentally told the truth" of what happened just moments after the incident and it has been tossed all over the internet and little did he know, it has been dissected and the audio has been enhanced which also further proves Dorian Johnson's testimony was a lie. There has been a lot of term-oil surrounding this case from the get-go and understandably so. From everyone putting in their two cents and lies, opinions and hate to stereotypes to taking steps back in time with the racism over it all. I have watched friends of different races fight over it due to ill choices of words because tensions are high and feelings are sensitive.
From the beginning, this case was based on a lie and turned into what it shouldn't have been turned into. It was quickly turned into a race issue instead of a police brutality issue which is what I think may have gotten more versatile attention and respect. Now, am I saying that black males do not have to worry about being harassed by the cops more than whites? Most definitely NOT! I have been a first hand witness to this MANY times and for reasons completely uncalled for! Due to all the havoc caused in Ferguson from the looting and violence, many business owners (black owned) are not only out of a way to support themselves and their lively hood, but they (the looters) just took from their own community. The even saddest part is seeing the narrow minded people confirming their racism's and stereotypes and the looters and "protesters" just gave them a valid reason to do so (in their minds). Do I agree with that? No. Only because I am able to understand that there is good and bad in every race, religion, nationality, etc and that the people that caused all the damage in Ferguson were not only black but of white and Mexican backgrounds as well but people are too close minded to see that.
So, as far as them protesting the Michael Brown case, I am not too sure I agree with it. Am I against it? No, because they are exercising their right to freedom of speech. However, violence is NEVER the answer! What I find really infuriating and just disrespectful is that some of the people now are trying to justify these acts of violence and criminal intent they are calling "protesting" by comparing them to the great Dr Martin Luther King Jr. However, his niece Dr. Alveda King begs to differ on that.
The black population in America unfortunately have to worry about being harassed and bothered by the police far more than the white population does. Regardless if you want to realize it or not, it is true. Yes they may say that the statistics last year were 300 whites killed by cops vs. 100 blacks killed by cops, but you have to look at the census and look at the total number of blacks in the country vs the # of whites in the country. That has to be looked at to give leverage and clarity. I have been pulled over with my husband and had our car searched and kid woken up and taken out of the backseat in the middle of the night when we were on our way home from a friends house all because they said that they thought that we picked up a guy suspected of a burglary. However, they knew we hadn't because that very same cop had just seen us pull out of that street. That is just one of the MANY incidents.
Moving on to the very tragic Eric Garner death. When I first saw the full length video which was the day after it happened, and every time I watch still, it I just get sick to my stomach and with tears in my eyes! This is the one that needs to be protested. The bottom line in this one is that the man said he could not breath and they kept him in hand cuffs AFTER they slammed his head on the pavement and used a departmentally banned choke-hold on him. There was no reason at all to put that much force and pressure on his head and to choke him out. Once it was apparent that he was struggling to breath and even went into a seizure, they should have had the human decency to take the cuffs off of him. If he already couldn't breath, the constriction and tightness of his chest from his hands being pulled back only made it even harder. There are so many things wrong with this case that it is just baffling that there was no indictment and I completely understand why people are protesting this one! The coroners report should have been enough for not just an indictment on this one, but a full on conviction!
Another thing that seems to happen all too much and need to STOP... The media needs to stop bringing out the past of the victims, and focus on what happened at the scene of the act between the victim and the officer. I think that it needs to be mandatory for all cars to have cameras and also body cams on every officer. I am so up in the air over all of this as I see all sides of this whole mess. I also think that if people are going to protest senseless murders, they should also be protesting when innocent children are caught in the cross fire of a drive by over a drug deal gone bad or one that took place for no real reason at all. Like this one case in St. Louis that happened to a 14 year old little girl who's mother I just happened to go to school with all while growing up. She was caught in the crossfire of a drive by that had nothing to do with her. There is a lot more to the story that is actually pretty ironic but there is no reason to get into it all. However, the whole point I am trying to make is that yes, people need to protest but... protest with class and dignity and for reason. If you do that then you may be heard and respected a lot more. When you act crazy, people will treat you crazy! People do not have to agree with you and how you feel but if you stick to your point and stand your ground and fight for equality and justice for all, you may find that your pleads and voices don't fall on so many blind eyes and deaf ears. People may be much more willing to listen and work together. In closing, I wanted to include a link to Bill O'Reilly's response to the non indictment in the Eric Garner case.
