The Michael Brown shooting was about race but it was not racially motivated.
” a handful of folks”
I watched Barack Obama inject himself into the Michael Brown grand jury news and I am confounded but not surprised. Obama had the chance to separate fact from fantasy and he did the opposite. The Michael Brown shooting was NOT racially motivated but something else was.
The shooting of Michael Brown was caused by Michael Brown. The forensic evidence was that Brown’s blood was present on Officer Darren Wilson’s collar and his thigh. There was blood found on the outside of the police cruiser and on the inside of the cruiser. Brown had a wound to his hand and gunshot residue was present on his hand, indicating a close proximity wound. Wilson had suffered injuries to his face. Brown had his hand or hands IN the cruiser, struck Wilson and struggled with Officer Wilson for Wilson’s weapon. Several black witnesses testified that Brown turned and approached Wilson at which time Wilson fired the fatal shots.
These were the facts as presented by Prosecutor McCulloch. Here it is if you wish to watch it.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JqkikttLMU[/youtube]
Never missing a racially charged opening, Barack Obama turned it into a circus.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7lK8OUm49k[/youtube]
He said some Americans will agree with it and some will disagree. His body language made very clear on which side he came down. There was powerful irony listening to Obama plea for peaceful protest juxtaposed against a mob trying to overturn a police car.
He asks the police to show “care and restraint.” (1:35)
Then Obama opened the race can. Obama expounded on the distrust of police by communities and then suggested that communities should be policed by those of their own race- a return to segregation.
There is a “deep distrust” between the police and “communities of color.” (2:50)
Then he goes on about the need for criminal justice reform. (about 4 minutes in) You can guess what that means.
He says these are the lessons of Ferguson. Not once does he address the crimes committed. Not once does he speak to personal responsibility. Not once. He turned a theft and an assault on a police officer into a racial issue. He could have said to America that this wasn’t a race based shooting. He didn’t. He made it worse.
“America isn’t everything that it could be” (7:00)
The media needs to ignore the violence. (8:00)
“There is inevitably going to be some negative reaction and it’ll make for good TV…” (8:50)
The questions asked following McCulloch’s accounting of the evidence were monumentally stupid.
Never mind the forensics. Is the decision racially based? And what about you? Whys it this justice? (33:00)
Should police shoot someone whose hands are at their side or up in the air? (34:00)
(A black teenager testified: “Dang if that kid didn’t start running right at the cop like a football player. Head down.” )
The police in Ferguson kill black youths with impunity (35:00)
And perhaps the single stupidest remark:
“there is not a single law in the state of Missouri that protects and values the life of this young man…”(35:50)
He notes that Brown was “shot and killed dead…”
That is both incendiary and stupid on a galactic scale.
It seemed that none of these people paid one whit of attention to the evidence that was presented. They had their predetermined questions and were going to pontificate. None of them addressed what Brown had done to cause his own death. Not one. Neither did Obama.
The activists in Ferguson honored Michael Brown’s memory by attacking reporters. They honored his memory by setting fire to businesses. They validated all the stereotypes- every one of them. Obama had a chance to do something- like officially recognize that the facts show Wilson acted properly and that race was not the motivation for the shooting. Instead, he got on his soapbox and lectured. And he missed it completely.
The bottom line still remains- Michael Brown is dead because of his own actions. I haven’t once seen anyone ask Michael Brown’s parents about his record or why they thought he robbed the store and shoved around the proprietor. Race was a contributor but not in the way everyone thinks. Obama spoke of mistrust of the police. It’s more than that- much more. Michael Brown didn’t respect a white cop. He didn’t think he had to obey the orders of a white cop. He thought he could attack a white cop without fear of repercussions. He was brought up that way. That’s why he’s dead.
UPDATE
It has been reported that Obama did not watch the prosecutor make his statement. That figures. Obama is typically is undeterred by facts. This is no different. He had a lecture to give and the facts were not about to intrude.
DrJohn has been a health care professional for more than 30 years. In addition to clinical practice he has done extensive research and has published widely with over 70 original articles and abstracts in the peer-reviewed literature. DrJohn is well known in his field and has lectured on every continent except for Antarctica. He has been married to the same wonderful lady for over 30 years and has three kids- two sons, both of whom are attorneys and one daughter on her way into the field of education.
DrJohn was brought up with the concept that one can do well if one is prepared to work hard but nothing in life is guaranteed.
Except for liberals being foolish.
In my mind the logic is simple:
Don’t get high on marijuana… then rob a store… then walk in the middle of the street impeding traffic.
Obey the law! That simple.
This thug would still be alive today if he would have done the right thing. However, he would have eventually ended up killed by another black man or end up in prison. Had that been the case, then it would be fine and we never would’ve heard of his name. That is the lifestyle he chose and that choice had consequences…he paid with his life. They way he threatened the store owner tells me he’s done this before, but had gotten away with it. He finally got caught and the result was not good. How did that work out for him?
Can we get off the skin color? Please?
It’s social class that matters. I teach in a 2 year college. I have no Trayvons or Michaels in my classes. All I have are kids who want to do what it takes to get a degree and make a life. In secondary teaching, some of my worst offenders were white! Dr King was correct. Character, not color, is what matters.
@Tom:
The point is, and has been made numerous times, that when a white person is killed during the commission of a crime, the white community does not riot and burn itself down. Likewise, when a black person kills a black person, for whatever reason, the black community does not even raise an eyebrow.
The reason is startlingly simple; in no other situation but when a white cop kills a black person, even during the commission of a crime, do agitators show up. While admittedly tragic, the shooting of Michael Brown was justifiable. He was committing a violent crime. So, why is there outrage anywhere but by the family of Darren Wilson, whose life had being devastated because he did his duty as a police officer? Straw man indeed.
“That was in 1895. How did that work out? Perhaps Mr Washington didn’t foresee the possibility that white supremacists might not be inclined to hold up their end of the bargain for the next 80 years. But I agree, a useful contrast. Perhaps blacks just need to wait a little longer for those “privileges of the law” to accrue. ”
Why not ask Dr. Ben Carson, Colin Powell, Barack Obama, Eric Holder, Col. Allan West or numerous other successful and influential blacks how it worked out? Whenever the assumption is NOT that blacks are stupid and helpless and are merely afforded the opportunity to progress, they seem to be able to do so. Only the left, working so diligently to exploit them, assumes they are too feeble to notice.
@retire05:
And who was giving the order? If this is really the quality of the white supremacist revisionism you’re selling, I really don’t have time for it. It’s sad and ridiculous. Save it for the Widows of the Confederacy or whatever your Wednesday night knitting group is called.
@Tom:
We’ve had this debate before, you and I. Instead of going through your argument line by line, I’m going to ask you to watch this interview of a black democrat sheriff. I honestly think you’ll find it enlightening. Don’t read the Brietbart recap, watch the interview.
http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-TV/2014/11/25/Dem-Sheriff-Obama-Ferguson-Speech-Done-With-a-Wink-and-a-Nod
@Nathan+Blue:
I’m glad we agree. Clearly Washington’s formula of trading civil and political rights for justice and economic rights was shortsighted in light of the overwhelming reality that was white supremacy. Unless you’re going to make the argument that blacks received justice starting in 1895, blacks traded decades of civil and political rights for nothing but terror and oppression.
And in case you’re curious, I could care less what political party southern white supremacists inhabited decades before I was born. We all know what party they ended up in after the party shake-up that took place between 1960 and 1980. It’s a strange point to make while basically conceding that white supremacy prevented Washington’s “labor-based, wealth-building vision” from bearing tangible fruit for decades. I don’t think the type of labor Washington had in mind was the thousands of black men arrested on trumped up charges and their chain-gang labor sold to white business owners. That didn’t build very much black wealth.
No, he supported gaining actual Civil Rights rather than the handshake promise of justice from racists. As we know from history, the modern civil rights movement of the 50s and 60s eventually came around to his way of thinking. I’m frankly surprised that a smart guy like you thinks trading true freedom and equality before the law for empty promises is somehow a superior vision to that of Martin Luther King and the other civil rights activists who embraced civil rights. Then again, you seem to have no problem filtering out the rabid racism spewing from your allies while singling out my posts, which make only factual claims, as discomforting as they may be to some.
@Bill:
Apparently you don’t understand the difference between a citizen killing a citizen and a citizen being killed by an agent of the state.
Who are you to say that black people don’t care when their sons are murdered by other blacks? You’ve been interviewing the parents of dead black kids? Show me your proof. That’s just more racist garbage, more right wing propaganda. Are you nothing but a parrot, Bill? Try harder.
@Aqua:
Thanks for the link. He obviously makes some very good points, but I disagree that there is no reason for anger (which is not an excuse for criminal behavior). And the anger is larger than this decision, which has become emblematic of larger beliefs and fears in the African American community. Here’s my question, why is all the focus on four square blocks of Ferguson? Everyone on Flopping Aces (and the Right in general) is fond of using the term “blacks”, as if all 45 million black Americans were rioting instead of a few hundred. The thing is, as I’ve come to see it, no one on Flopping Aces cares what those other 99.9999% of law abiding black citizens think, or why they fear for their sons’ lives. They only care about putting thugs in their place. No less than the President of the Unites States attempted to give some insight into black fears in the wake of the Trayvon Martin case, but once again he overestimated the curiosity and latent empathy of those who call him an enemy. I don’t see how people can make hay regarding whether the President was “winking” during a speech while ignoring a 20:1 disparity in blacks being killed by police officers vs. whites. A year from now, you will all have moved on from Ferguson, but mass incarceration of black men will likely still remain. The disparity in police shootings and arrest rates and conviction rates will likely all remain. Just little details, I suppose?
@Tom:
I understand the overall premise of your argument. When police shoot some crazy white guy running around naked, charging people, no one says anything other than crazy white guy got shot.
I’ve talked about confirmation bias several times and that is what many in the black community see. I see confirmation bias on this blog almost every day. There are people that think Obama is going to declare martial law before the presidential election to remain in power. Funny thing is, I saw people on the left say the exact same thing about Bush on this very blog. There are some in the black community that believe the police are in low income communities for nothing more than to make their lives hell. And when a black man is shot by a white police officer, it is a matter of racism. Just like there are people that believe Obama is covering up everything from the IRS scandal to the existence of the anti-Christ, there are some in the black community that will believe the grand jury is covering to protect a white police officer. And nothing anyone can say or do is going to persuade either group differently.
I agree with the president that we need to get to the root of the problem. Communities should trust law enforcement. Right now we are seeing a breakdown in trust in all communities. Take this for example:
http://theantimedia.org/mother-calls-police-to-help-her-son-take-his-medicine/
Or this:
http://www.wbaltv.com/i-team/Woman-90-locked-officer-in-basement-settles-with-police/11028044
Or this:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/sep/3/justice-dillon-taylor-after-white-utah-man-fatally/
By the way, there were no riots in the Utah incident.
@Scott+in+Oklahoma: Scott, You are one of the few, on this thread, who have faced a similar situation. I respect your opinion and admire the dedication that is required to do a dangerous job, where the opportunities to fail are many and the rewards are precious few. I salute you.
In a way you have to really feel for Michael Brown.
Raised by a step-father who was a leader of the St. Louis, Missouri wing of the Bloods.
And a foul-mouthed mom who might be facing criminal assault charges for hitting relatives and stealing over $1,000 they had collected selling Mike brown T-Shirts.
IF the original narrative that he put both hands up and yelled, ”Don’t shoot,” Michael Brown would be alive today.
In the eyes of nationwide demonstrators, including some posters here, being bad parents, involved in gangs, having domestic violence at home and being a sexual predator (his real dad) is all the POLICE’s fault.
Children don’t automatically have respect for the law (or for law enforcers.)
It has to be taught at home, in both words and deeds.
What did Michael Brown have?
Now, there’s a possible REAL case where police killed a young man for (apparently) no good reason…..in Utah.
We don’t have enough violent blacks to riot here, but the fact is police killing people is a top cause of death in Utah.
Michael Brown is a bad case on which to hang the nation’s latest civil rights’ hat.
It needs to drop his case and look for a real one.
@Tom:
So soldiers are required to follow unlawful orders? Obviously you have never been in the military. And yes, there orders were issued by white men. Ask my opinion of U.S. Grant and Phil Sheridan and I will be happy to fill this page.
You are so agenda driven that you cannot see the issue that I am trying to show you; that ALL races, ethnicities and genders have their own dark history. Instead, you use terms like white supremacist, which is pure crap. Doesn’t one have to be “white” to be a white supremacist?
How do you explain what is happening in Ferguson? And how do you explain that when a tragedy happens in the barrio, or in white neighborhoods, or in Little Vietnam in Houston, or China Town is San Francisco, the Hispanics, Vietnamese or Chinese are not burning down their own neighborhoods?
The problem is cultural. And that is something people like you do not want to discuss. You don’t want to talk about the failures in the black community to rise above the grievance industry and change what is happening to them. You want to lay the blame at the feet of white privilege and white supremacy. That is just bullshit. Pure, and simple.
The destruction of the black community cannot be laid at the feet of slavery, but history, and facts, can lay it squarely on the fact that a great [black] society was destroyed by the Great Society.
@Chris:
Aside from the word “thug” being the new right wing assumed legitimate replacement for the “n” word, your logic seems to parrot that of Wordsmith’s video. While it was meant to be satire, many on the right seem to take it as an appropriate response from the police, particularly towards African Americans.
Your logic, like much of today’s ranting right wingers, seems to justify an execution for minute bad behavior (such as, as you say, smoking marijuana). I’ve actually read from the frothing AmericanThinker contributors and a few others that Brown deserved what he got because he didn’t respond with a “yes sir” or “no sir”. I’m taken aback that such mentality exist or that wing-nuts are openly admitting this but they really are. To be clear, because one may have robbed a store is not a legal reason to beat or shoot him. Ditto for jaywalking. And this is true regardless of their survival odds from others in the black community or from anywhere else. Do you realize how profoundly ignorant your argument is?
The more today’s conservatives spew their venom on this issue, the more they expose who they really are. I suspect we’ll hear more come election time on how happier they would be if returned to Jim Crow laws.
But Michael Brown was NOT shot for those things, Ron.
He was shot because he wrestled for Officer Wilson’s gun then, when he lost that fight, he began charging the officer.
He was also quoted as saying ”you’re too much of a pu$$y to shoot me,” to the officer.
Getting high, stealing and jay walking were simply some of the reasons he came to the attention of the officer.
NOT why he was shot.
Here is Dorian Johnson’s own testimony, lies abound, to read at your leisure:
http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1370493-grand-jury-volume-4.html
@Ronald+J.+Ward:
Really? So when Juan Williams, a left wing black man, calls Michael Brown a “thug” because Michael Brown strong armed a much smaller Asian man in the process of stealing from the Asian man’s store, Juan Williams is now “right wing?”
Maybe you would like to back up those claims with a link, or two? Then I’ll be happy to show you Tweets of blacks in Ferguson who are being less than kind toward white people. How about Michael Brown’s gang banger step father screaming “Burn the bitch down” to the protesters, which the protesters proceeded to do?
You’re just another angry black man, RJW. Fueled, I’m sure, buy the race hustlers you, and your ilk, accept as “leaders” of the black community although they have never done anything for blacks, simply lining their own pockets and refusing the pay taxes that are levied on all of us.
@Tom:
It’s important to point out that they were Democrats because they are STILL Democrats. Please provide what the Republicans have done and are doing that is racist; unless you feel expecting people to work and provide for their families racist. Unless you feel contributing and denouncing sloth and violence is racist. The Democrats do all they can to keep all minorities in poverty and dependency so they can be mined for votes. The Democrats invented the mantra of the racist Republicans to aid and abet in this movement. No doubt you don’t want to hear about the racist legacy of the Democrats because it is a living legacy, as we can see in Ferguson and other locals.
Unless the state orders and sanctions the killing, no, I don’t. The victim is still dead. What we hear from the left-wing agitated minority crowd currently is that “black lives matter”. Well, if the left truly believes this, why don’t they do something about the black on black and black on white murders? OK, stop scratching you coconut, here’s the answer; because there is NO POLITICAL GAIN to be yielded from address those killings. Thus, the left is racist, using blacks and their tragedies to motivate their agenda. See? That is all black lives are to the left… even black leftists; just coins to be spent for political gain.
OK, here would be the place where you link me to all the media coverage of the black on black murders this year. Go right ahead, teach me a lesson. I deserve it.
I heard yesterday that 98% of blacks feel the grand jury decision was biased and wrong. Now, this is not because 98% of blacks are stupid or even racist; it is because the bulk of them only get the information the left wing MSM wants them to have. Only the information that can incite more racial animosity.
@Ronald+J.+Ward:
thug: : a brutal ruffian or assassin : gangster, tough
Let’s see, let me look closely…. nope, no mention of race in that definition. No mention of skin color. Only the left connects “thug” with “black” because that is how the left thinks. The left is racist and uses race as a political tool.
Once again, you display your choosing of stupidity as a way of life. Michael Brown got baked, then robbed a store. Then, he tried to kill a cop. THIS got him killed, not the color of his skin. He was not killed for being a pot head or stealing cigars. He was killed because he tried to kill. Like Trayvon, he should not have tried to kill someone that was armed. Often that does not work out so well. As I have repeated, the left thrives on racism and implanting the idea in the minds of blacks that it is not their fault when they get the sharp end of the stick for crimes is just another in the racist quiver of the left. And that manipulation goes all the way up to Obama.
Speaking of which, why not take this opportunity to answer my question as to why Obama chose Ferguson as an example of social problems for the UN? See how thoroughly he has made a major ass of himself before the world (yet again)? Why be so stupid?
How about beating a cop and trying to shoot the cop with his own weapon? Is that justification for killing in self defense? Oh, I forgot; you are too gutless to answer questions.
@Nanny: Allow me to remind you what I responded to from Pete.
This is a mindset I’ve encountered long before the Grand Jury verdict.
As evidence is now released and being evaluated, even your argument seems to fail. Legal scholars really didn’t expect an indictment. We’ve learned that evidence had been tampered with such as Wilson’s gun wasn’t taken (which is usual protocol) and that all prints had been wiped from it. The prosecutor didn’t have much interest in that. But then again, the prosecutor never really wanted to take it to the Grand Jury and then refused to recuse himself (despite over 70,000 signatures asking him to) once he lost that battle.
You too seem to cling Brown’s attitude or bad behavior as a justification for why he was shot multiple times.
@Bill
Actually, the jury never confirmed nor denied anything to validate that statement. Zimmerman, under law and as it should be, was presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. All we really know about that case is that an armed white male stalked and followed an unarmed black male after being told not to and shot him dead.
A fight may have or may not have happened. Who started it only Zimmerman knows. There just wasn’t absolute proof to convict Zimmerman. “Proof” otherwise was never established.
The fact that you’d make such a statement (which I’m sure your cohorts will defend you or at least silently nod to) indicates your preference to simply create your own facts to justify your agenda.
@Tom:
So which side is making all the racist statements in Ferguson?
@Ronald+J.+Ward:
Would that advise not be just as applicable to a Hispanic man, or an Asian man, or a White man?
You are trying to find racist remarks were there are none. But I’m sure if I (or anyone else who is not a biased black man) said: don’t do drugs; don’t drink to excess; don’t have a baby out of wedlock; don’t commit criminal acts; take care of your children; at least finish high school, those would be considered racist by you because you would assume that they only apply to blacks. How twisted your mind is.
@Ronald+J.+Ward:
Well, Ronald, yes they did. Zimmerman was on trial for 2nd degree murder. Zimmerman killed a man and he either murdered him or killed him in self defense. Since he did not murder him (per the verdict), he killed him in self defense. The evidence that led to that verdict was the wounds Zimmerman suffered at the hands of Martin. So, again, you are wrong.
Presumed innocent by whom? Certainly not you vultures on the left. Just as you have done with the killing of Michael Brown, you have ignored all the evidence and convicted Wilson because it serves a political purpose; getting black people into a rage, then misdirecting that rage at conservatives (those who stand up for the rule of law). Nice that you have the new-found respect for the innocence clause, but this was not always the case.
Again, only the evidence tells the tale. Zimmerman got out and followed Martin. Then, on his phone and recorded, he turned back towards his vehicle. Meanwhile, again on HIS phone and recorded, Martin characterizes Zimmerman in a racist way and states he is going to kill him. Witnesses testified Martin was on top of Zimmerman and pounding his head into the cement. Zimmerman had wounds to corroborate this. Only the vapid, racist left could ignore such a preponderance of facts, in both cases, and cling to their race-baiting mantra of a racially motivated killing. Both were clearly self defense.
It is racist to use race and/or racism as a political tool.
@Tom:
It would be safe to say that about 100% of those rioting were blacks.
@Redteam:
More examples of Tom’s and RJW’s the misunderstood Ferguson cretins:
https://twitter.com/MJDiPaola?original_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thegatewaypundit.com%2F&tw_i=537511623519657984&tw_p=tweetembed
And Natalie Debose, who lost her bakery to the thugs, has been sent over $111,000.00 in donations from people all across the nation to help her rebuild. I’m sure Tom and RJW think that only black people are trying to help her through a hard time.
@Ronald+J.+Ward: 68
Is that an accurate description of Zimmerman?
During his address to reporters earlier on Monday, McCulloch said Brown’s DNA was present on Wilson and on the officer’s weapon.
Remember, too, all the medical examinations described CONTACT wounds on Brown.
Those are wounds where his skin was in contact with the gun, not even inches away from it.
And where were the two contact wounds?
One was on his right thumb.
The other was on the PALM of his right hand.
What do you think he was doing with his hand as the gun went off?
@Skook #60, thank you my friend. I am quite happy that I retired, somewhat intact (various scars and nightmares not counted). I read a lot of this crap, while shaking my head and wondering how they would survive in the world they are purporting to be such experts in. I have grown weary of arguing, like putting lipstick on a pig, knowing the effort is futile and probably not worth the effort. So I let them wander through life thinking they know everything, and when it blows up in their faces I will still be here to say “hey… we told you so…”
@Nanny: Investigators did not test Wilson’s gun for fingerprints and he retained his weapon when he should have turned it over.
It’s in the report as well as other inconsistencies.
Generally speaking, an indictment can be easily handed down to a tree stump if the prosecution truly wants it. Of course, a conviction may be a taller order. What’s evident in this case which goes hand in hand with the many missteps in the linked report is that the prosecution never wanted an indictment at all and refuse to recuse himself even after the request of 70,000 signatures.
Sure, you can cherry pick and find minute circumstances to spin to support your agenda and that is what this site is about. I expect that. It’s just that most of your arguments are so flimsy on so many fronts and are more of a fabrication to support that agenda.
@Ronald – it’s your opinion and that’s fine. I’m not going to insult you by calling you ignorant. I’ll be the better person. Some people can’t handle the truth and you know immediately based on their response. In my opinion he was a “thug”, a thief, and a disrespectful punk. I don’t care what you think of me. I’m not the one that bullied a store owner, stole, got high, jaywalked, and assaulted an officer. His death is a consequence of his actions. Every action along the way contributed to the result of his death. Follow the logic of his actions.
@Ronald
This is for you. Hope you learn something.
An Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Pennsylvania has blamed “America’s racist god” for the killing of Michael Brown.
Anthea Butler, A regular guest on MSNBC, blamed America’s blood thirsty “god of white supremacy,” for the Ferguson tragedy in which police officer Darren Wilson fatally shot teenager Michael Brown during a violent altercation.
“America’s racist god requires black people’s blood to atone for the sins committed by its followers,” Butler writes in Religion Dispatches, an independent non-profit news and commentary blog hosted by the University of Southern California.
“This time, the blood shed in sacrifice to this god of white supremacy was Michael Brown’s,” Butler writes.
Butler continues by likening prosecutor Robert McCulloch to Pontius Pilate and alleging that Darren Wilson acted as agent to the “god of white supremacy.”
This moronic woman probably makes RJW and Tom’s heart skip a beat, since they are simpatico.
Back in the 1950’s the NAACP got behind a real lady who only wanted her rights.
Rosa Parks was a seamstress and wanted to sit nearer the front of a bus than was allowed back then for blacks.
She became 1st lady of the Civil Rights Movement.
Now today Michael Brown, had he lived, would be up on felony charges for a strong arm robbery and for assaulting a police officer.
Will there really be a movement putting him up as it’s 1st Gentleman?
What is he?
Father of the Criminal Rights Movement?
We saw what happened when the people of Ferguson tried to police themselves: checkpoints and litmus tests rather than a rule of law.
If police lose the right to meet force with force when contacting felons we will lose good police.
No one signs up to go home in a body bag.
Obama is setting up the black youth for more of this with his ”disparate outcome” school disciplining.
(The only way a black miscreant can be expelled is if a white student, an Hispanic student and an Asian student are all also expelled.)
Taken to the age of people out of school Obama means to decriminalize behavior that all civilized countries have suppressed and punished since the dawn of history, as long as that behavior is done by blacks.
He is aiming to equalize the proportions of people behind bars.
Look for more citizen interrogations of drivers who are on their way home as this takes hold over the next two years.
And another moron:
“Wednesday on MSNBC’s “The Reid Report,” Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) said, ‘African-Americans all around this country believe that the police represents an army patrolling an occupied territory.”
While discussing the Congressional Black Caucus reaction to officer Darren Wilson not being charged in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, Cleaver said, “What happened actually leads further to the furtherance of the distrust between African-Americans and police because African Americans all around this country believe that the police represents an army patrolling an occupied territory.”
My suggestion: white cops should refuse to patrol black neighborhoods. Let the blacks run those neighborhoods on their own. And when their homes and businesses are overrun with crime, watch them scream for more cops like they did in Ferguson two nights ago. The cops should say “Nope. Not until people like Emanuel Cleaver apologize to all us white cops that put our lives on the line to protect blacks from other blacks.”
I agree Retire05#82… the ones that need the protection the most want it the least. Let them have their way.
I see a lot about mirroring the PD with the town’s population; unless they really reduce the requirements, especially the criminal backrounds and drug screening, they won’t get enough minority applicants to fuill the positions. Then what? Reduce the requirements even more? We’ve seen that before, in Miami Florida in the early 80’s, and for many years in New Orleans. What they will get for cops are exactly the type of people you DON”T want as cops. If that’s what they want, I don’t care; it won’t effect me or my family.
@Scott+in+Oklahoma:
The left whines a lot about how there is disparity in police and fire departments. There is a reason for that. I have a friend who is a Captain with a major fire department. For over 10 years he has given talks/classes on fire fighting at a majority black high school trying to get recruits. In that 10 year period, he has had 3, THREE, kids apply for the academy. And two of them dropped out before they finished because “it was too hard.”
You can’t have black cops if you don’t have black police academy recruits. It is just that simple. And as a side note, St. Louis lowered its requirements for the police academy and wound up with a pretty good number of black cops along with a black Chief. It was the most crooked police force St. Louis had ever had. Just like New Orleans where the Feds threatened to take over the police force if they didn’t clean it up internally.
You can’t force blacks to become police officers and in this culture, culture of hatred of law enforcement, you are not going to get black recruits. It is a another problem the black community has brought on themselves.
@Aqua:
Great post. Of course, I have some responses.
True, but you can’t compare the rates of those instances of shootings, or even just arrest rates. The reaction of the black community will necessarily be different based upon their own experiences. In fact, it would be foolish of them to ignore such staggering instances of violence.
And just to be clear, it’s not always a “crazy” guy getting shot. I don;t think this 12 year old was acting crazy. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-cleveland-police-shooting-video-20141126-story.html
i don’t think this young father standing with a piece of Walmart merchandise on the phone in an isle at Walmart was acting crazy: http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2014/09/wal-mart_surveillance_tape_sho.html
And if to make sense of it, you have to say, “well, as blacks they should have been more careful” then I think my point is made. These incidents have both happened since Brown’s death. I must have missed the FA posts about them.
I would say the key difference is that crazy paranoid people on the left or right worried about a Presidential coup have no logical, factual basis for those fears, while black people have many, many logical, factual reasons for theirs. Whether or not any particular black person views and particular police action as racists, all blacks have ample reason to be wary of the police and to teach their sons to be wary. As Ronald pointed out elsewhere, it’s interesting that whites interpret the Chris Rock comedy bit as excellent advice for black people as opposed to a satire saying basically “can you believe we have to act EXACTLY like this or get shot?”
Just to be clear, I don’t blame the police officers or think police in general are racist. They are merely doing their jobs. The problem goes much deeper. It’s institutional in nature and it’s made worse by bad public policy. Just the war on drugs alone has done incalculable harm to black families while resulting in little tangible good for our nation. We’ve sunk billions of dollar and barely put a dent in supply while doing little to address demand. Police have been sent into black neighborhoods to arrest unarmed teens and young men possessing marijuana, essentially branding them as criminals for life. We’ve outsourced jails to private corporations whose revenue streams are contingent upon the number of people jailed, which is a terrible idea when the goal should be spending less tax dollars (and all trailing costs to individuals and society) on incarceration. We have the highest incarceration rate in the world, 25% of the world’s prison population, and blacks are disproportionally represented. This is a national crisis, our roads and infrastructure are crumbling, we spend $39B a year on incarceration, but, you know, Benghazi.
Whites in Utah and elsewhere have no reason I’m aware of to suspect longstanding institutional bias by police and the criminal justice system against them.
@retire05:
Am I surprised your solution for mitigating the longstanding effects of institutional racism is more racism? Not really.
@Aqua:
Well, given the snide tone of the author of this post regarding his comments and the disappointed reaction of many on the left that he’s being too measured and moderate, I think you’re on an island there.
Here’s a take you might find interesting, if you can stomach it. Yes, I admit I’m partially trolling R
acistetire5 here because of her professed love of the author, but you might at least find it interesting to see a reaction from someone pretty far to the left on this issue. I encourage you to check out the entire essay and share your reaction, but here is one portion relevant to Obama.Barack Obama, Ferguson, and the Evidence of Things Unsaid
@Tom:
I’ll give you one thing, Tom; you have all the left wing jargon down pat.
The blacks seem to not want the police in their neighborhoods. The police don’t feel respected for the jobs they do trying to keep black residents safe from mainly other blacks. Emanuel Cleaver, a long ago civil rights leader, calls the police “an army in an occupied territory.”
Maybe you like working for people that treat you like shit, but I don’t, and wouldn’t. Why should the police put their lives on the line for those who disrespect them? Maybe you think the police have a duty to protect cretins, but the SCOTUS would argue that point, and have, and have determined the police have no responsibility to you, or anyone else.
So here is another suggestion; assign only black cops to black neighborhoods. And if there are not enough cops because blacks don’t apply to police academies, oh well, guess the crime will just rise and the blacks will have to tolerate it since they object to white cops.
@retire05:
Things Retire5 enlightened me on (I guess i should start a list):
1. I didn’t realize American citizens weren’t allowed to complain about government employees and had no redress other than “take it or leave it”. Someone should send a memo to Dr John. Obama’s life just got a lot easier.
2) I didn’t realize Emanuel Cleaver speaks for all blacks in Ferguson and elsewhere.
3) Related to #2, I didn’t realize Black America was a monolithic degenerate hoard who all act the exact same way and believe the exact same things, based upon whatever anecdotal evidence Retire cares to dig up and present.
@Tom:
There is lot you need to be enlightened on. My guess is that you don’t want to be as you have an opinion, and a hatred for whites, that seems cast in stone.
People have a legitimate right to complaint. They don’t have a legitimate right to demand the police protect them, as ruled by the SCOTUS in 2005.
Emanual Cleaver was born in Missouri and now represents Missouri in the U.S. House of Representatives. He doesn’t speak for ALL blacks in Ferguson, but seems to represent those who have no respect for the law.
Black America is not monolithic, any more than white are monolithic, or Hispanics/Asians are monolithic. But take a look at all the protests happening all across the nation and who is starting them and what are they about?
So I guess you didn’t like my idea of putting only black officers in black neighborhoods? Isn’t that what you want? Total segregation so you can whine about how evil white people are like your stupid article from The Atlantic written by a far left wing professor from California who obviously knows nothing about St. Louis County.
@Tom:
I don’t think that’s entirely true. People on opposite sides, be it liberal or conservative, black or white, form their identities (if you will) based on their life experiences. These experiences form biases and then we start with confirmation bias. Instead of writing about it, Benjamin Watson, a tight end for the Saints wrote this on Facebook. It went viral. And for good reason.
Tom,
It looks like you are willing to read.
Get your head around all this:
http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2014/11/us/ferguson-grand-jury-docs/index.html
If you read all that, and see all the nasty stuff the GJ could have leaked about Michael Brown, all the nasty stuff McCoullugh (sp?) could have said about him during the presser, all the nasty stuff the media, pouring over those transcripts could say about Michael Brown right now, and then you will understand that Michael Brown’s reputation has been saved by people on the law enforcement side, not vilified.
Michael Brown was a far worse person than we had known.
He should not be made into a ”poster boy” for a reform movement.
Find someone worthy, a Rosa Parks-level personage.
Unless police gunned down someone like her maybe this whole call for demonstrations is built on sand.
I AM SOOOOOO SICK OF THE RACIAL CARD AND THE PROTEST WITH THIS TRAGIC INSIDINT!!!! Really, for anyone to think that it’s ok for themselves, children or loved ones to just rob a store, therefor having the police which aren’t always right kill them bc the reckless, high individual did assault the police man in his car. The documents the Grand Jury reviewed and found the officER not guilty are now public records!!!! Come on now, ignorance at its finest with all of the protest and viloence bc people don’t know their facts!!!! Seriously, I don’t give a DAMN if he wasn’t armed the minute he put his hands on the officer and refused to stop, hands up but decided to run, that is a threat not only to the officer but innocent pedestrians!!! Come on people a criminal that is breaking the law and a cop has no idea if they are armed but knows they’ve assaulted an officer has no other option but shoot, I don’t give a DAMN how many shots were fired the point is quit giving people a get out of jail free card, ESPECIALLY OVER SKIN COLOR!!! That’s ignorance at it’s finest my people!!!! God Bless you all that enables criminals!!
@Ronald+J.+Ward:
I’m interested in seeing a link that states fingerprints were wiped from the gun. That makes absolutely no sense to me whatsoever. You might disagree, but I think Wilson’s fingerprints are expected to be on the gun. I’d like to understand the mental calculus behind wiping Brown’s fingerprints from the weapon.
What is a matter of fact is that Brown’s blood was found on the weapon, on and inside the cruiser and on Wilson’s uniform. Wilson did suffer injuries. Brown had GSR on the his hand. The weapon was discharged in the cruiser.
@Ronald+J.+Ward:
It is not a mindset that he deserved to die because he wouldn’t get off the street. The reason he was killed was not for being in the street. It was for trying to take an officer’s gun and then assaulting that officer when he failed to take his weapon.
Now, the point everyone is trying to make with the street is that if he had listened to the officer who had given him a lawful order and moved to the sidewalk, the incident would never have escalated. He would still be alive. He didn’t die because he wouldn’t get off the street. He died because he acted a fool and went for an officer’s gun.
Now then, before you call me a racist conservative who wants Jim Crow back, I’m a Democrat with an African American adopted brother who I love dearly. I do not look at race when I look at a person. I look at character. And Michael Brown’s character got him killed.
@Ronald+J.+Ward: A thug is someone who does not obey the laws and/or believes the laws do not apply to him/her. It has nothing to do with race or skin color ecept people like you make it so!
@Ronald+J.+Ward: 77
I suppose you’re referring to the oft quoted, “a prosecutor can get an indictment of a ham sandwich, if he wants to”. The problem with doing that, of course, is then the prosecutor has to go into court in front of a jury and present his case against that ham sandwich and convince a jury beyond a reasonable doubt. The ham sandwich would have it’s own attorney, and I doubt that proving that a ham sandwich committed a crime would be an easy case. So while that DA probably could have gotten an indictment, I suspect he has a normal desire to like to ‘be right’ and be able to win a case. He saw that this case had no chance of success and presented the actual facts to the GJ and let them make the correct decision. Politics were not involved.
Michael Brown was a delinquent punk that was only stealing a bunch of cigarillos so he could smoke with his midget buddy who served as a lookout and a lying witness. Fortunately, the surveillance video showed the thugs stealing the items forcibly from the Indian stationary store owner. It’s pathetic how corporate mainstream media (CMM) exacerbated the whole issue by descending upon Ferguson and inviting the riots and burning of buildings. On two occasions. To make this delinquent neanderthal a martyr of sorts is despicable on the part of liberal corporate mainstream media and CMM in general, including Fox News. The real black American martyr we should be mourning over is Eric Garner in Staten Island, NYC. Period. Next topic. Btw, this country is going down the toilet because of the “divide and conquer” methods of the two-party “democracy” and the sycophantic and spineless sheep who want their votes “to count” each time they participate in these bogus two-party elections. What a disgrace. Communism is coming to the US by 2050. Keep shopping at Walmart and abstaining from voting or voting for Democrats and Republicans. See what happens. I’ll be right, and you’ll be wrong.
@Proud American Two-Party Fascist:
What’s your alternative? Dollar General, Family Dollar?
This is probably one of the stupidest things ever. HE WASNT SHOT BECAUSE HE WAS BLACK! I LIVED IN CALIFORNIA FOR 13 YEARS AND NOONE WAS EVER SHOT BECUASE THEY WERE BLACK! OBAMA IS BEING A LITTLE BABY ABOUT THIS. JUST BECAUSE HE IS BLACK DOESNT MEAN EVERYONE WAS OUT FOR HIS BLOOD. MAYBE IF THIS KID HADNT ASSAULTED THE DAMN POLICE OFFICER HE WOULD STILL HAVE HIS LIFE. AND TO ALL YOU IDIOTS BURNING YOUR OWN CITY DOWN I MISSOURI: YOU GUYS ARE IDIOTS!!!!