Ferguson Decision: Benjamin Watson's Two Cents

Benjamin Watson plays professional football for the New Orleans Saints and, just before game-time last week, the decision not to indict Darren Wilson for the death of Michael Brown came down. Like many of us, Watson was confused, angry, hurt, sad, pissed off, but took a moment to write his feelings down in a Facebook post that went viral.

Here they are:

 “At some point while I was playing or preparing to play Monday Night Football, the news broke about the Ferguson Decision. After trying to figure out how I felt, I decided to write it down. Here are my thoughts:

I’M ANGRY because the stories of injustice that have been passed down for generations seem to be continuing before our very eyes.

I’M FRUSTRATED, because pop culture, music and movies glorify these types of police citizen altercations and promote an invincible attitude that continues to get young men killed in real life, away from safety movie sets and music studios.

I’M FEARFUL because in the back of my mind I know that although I’m a law abiding citizen I could still be looked upon as a “threat” to those who don’t know me. So I will continue to have to go the extra mile to earn the benefit of the doubt.

I’M EMBARRASSED because the looting, violent protests, and law breaking only confirm, and in the minds of many, validate, the stereotypes and thus the inferior treatment.

I’M SAD, because another young life was lost from his family, the racial divide has widened, a community is in shambles, accusations, insensitivity hurt and hatred are boiling over, and we may never know the truth about what happened that day.

I’M SYMPATHETIC, because I wasn’t there so I don’t know exactly what happened. Maybe Darren Wilson acted within his rights and duty as an officer of the law and killed Michael Brown in self defense like any of us would in the circumstance. Now he has to fear the backlash against himself and his loved ones when he was only doing his job. What a horrible thing to endure. OR maybe he provoked Michael and ignited the series of events that led to him eventually murdering the young man to prove a point.

I’M OFFENDED, because of the insulting comments I’ve seen that are not only insensitive but dismissive to the painful experiences of others.

I’M CONFUSED, because I don’t know why it’s so hard to obey a policeman. You will not win!!! And I don’t know why some policeman abuse their power. Power is a responsibility, not a weapon to brandish and lord over the populace.

I’M INTROSPECTIVE, because sometimes I want to take “our” side without looking at the facts in situations like these. Sometimes I feel like it’s us against them. Sometimes I’m just as prejudiced as people I point fingers at. And that’s not right. How can I look at white skin and make assumptions but not want assumptions made about me? That’s not right.

I’M HOPELESS, because I’ve lived long enough to expect things like this to continue to happen. I’m not surprised and at some point my little children are going to inherit the weight of being a minority and all that it entails.

I’M HOPEFUL, because I know that while we still have race issues in America, we enjoy a much different normal than those of our parents and grandparents. I see it in my personal relationships with teammates, friends and mentors. And it’s a beautiful thing.

I’M ENCOURAGED, because ultimately the problem is not a SKIN problem, it is a SIN problem. SIN is the reason we rebel against authority. SIN is the reason we abuse our authority. SIN is the reason we are racist, prejudiced and lie to cover for our own. SIN is the reason we riot, loot and burn. BUT I’M ENCOURAGED because God has provided a solution for sin through his son Jesus and with it, a transformed heart and mind. One that’s capable of looking past the outward and seeing what’s truly important in every human being. The cure for the Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice and Eric Garner tragedies is not education or exposure. It’s the Gospel. So, finally, I’M ENCOURAGED because the Gospel gives mankind hope.”

Words to live by, to grow by, to understand, and to try and do better.

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Black Lives Matter

I am not a black man in America.

I am just a man in America who's tired of seeing black men gunned down in the streets because they were "in the wrong place at the wrong time" or they were 'walking while black."

I am tired of seeing people, and dare I say it, mostly white people shrug when they hear the news. When you shrug at the news that means you find it acceptable; it isn’t. Stop shrugging.

I am tired of The Conversation because every time this happens we have The Conversation and then we go right back to talking about the latest Kim Kardastrophe — that is NOT a misspelling — or whatever piece of fluff passes for news that day. Not having The Conversation is the same as shrugging; nothing is accomplished, nothing changes. Nothing is said until the next black man lies dead in the street.

It's time we stopped killing people in the streets, mostly black men, whether they be innocent or guilty. It's time to stop assuming that because a man is black he is automatically a threat, automatically guilty, automatically dead.

We cannot keep letting this happen, and keep talking about it, and then do nothing to stop it. That’s insane.

Racism is a problem in this country, even though we — well, some of us — pat ourselves on the back for electing a black president. We’ve seen how that’s played out over the last six years.

All I can think about is that if Michael Brown was a young white man shot by a black police officer, we’d be having a whole different reaction to this story.

That's not America, and that's not right.

Have the conversation. Do something. Black lives matter.

Sunday Funnies

Mike Weston: Another Police Officer Not Helping In Ferguson

Mike Weston is a sergeant on the Velda City police force, and like Dan Page — see post from earlier today — he, too, was sent to Ferguson, Missouri to keep the peace and maintain order after Darren Wilson murdered Michael Brown.

He, too, is blight on the police force. And he, too, took to social media to voice his own personal brand of racism, bigotry and stupidity — which is his right, I guess. He complained that the “libs” were lying about what happened in Ferguson; he insulted Missouri Highway Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson's approach to community policing; and, for a grand finale, he threatened to physically assault visiting U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

After a group of people in Ferguson were gassed in their own backyards, Weston took to Twitter to explain that it was because gunshots had been fired from that location. The only problem with his fable, was that a news reporter was in the yard where the people were gassed and the entire incident — with no gunshots being fired anywhere, at all — was caught on tape.

So, Mike Weston lied. And then he tried to walk it back, admitting that he wasn’t even in the area at the time:

"I wasn't spreading misinformation. There were shots being fired some yards, maybe not this particular one."

I guess it’s okay to gas one yard, if you hear gunshots coming from another yard?

Weston also made a point of slamming Missouri Highway Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson, calling Johnson’s interactions with protestors — walking with them to keep the peace — a kind of "Hug a Thug" celebration. He then Tweeted this picture of Johnson, accusing him of reverse racism:

He  also took it upon himself to Tweet photos of Mike Brown, the teenager shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson, participating in a strong arm robbery:

Mike Weston's "opinion" of the Michael brown's autopsy:

But he outdid himself with his tweet about Attorney General's visit to Ferguson when he said he wanted to meet Holder to, well, here it is:

Weston has since deleted his Twitter account because he’s a lying, racist asshat … IMO.

Here’s the deal: Michael Brown may have been involved in a robbery, and he may not have been involved; we’ll never know because he was gunned down, unarmed, in the street.

But, what we do know is that several police officers involved in Ferguson, both before and after the shooting — Darren Wilson, Dan Page, and Mike Weston — seem to have issues with the black community.

This is not who should be policing us. If your job is to protect and serve, then protect and serve. Keep your own personal politics and racist viewpoints out of it, and if you cannot do that, then people like these three men should have never been allowed to become law enforcement officers; and, if they somehow slipped through the cracks, as soon as they’ve shown their true selves, they should be removed from duty; permanently.

This is not what police officers should be doing.

via NCRM

Weston Tweets via RFT

Black People Are Registering To Vote In Ferguson and The GOP Calls It 'Disgusting'

Is it any wonder why Michael Brown was murdered in Ferguson?

I mean, the population is mostly black, but the mayor is white, as are five of the six city council members; and apparently only three of the 53 Ferguson police officers are black.

It’s quite clear the black community in Ferguson is underrepresented in both city government and on the police force. And there is an effort, in the wake of Brown’s murder, to change that; Ferguson has a 12% voter participation rate.

There is a massive drive to register black voters in Ferguson and not everyone is happy about that because, as Matt Wills, the Executive Director of the Missouri Republican Party seems to suggest, blacks vote for Democrats and whites vote for Republicans.

In an interview with Breitbart News, Wills seems really poised off about the voter registration booths popping up in Ferguson:

“If that’s not fanning the political flames, I don’t know what is. I think it’s not only disgusting but completely inappropriate.”

No, Wills, it’s actually trying to make sure that the black community is not only represented in government, but that the black community has a voice and is heard, especially in a place where they are the majority being governed and policed by the minority. But then Will calls the murder of Michael Brown a tragedy for everyone:

“This is not just a tragedy for the African American community this is a tragedy for the Missouri community as well as the community of what we call America. Injecting race into this conversation and into this tragedy, not only is not helpful, but it doesn’t help a continued conversation of justice and peace.”

It’s a tragedy for the Brown family; it’s a disgrace for this country, because, once again, we have a young black, unarmed man being gunned down in the street for no apparent reason except for being on the street and being black.

And trying to get the black community involved in politics, represented in government, represented on the police force, giving them a voice in their own community is the best thing the people of Ferguson can do in the memory of Michael Brown.

And it’s telling how afraid this makes the GOP.

via NCRM

Ferguson: My Two Cents

I normally have a great deal of respect for the police; those men and women who risk their lives each and every day to “protect and serve.” But I also know that, like in almost every area of society, there are the good cops and the bad cops. There are cops who are over-zealous; cops who profile; cops who target.

And I know that, in some cases, and probably far too many that I’d care to think about, the police act and react differently to a situation based on the area, the community, and the color of the skin involved.

I am quite certain that, were a police officer to point his gun at me and I were to raise my hands — in that universal symbol of surrender and proof that I do not have a weapon — I’d live another day.

Not so Michael Brown of Ferguson, Missouri.

Sure, a lot’s been said, and then unsaid, about this situation. There are stories, he said and she said and they said, and who said, from all sides, but the fact remains that another young Black men is dead in what seems almost like an epidemic in this country.

Are Black men not allowed to wear hoodies? Are they always suspect? And when they surrender are they always shot?

It appears so. Sadly, and that’s the real issue.

The police in Ferguson were out of control that night, that's clear, and they continued running unchecked for the first few nights that followed; they did things they would possibly never do to a white man in a white suburb; that’s clear. You may not believe it, but you’d be wrong, because, try as I might, I don’t recall a lot of stories where white kids are shot and killed for carrying Skittles and wearing hoodies, and I don’t see a lot of newspaper reports of young white men surrendering and being shot and killed.

I just don’t see it.

And while people can say the police in Ferguson were just doing their job — serving and protecting — it seems quite clear, by any number of witnesses, that Michael Brown, an eighteen-year-old Black man, was murdered on the street.

Sure, there was some kind of kerfuffle between Brown and Darren Wilson, the cop who shot him, but it appears the facts — given by any number of witnesses — state that, while Brown was running away from police they continued shooting at him, and when he turned around, raised his arms in surrender, and to prove he had no weapon, he was murdered in the street.

And then left there. No call to 911; no call to report the shooting. A young man dead in the street and nothing happens ... no calls ... no reports.

Afterwards, the Black community — which accounts for the majority of the citizens of Ferguson — began rioting, and, yes, maybe some were looting. I have never understood how breaking into a store and stealing a TV shows my anger at police, or anyone other than the store owner, but that’s just me. What happened next, however, was surreal...

The local police, of St. Louis, reacted as though this were some terrorist attack and began firing rubber bullets and tear gas even into crowds that had peacefully gathered together to protest Brown’s death. Again I can’t see this happened in a white community; I cannot see police, in riot gear, firing recklessly into a crowd of white citizens who are marching in protest; I cannot see police in riot gear, assault weapons, and assault vehicles, rolling through a white community to “keep the peace.”

Finally, after several days of unrest, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon stepped in and took the local police out of the equation — possibly thinking they were too close to the situation since it was one of their own that shot and killed Michael Brown — and placed the state highway patrol in charge of the situation.

The next night it was quiet in Ferguson.

But people are still thinking about why this happened, and how this happened, and why it happens again and again around this country. If Michael Brown was doing something stupid, even something illegal, even something to provoke a cop into shooting him, you cannot argue that what happened to Michael Brown had nothing to do with his skin color.

I know for a fact that had it been me, or any other white man on the street that night, in any town in America, and I had turned toward police officers, my hands in the air, I would still be alive today.

Not so for Michael Brown, and that’s the issue we need to discuss.

Sunday Not Funny ... Ferguson