Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Racial Landscape Likely To Change After Ferguson and Michael Brown

From Mashable

As one comes to grips with the death of a child, it helps, maybe just a little, to know changes will occur as a result.  Nothing takes the pain away, nothing justifies the loss.  It is tragic it has taken this event to change the history of a nation.  Michael Brown and the town of Ferguson, will go down in history along with other greats like Martin Luther King.





It isn't that Michael was a perfect child.  He had his problems and he was learning some tough lessons.  But no person who is unarmed deserves to face the destruction vented upon this 18 year old youth.

To start with, words like "Get the FUCK out of the street" is something a gang person might say.  An official from the government has a higher duty.  From the very first phrase spoken by officer Daren Wilson, an entire story can be told about how the nearly all white police department was handling the black residents of Ferguson who make up the majority of the population.


From Russia TV


I am a white guy.  When I heard about this tragic event, two thoughts went through my head.  First, "surely, this kind of Jim Crow attitude went by the wayside years ago."  Obviously it did not.  It makes me very ashamed to see racism is vibrant and in-your-face in the show me state.






Second, I thought, "Geez, if this is still going on, then it isn't the fault of the people who suffer this kind of treatment every day of their lives.  It is all of our faults, the one's who thought the treatment didn't exist."

It is the obligation of every white guy to support the Ferguson community and the parents who have lost so much.  It is the obligation of every American to support prompt and sure change of the power structure through the ballot box, through our voices, through donations, through our own efforts.  It is our duty to encourage peace and love in a community which has received hate and scorn for generations.


From Wall Street Journal


What I am getting, of course, is, "we don't need white help", a kind of reverse of the love I try to send.  You have to love those guys even more, because you know they are handing back what has been piled upon their shoulders since birth.

Trooper Ron Johnson pointed to his uniform and said to the people of Ferguson, "I am sorry."

I point to my white hide, and I turn to each of you, and I say, "I am sorry.  This should not have happened.  I will do what I can to help the Ferguson community in whatever direction they decide to go."

I am reminded of a famous poem, which I will write for you in two languages, the original, and the English translation:


Amo el canto del zenzontle,pájaro de cuatrocientas voces.Amo el color del jadey el enervante perfume de las flores,pero más amo a mi hermano: el hombre.





National Wildlife Federation Photo





LOVE, the song of the mockingbird,a bird of 400 voices;LOVE the color of Jadeand the lovely perfume of the flowers,but LOVE more, LOVE your brother, your fellow man.






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