Sad State of Affairs

Perhaps most telling of where we are with race relations today is my reticence in writing about such matters. Expressing your views or engaging in dialog with other races makes most of us uneasy. Basically I feel if I speak my peace I will alienate and anger someone out there. And that, in a nutshell, is why we're not going to ever get along. A lot of blacks or African Americans appear to feel that they are repressed, treated unequally and not allowed the opportunities afforded the rest of us. Regardless, we keep having these incidents and subsequent cries of protest. In almost every instance there are underlying and eerily similar circumstances. I AM NOT TAKING SIDES HERE! In New York and Ferguson, both suspects refused to obey the instructions/commands of the officers. Let me ask you, "Would you or I not do what an officer instructed us to do in the vast majority of instances?" At least one of the suspects had run afoul of the law, the suspect in New York at least thirty times. The suspect in Ferguson; clean record not withstanding, refused to obey the officers instructions/commands and even struggled with the officer. Unbeknownst to the officer in Ferguson, a person strikingly similar in appearance to the suspect was caught in a security video robbing a store just minutes before the fatal confrontation. Cigars gathered after the incident at the scene of the shooting were the same brand as those stolen earlier. I am not even going to begin to comment or argue about the justification for the use of deadly force. That despite the fact that I firmly believe that was not the intention of the officer in New York. I have often said that I could not be a police officer. Besides the fact that I wouldn't do the job for the pay, I also don't have the temperament needed. This is a tragic conundrum that we as a society need to address and work out. The police in Ferguson were faced with a difficult set of circumstances. You cannot allow folks to run amuck in the streets, no matter the perceived justification. As it turns out almost everyone agrees that the majority of the protesters are outsiders. And who else is seen at almost every one of these tragic incidents? In my opinion all Al Sharpton and his ilk do is ratchet up the tension and bring unneeded publicity to these incidents. Then the President thought it necessary to get involved. How ironic that we usually find him at the golf course or at a fundraiser when his leadership is sorely needed. It is telling that the temporary solution to the situation was to remove the local police from responsibility for the security and policing of Ferguson. Now the black saviour (why did he need to be black, by the way?) from the State Police has been shown incapable of mollifying the malcontents and the Governor has called in the National Guard. A telling video interview of one of the family of Michael Brown, showed an intelligent, knowledgeable man both embarrassed and out of patience with the rioters and looters. This while he helped cleanup the damage inflicted on a grocery store in Ferguson. Folks, this is not about race. This is about a small percentage of the population that continues to roil and foment an easily angered black community. Ne'er do wells looking for a place to spew their vitriol and opportunists looking for an easy score. And, I suppose, there are some socio and psycho paths that derive pleasure from being involved in social upheaval. As I have said before, very few of us aren't of mixed race. More than likely some of my dear readers have African American blood coursing through their veins. You think about that.