Ferguson, Missouri and Misplaced Racial Anger

Watching the rioting in Ferguson, Missouri is a window on my world.  I lived in Florissant, a short walk across the highway from Ferguson.  I was an elementary school principal in the Normandy School District, where Michael Brown, the black teen killed by a white police officer, went to school. 

            Worst still, I know that the black neighbors who were part of my neighborhood, my children’s friends, guests in my home and, also, viewers of this calamity, feel wariness about both my reaction and their own.  That bothers me a great deal.  Friends should be able to be candid with each other.  

            There are really two issues here, and they need to be discussed discreetly.  First, there is the initial incident.  Michael Brown and a friend were walking down the middle of a street near an apartment complex.  A police office told the two men to move to the sidewalk.  A confrontation occurred and the officer shot Brown multiple times.  Brown died.  That is as much as we know of facts.  Everything else is conflicting stories. 

            Police have extraordinary powers and thus must be held to an extraordinary standard of behavior.  They must also face extraordinary punishment when they violate our trust.  Walking in the middle of the street is not a capital offense.  I also know that if the young men’s response to the police officer was, “Yes, sir.” and a prompt move to the sidewalk, I wouldn’t be writing this column. 

But there is a second issue which needs frank talk.  Here are some facts from the Justice Department.  Each year 7,000 blacks are murdered.  Ninety-four per cent of the time the murderer is another black person.  That is one-third the entire population of Ferguson.

            Black on black crime is the unspoken, unacknowledged and, thus, unsolved blight on black Americans.  Blacks make up 13 % of the population, but account for more than 50% of homicides, which is 6 times that of whites.  In some cities their homicide rate is 32 times that of whiles.  They are also disproportionately victimized by violent personal crimes—assault, rape, robbery.      Here are some quotes from well known black authorities:

Economist Walter Williams:   “A much larger issue is how might we interpret the deafening silence about the day-to-day murder in black communities compared with the national uproar over the killing of Trayvon Martin.  Such a response by politicians, civil rights organizations, and the mainstream media could easily be interpreted as blacks killing other blacks is of little concern, but it’s unacceptable for a white to kill a black person.”

Commentator Juan Williams: “Today’s black leaders sing like a choir when they raise their voices against police brutality and the increasing number of black people in jail…But any mention of black America’s responsibility for committing the crimes, big and small, that lead so many to prison is barely mumbled if mentioned at all.”

Here is an ugly fact.  When blacks kill blacks there are no riots.  When black children have their small bodies blown apart by bullets in gang inspired drive-by shootings the blacks do not loot, steal and burn their communities.  When black police officers are murdered by black eighteen year olds, Al Sharpton does not drag his press people to the community for photo-op pronouncements.  Are black lives only worth a response when killed by whites?  I refuse to believe that.  But I do believe that some members of the black community will use those deaths not to right a wrong, but as an excuse for selfish and self-serving actions. 

Look in the mirror, and keep the faith.