Fear and Frustration in Ferguson

The events in Ferguson Missouri over the past week are disturbing to everyone.  There is outrage and protest and anger on all sides.  And yet, I think this may be a case where (almost) everyone is right.
The facts are coming out in bits and pieces and there are likely more surprises to come.  There is a lot of speculation and misinformation and outright mistrust on all sides.  Michael Brown, a young black man, was shot dead by a Ferguson police officer.  He was unarmed and was shot multiple times.  His dead body lay in the street for several hours, uncovered, while police investigated.

We do not know the exact circumstances of the shooting.  It appears Michael was involved in taking some cigars from a convenience store without paying for them just minutes before the shooting.  He shoved the store owner, making it technically a “strong-arm robbery”, although there was no weapon involved.  The store owner called police and a bulletin was issued.

A few minutes later Officer Darren Wilson encountered the boys walking in the middle of the street.  He supposedly approached them for blocking traffic. Details of what happened next are being investigated by the St. Louis County police.  There was an altercation at or in the police car.  The officer was injured and a shot was fired.  Michael ran away and was shot and then according to reports was shot again while his hands were raised in the air.  All of that is speculative.  Again, we don’t really know at this point.

This incident did not occur in a vacuum.  Several incidents of young black men dying at the hands of police have occurred in the past few weeks, including one in New York City where a young man could not breathe and died while police held him down.  Residents of Ferguson and elsewhere claim young black men are regularly harassed by police officers.
The anger and protest over the death of Michael Brown morphed into riots and then looting and burning of Ferguson businesses.  Opportunistic thugs joined in, stealing and vandalizing and destroying property that was not theirs.  These actions have been universally condemned.

Protests and rioting and violence continued over the next couple of days until the police brought in heavy military vehicles and weaponry and gear and even jailed members of the media and local officials.  This crackdown was followed by a softer approach and a takeover of operations by the State Highway Patrol, the face of whom was a black officer from the area.

The Governor and President finally weighed in, with Barack Obama graciously taking a few moments from his latest vacation to call for an end to the violence and Governor Nixon giving up his State Fair time to come to St. Louis.  A local Missouri State Senator took to Twitter to drop an F-Bomb on the governor.  This is not political, as both are Democrats.  There has been public tension between the state and local police and between the governor and county prosecutor.

And the animosity is not confined to the left.  Rand Paul and others have condemned the heavy handed militarization of the police, which has not been well received by the more law-and order conservatives.  In many ways this issue has made more clear the lines between different parts of the Republican Party, between the libertarians and the conservatives.

Nobody wanted Michael Brown to die.  Nobody condones looting or vandalism.  Everyone agrees that the people have a right to peacefully protest.  Nobody condones racism.  And there is broad agreement that IF the officer acted inappropriately he needs to be prosecuted and punished.  We would all like for the local police department to look more like the population they serve, but nobody is seeking to punish innocent police officers who are just doing their job the very best they can.

Clearly, this is about much more than the death of one young man.  Local schools in Ferguson are failing and students have been bussed to other areas of the county.  Unemployment is much higher than average in the region, especially among young black males.  Crime is an issue in Ferguson and north St. Louis County.  The anger and frustration evident in these protests was ignited by this shooting but certainly did not originate there.

When I grew up in the 1960’s in west St. Louis County, Ferguson was mostly white.  Now the city is nearly 70% black, while the police department remains mostly white.   There was a distinct “white flight” from north St. Louis County.  I know a number of folks who moved away from that area, and they did not want to move away from the area where they grew up.  They moved because crime was increasing and the schools were deteriorating.  These are good people, not racists.  But they were no longer comfortable living in the area where they were born and raised.

Is there racism in America?  Yes, there is.  There is racism and bigotry in people of all colors and ages and political parties.  Sometimes it is overt and sometimes it is no more than a vague deep-seating feeling of unease.  It has been interesting watching people post comments on social media this past week.  People often do not even realize the inherent bias in the words they post.  When police released the name of the officer involved in the shooting there was a rush to determine the officer’s race.  Does it matter?  The use of pronouns speaks volumes, with words like “they” and “we” and “those people”.

There has been a rush to paint Michael Brown as a criminal and a thug.  Likewise, there was a rush to paint him as an innocent angel.  The truth, as usual, is probably in between the extremes.  And in the end, his history is meaningless.  What matters is what happened that afternoon between Michael Brown and Officer Wilson.  And we do not yet know what that truth is.
The people of Ferguson deserve better than a high crime rate and failing schools and high unemployment.  They have a right to be frustrated with that environment.  But in the end it is up to the people of Ferguson to fix that.  They must stop calling for Washington and Jefferson City to come fix things.  Instead, they need to go take control of their city council and school board and work to change their city into what it should be.

For some of the good people of Ferguson that is what this is all about.  They are protesting the conditions in their city and they are “mad as hell and not going to take this anymore”.  They are appalled that one of their own may have been gunned down execution style by a police officer.  Many of them were equally appalled by the looting and violence that occurred in the aftermath.  They are concerned that their children are being profiled by race.  These good people are correct, and they need to be supported.

If you step into another pair of shoes and imagine you are a police officer in this city, you can probably understand the fear you may feel each day when you go to work.  Police officers everywhere have a difficult and dangerous job, but it is obviously more difficult in higher crime areas.  Each stop, each contact with citizens or suspects, is a potentially violent encounter.  When you add the frenzy involved with the riots and violence in the last week you can understand why there was an effort to protect officers with “militarized” gear.  They were shot at and had bricks and Molotov cocktails thrown at them.

I have spoken to an officer friend of mine who was involved with trying to hire more black officers in this area and he says a very concerted effort was made to do so.  To be a police officer you have to live in the area and have a clean record and no tattoos and pass the academy and mostly you have to want the job.  Apparently the number of people meeting all of these criteria was very low.

The decision to use a heavy handed approach with tear gas and SWAT teams and arresting city councilmen and members of the media was not well-advised.  There is a delicate balancing act between protecting citizens and property and police officers and curtailing liberties.  In hindsight, they stepped over a line they should never have crossed.  My more conservative friends may disagree but the police are not there to “control” the population.  They have a responsibility to protect citizens but the US Constitution puts limits on what they can and cannot do.  Interfering with freedom of speech or of the press or to peaceably assemble is not acceptable.

The specific case of Michael Brown will be reconciled soon enough, one way or another.  The investigation is going to be as thorough as possible and will run its course through the legal system.  Sooner or later the media will lose interest and turn their focus on other things.  The governor and Al Sharpton will go home and the people of Ferguson will be left to fix their community.  Lloyd Sloan always says that pointing out the problems without suggesting a solution is not particularly helpful.

I will not be suggesting new legislation or government programs.  I will not suggest throwing more money at the problem.  The issues in this community are local and so are the solutions.  The people of Ferguson need to look inside their homes and neighborhoods and schools and as individuals fix the things that are wrong.  Parents need to pay attention to raising their kids and getting them a good education.  Fathers need to be involved with their children.  Every meeting of the school board or city council needs to be filled to overflowing.  Church services need to be full.  Neighbors need to get to know one another and get out and informally patrol their own streets.

The police need to work to get to know the citizens and vice versa.  They need to do more than confront the thugs and criminals; they need to build relationships with the good people in the community.  Imagine how this may have turned out differently if Officer Wilson had been able to say “Hey Michael, you need to get to the side of the road before you get hurt”.

How easy it is for an old white man to spout simple solutions from the safety of his suburban home.  Simple, yes; easy, no.  But until people realize that they are responsible for themselves we will continue to have these issues.  Nobody can educate these kids except the kids and parents and teachers.  The values and perspective that lead to success come from our families and neighbors and community. We cannot legislate character from Washington.

The youth in these troubled areas have lost trust in the police and schools and government.  One step toward repairing that trust is for them to get involved in the political process.  Only 25% of Missourians voted in the recent primary election and the number is probably much lower among the youth in Ferguson.  They need to feel represented, at the very least in their own city.  Unfortunately the rhetoric of folks like Sharpton convinces them they are nothing more than victims and the only problem is that they are not getting enough handed to them from government.

In the end, it is up to the community to fix these problems.  It is up to parents and teachers and mayors and pastors and policemen.  It will not happen overnight and it will not be easy.  But you will not hear any of that from Al Sharpton.