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A call has gone out, for those who wish to quietly show their feelings, to wear black today. I don’t know that it will do any good, but for the first time ever I will be wearing all black to court. I don’t think that my client will mind.
There’s a horrible message hidden in here somewhere
I won’t name my friend who wrote this here to save him abuse by miscreants, but he’s a Harvard Law School educated African American man — a “person of bulk,” like me, but tall — with whom I worked as an attorney in Manhattan and who has had some success as a writer since then. Here was one thing he published on Facebook in the wake of the Ferguson verdict.
Here’s the difficulty: Basically, the safest thing for African-Americans is to be *afraid* of white people. *At least* as afraid as white people like Darren Wilson are of black people. Look at his testimony. He makes Brown sound like a meta-human. Wilson is 6 freaking 4, and says he felt like “a five year old wrestling the Hulk.” Are you freaking kidding me?
But, if you teach your kids to be “afraid” of white people, not only does it make every professional interaction they have more difficult, you also convince them to *fight back* against whites when they feel backed into a corner. Which is like the *last* thing they should do.
THERE IS LITERALLY NO WAY TO WIN. If you are so rationally afraid of white people, you might lash out against them. If you are not afraid of white people, you might confront them. EITHER OPTION could lead to your death… a death that will be JUSTIFIED in the eyes of the law.
Screw teenagers. I’m a 36 year old man with education falling out of my ass. And, *tomorrow* I could be put in a deathly situation by a white cop.
And America doesn’t give a s**t. She doesn’t give a s**t about my problems. She doesn’t give a s**t about protecting me. Fundamentally, she’s more concerned about somebody else. And I know this. And there’s nothing I can do about it.
It applies, in kind if not in intensity, to protesters as well. Don’t protest, and we’ve retreated into our variety of a totalitarian slave society, where one dare not speak truth to power.
Do protest, and you can be killed — unless you’re a white rancher in rural Nevada, or some other protected class.
Another friend came up with a great new operational definition of “white privilege”: if the Ferguson verdict primarily shocks and outrages you, rather than utterly terrifies you, you have the benefit of white privilege.
Our constitutional rights — including the right not to be summarily killed even after punching a cop who tried to roust you, if you get far enough away not to be a plausible threat, and even if you’re Black or Latino — seem like a cruel joke today, tasting of ashes.
Some combination of Occupy Orange County and Hands Up OC (I’m not even going to try to figure out exactly who) have called for a rally at 4 p.m. today in Plaza Square Park in Orange. Look for details, I suppose, on Facebook.
Diamond – “Our constitutional rights — including the right not to be summarily killed even after punching a cop who tried to roust you.”
Brown was not “rousted” – he had just finished a strong arm robbery. Wilson attempted to detain him for questioning in connection with that robbery – Brown knew he was going to be busted for that robbery.
Skally appears to be an authority on this subject. How’d you get so smart?
You should join Matt and I for an Old Fashioned soon Skally. We sit around laughing at and mocking these silly minorities that complain about the cops thinning the herd. It’s a real hoot.
You are completely, flat-out, wrong. Wilson had no knowledge of the earlier incident. He went after Brown and his friend for walking in the middle of the street.
You know, his grand jury testimony — how amazing to get to testify without facing cross-examination! — is now available online. Read it.
*Some people wonder why we so strongly support Police Chief Tom Jackson being fired or asked to resign. Some wonder why we demand that the City Manager and City Council Members also resign for their failed management of the situation. Now, some people are calling for the District Attorney to recuse himself from the process….even after the process. Let us bring a few things to your attention: Back after the first Rodney King uprising occurred in Los Angeles, a Black guy was stopped on the streets of Long Beach by a local Channel 11 news reporter. He asked: Why people were rioting? The answer was: “The biggest problem in the world can be solved when it’s small!”
In regards to the actions of Darren Wilson and his superiors: Let’s pretend the following is actually what happened: Wilson sees Brown and his buddy walking in the middle of a residential street. Being a jerk, he ORDERS them to walk on sidewalk. Brown who recently graduated from High School (which is rare in his neighborhood) responds with his own bad attitude in response. Wilson, order Brown to come over to the car. Wilson, not thinking Brown was a threat, reaches through the window and grabs Brown by the neck, and makes some other nasty comment. Brown immediately responds with a punch to get Wilson to release him. Wilson, grabs his gun and pulls it. Brown grabs Wilson’s hand. In the struggle, Brown hit Wilson again, Wilson pulls the trigger and shoots Brown. Brown attempts to run away, bleeding. Wilson, still in the car should have at that point removed himself and his patrol car from the area to call for back-up. His Supervisor at this point is directly responsible. Instead, Wilson was angry, jumps out of the car and starts firing madly. There was a total of 12 rounds fired at an unarmed assailant at this point. Wilson, did not follow Police procedure to call for back up. Wilson committed willful manslaughter because he didn’t call for back up. Brown was not a direct danger to Wilson. Wilson could have backed up his car at any time. He didn’t. In the after shooting interview with his Supervisors and others….someone called it a clean shooting. Those folks all need to be fired. The Chief evidently bought off on that report and should be fired as well. The District Attorney never has revealed the After Action shooting report to the Grand Jury or the Public and the Press. Why not? Those transcripts should be public record now that Wilson has been cleared by the Grand Jury. We would call for a Federal Investigation to collusion by the Ferguson PD, the District Attorney’s Office and the City Council. Meanwhile, the Mayor should step down and any members of the City Council that serve on the Police oversight committee should also be fired. The City of Ferguson should be sued by every city in the country that had property damage. The 82 members of the Ferguson PD should immediately resign and the County Sheriff’s should take over duties patrolling Ferguson. Saving that, lock down the city with the National Guard. Oh…..we forgot ….this is just a made up story of how this event happened in the first place. What did they say: “It could happen!”
That was really good, ‘Ships. You omitted that Brown allegedly also called Wilson a “pussy.” That’s a capital offense, of course, punishable by summary execution.
Let’s not pretend. Brown’s buddy would have seen any altercation such as you *imagine* might have occurred and been precipitated by the cop. He didn’t testify to anything like that. Let’s pretend that the ‘Ships have a clue.
Like we pretend you and I aren’t pricks.
*Boyz….all we are saying…is give Peas a chance. Actually Ben Crump came up with the best solution to inordinate gunning downs around the country. Every cop wears a body camera and every perp killed needs two officers at the scene…much like Kelly Thomas……get it? The days of the “throw down gun” are still with us too. Instant Replay for Cop killings is the least we can do to attempt to do better…..not perfect…..just better..at times!