Racism: The Situation in Ferguson

          I'm sure most of us are aware of the situation in Ferguson, Missouri at the moment. If you aren't, here's a summary of things: On August 9th, Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old was shot and killed by a white police officer named Darren Wilson. You would not believe the reactions that happened in the aftermath. I don't think anyone really expected such a reaction from the people of Ferguson, because you know, black people have been getting killed daily and racism is simply accepted as a normal thing nowadays (incredible, isn't it?). Obviously, racism is the primary factor in this situation, there's no doubt about that. Just yesterday did we find out that Darren Wilson has not (and probably will not) be charged with murder. Because he's white. "Welcome to America where a woman who aborts a fetus is considered a murderer but a white man who shoots an unarmed black child isn't."

          Let's review the correct facts about this situation and why it is completely unfair and based on racial bias. First of all, Michael was only walking with a friend when Darren Wilson stopped him from his police car. I honestly don't understand what huge crime walking is, but it must be pretty big if a police officer had to stop you for that. Second of all, Mike had his hands up and was still shot 6 times. (It's universally known that when someone has their hands up, it means they surrender, but I guess Wilson didn't get the memo?) You may not know this but, an officer is trained to shoot a person committing a crime, 1-2 times and only on the limbs, not the body or head or anything else. And this happens when the criminal is suspected of carrying a weapon. Michael Brown was unarmed and shot in the head. He was also killed 148 feet away from Wilson's SUV; police lied about him being killed 35 feet away from the vehicle. What's even worse is that his body was laying there for 4+ hours. Dispatch only learned about his death through the news and media; no one called. Isn't that horrible? And to top that off, they picked up his body in a police SUV. Not even an ambulance. Well, after knowing this, of course many people were mourning, upset, and infuriated. So you know what the people did? They started to peacefully protest; all they were asking for was justice.
       
          Despite the way the police described it, the protests were peaceful, believe me. Search up any video on the protests and you will see people chanting ("Hands up, don't shoot!") and some sitting down on the grass holding up signs. It's just like any normal, legal, peaceful protest. What made it seem like a "riot" was the police. They went completely overboard. They dressed in riot gear, fired tear gas at the protesters, used rubber bullets, and even brought in military vehicles. They were also given military equipment that they were not trained to use as regular police officers. What were they planning to do with that equipment; that they don't even know how to use? Also, did you know that the state senator was there, sitting on the grass, peacefully protesting? Yeah, they fired tear gas at her as well. The police only made matters worse.

          Now, onto Darren Wilson himself. He wasn't charged with murder. He killed someone for no good reason and the fact that he wasn't charged, infuriates me. How many times do people have to die to see that shooting someone is a crime? With the grand jury yesterday, I think Wilson had horrible testimonies. They were all just plain stupid and he mostly just lied and insulted Michael Brown. According to 'State of Missouri v. Darren Wilson, Grand Jury Volume V, (page 225)' Wilson says, "The only way I can describe it, it looks like a demon, that's how angry he looked. He comes back towards me again with his hands up. At that point I just went like this, I tried to pull the trigger again, click, nothing happened." Darren Wilson describes Michael Brown as an "it" and a "demon." If that doesn't say anything to you about Wilson, there must be something wrong. You could look up the Grand Jury Volume yourself. One more thing I should mention, the KKK (Ku Klux Klan) sided with Darren Wilson and so did Neo-nazis. Meanwhile, civil rights activists and holocaust survivors sided with Michael Brown. Who did the justice system side with? Darren Wilson.

          I could go on and on about Michael Brown's shooting and all the racist and stupid things Darren Wilson has said and all the stupid things people say to defend him and what ignorant white people's reactions were to all of this, but I'd rather not go on. So, in conclusion, I think the whole situation is unfair and unjust; Darren needs to be charged with murder. He needs to pay the consequences of what he's done. They can't just let him go because he's white. Situations in where a white authority figure kill unarmed black people have been happening way too much, too often. This shouldn't even be happening at all! None of this should have ever happened. This is 2014, not the 1860s when white people were lynching black people even after the Emancipation Proclamation because they wanted to hold onto their "superiority" and "power" over people of color.  Justice hasn't been served.

*This is from my Social Action Packet. Written on November 25th, 2014*