[NOTE: In light of the way so much news this weekend focused on preparations for, as well as flare ups in anticipation of, this decision, I’ve decided to reprise this commentary, which I originally published on Thursday, November 20, at 5:18 a.m.]
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Ferguson has become a theatre of the absurd – complete with the-sky-is-falling reporters doing more to fuel the protests than to cover them, while using selfie-camera angels to ensure that they are featured as much as the protesters. There’s no denying that these protests would burnout overnight if the media lights, which have been inflaming them like adding fuel to fire, were suddenly turned off.
And don’t get me started on the smattering of (White) professional protesters doing all they can to get arrested just to have another notch on their resume of civil disobedience.
(“Why Are They Still Protesting in Ferguson? And Who Are They?” The iPINIONS Journal, August 19, 2914)
Based on increasingly alarmist news reports, you’d think the whole country were sitting on a powder keg, waiting for a grand jury in Ferguson, Missouri, to deliver its decision on whether or not to prosecute White Officer Darren Wilson for killing Black teenager Michael Brown.
More to the point, those reports give the impression that protesters are not awaiting that decision so much as laying in wait to go on a riotous rampage the likes of which America has not seen since 1992. That, of course, was when Los Angeles erupted in race riots after an all-White jury acquitted four White officers of the brutal beating of Black Rodney King.
The problem, however, is that the media are not reporting news so much as stoking tensions to make rioting a self-fulfilling prophecy. Hell, if you didn’t know any better, you’d think rioting in the streets is now the generally accepted way to react to disappointing jury verdicts.
To be fair, though, just this week a few commentators began echoing the critique of the media I began sounding months ago – as my opening quote attests.
But nothing is more telling or damning in this context than the conspicuous failure of reporters covering Ferguson — like buzzards circling dying prey — to report that the grand jury could deliver a decision that Brown’s (predominantly Black) supporters would/should find wholly satisfactory. After all, I’m on record declaring my belief that Wilson should be prosecuted and that the grand jury will indict him accordingly.
Except that this would then require all of Brown’s restive supporters to find some other pretext to vent their pent-up and stoked-up rage. I fear they will — even if it means celebrating in the riotous way mindless sports fans routinely celebrate their team’s championship. And they need only look to the way fans in San Francisco celebrated last month after their team won the 2014 World Series: by setting fires, vandalizing cars, shattering windows of businesses with rocks, defiling the walls of others with graffiti, and launching Molotov cocktails at police trying to restore law and order.
Of course, if the media were providing fair and balanced coverage, they would’ve also reported that justice in this case might require the grand jury to decide that Wilson should not be prosecuted; especially if, as leaked evidence suggests, Brown assaulted him in a suicide-by-cop attempt to take away his gun. Likewise, apropos of what’s good for the goose being good for the gander, the media would’ve reported that deciding otherwise (i.e., that he should be prosecuted) could incite Wilson’s (predominantly White) supporters to take to the streets to vent their outrage.
Meanwhile, reporters, behaving as if rioting is devoutly to be wished, are surpassed in their anxiousness only by local politicians, behaving as if rioting is a fait accompli.
On Monday, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon (D) declared a state of emergency ahead of a grand jury decision that is currently determining whether to indict Ferguson officer Darren Wilson in the fatal shooting of unarmed, 18-year-old Michael Brown.
The action activated the use of the National Guard, which was met with widespread concern from community members who are on edge and fear police crackdown — similar to the outcome from initial protests that occurred immediately following Brown’s death.
[T]he National Guard has been ordered to assist local and state police to quell any potential violence that may result from the grand jury’s decision.
(The Huffington Post, November 18, 2014)
To be fair, though, given historical precedents, most notably the LA riots referenced above, one can hardly blame this governor for deploying additional reinforcements to quell any unrest.
For my part, I can only reiterate:
Those eulogizing Michael would’ve honored his death far more by admonishing young Black men against the deadly hazards of resisting arrest and defying authority … merely as a misguided badge of honor or rite of passage.
That said, let me end by clarifying, again, that, notwithstanding his robbery or other bad acts, the killing of Michael Brown, as alleged, was unjustified; and Officer Wilson should be prosecuted for use of excessive force. Because, no matter what a person does to resist arrest, a policeman cannot shoot to kill if that person relents and no longer poses any threat of bodily harm. Period.
(“Why Chastise the Times for Describing Michael Brown as ‘No Angel’”?! The iPINIONS Journal, August 26, 2014)
Of course, I appreciate that, just as news means nothing to reporters in Ferguson unless it heightens the suspense they’re manufacturing for riots, justice means nothing to protesters there unless it results in Wilson being arrested, prosecuted, convicted and imprisoned … for a very long time.
But, whatever the grand jury decision, it should not be used as an excuse to riot in the streets, which could only result in self-immolating destruction of businesses and public services the predominantly Black residents of Ferguson depend on for their daily sustenance. Not to mention the very likelihood that stoked-up confrontations with the police could easily result in more senseless loss of life.
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