WHAT FERGUSON REALLY SAYS ABOUT AMERICA - 11/29/14
Bob Lonsberry
Lonsberry.com
Actually, relations between the police and my community are great.
The police enforce the laws, the community obeys the law, we get along fine. We speak to the police politely, we comply with their orders, we don�t have a problem.
It�s all good.
So, no Mr. President, there isn�t a national problem between the police and �the community,� at least not in most communities.
And, likewise, Ferguson is not about some great rift between the police and society. Ferguson is about a kid who did a strong-armed robbery of a store and then attacked a police officer.
Period.
It�s about a series of events started not by slavery or Jim Crow, but by one young man�s decision not to obey the law.
If there is a trend illustrated in the events which led to Michael Brown�s death in Ferguson, Missouri, it is black lawlessness, not police insensitivity.
Those words may seem harsh, but they happen to be true.
Even if the president, the attorney general and various big-city mayors can�t see it.
Because what we were reminded of last night is that many people who happen to be black have a prejudice against the police. It is a bigotry against a profession as immoral and baseless as bigotry against a skin color, religion or sexual orientation.
That is the only explanation for some of the reaction to the decision of the St. Louis County grand jury.
Instead of basing reaction on the facts as ascertained by the investigation and grand jury decision, some people came back to their pre-existing belief � that the police are racists who target blacks.
The mayor of Rochester, New York, posted on Facebook: �I know that many members of our community are upset about the decision today in Ferguson. I am too. As I was thinking about how to respond, I went back to how the situation started: With a young, unarmed black man and an authority figure who had little regard for this young man�s life.�
Her final sentence is pure fabrication.
It is found not in the testimony before the grand jury, but in the prejudice of her own mind.
Regard for life in this matter is something which seemed to be lacking on the part of the young man who ended up dead.
It was he, after all, who attacked the police officer in his car and started grappling for his gun. It was likewise he, after all, who turned and charged the officer after repeated commands to stop and show his hands.
And that led to his death.
It was not some lack of sensitivity training � which the president said Sunday afflicts all of America law enforcement. It was not some racist attitude of the police. It was the lack of civil and legal deportment by the young man in question.
And that arose at least in part, it seems logical to surmise, from this young man�s upbringing in a stew of anti-police prejudice.
When the president and the pretend reverends from near and far lambaste the police, reinforcing folklore and fairy tale about a war on young black men, they encourage enmity with police, and antagonism toward them.
The kind of enmity that leads a young man to reach inside a police cruiser and begin pummeling a cop.
That�s the cancer that needs to be rooted out.
It�s not that the police don�t know how to respect minority communities, it�s that minority communities don�t know how to respect themselves � or anybody else.
And the palpable hatred of police leads to actions that endanger police and civilians alike.
And to bad policies, and bad policy positions by public officials.
Like the president, who said on national television on Sunday � the day before the Ferguson verdict � that more training for police on how to be sensitive to minority concerns would over time lead to building trust between police and �the community.�
Translation: Police are poorly trained and insensitive, that�s why there is distrust.
That�s what the president of the United States thinks and said.
And in so doing backstabbed all the cops in this country.
And perpetuated a lie.
Because the problems between the police and �the community� � I think that�s code for �black people� � are not the fault of police training or attitude, they are the result of a bigoted, prejudice-based attitude among the community toward police.
And the cops can�t fix that.
And elected officials shouldn�t perpetuate it.
Because it is morally wrong.
This vilification of police is immoral, dishonest and destructive of society. Nowhere is that more evident than in the reaction to Ferguson.
A young man initiated a violent attack against a police officer. He grappled for the officer�s gun. He charged the officer and refused to show his hands.
And he died for it.
It�s a tragedy.
But the truth is clear.
He deserved what he got.
No matter what color he was.
Lonsberry.com
Actually, relations between the police and my community are great.
The police enforce the laws, the community obeys the law, we get along fine. We speak to the police politely, we comply with their orders, we don�t have a problem.
It�s all good.
So, no Mr. President, there isn�t a national problem between the police and �the community,� at least not in most communities.
And, likewise, Ferguson is not about some great rift between the police and society. Ferguson is about a kid who did a strong-armed robbery of a store and then attacked a police officer.
Period.
It�s about a series of events started not by slavery or Jim Crow, but by one young man�s decision not to obey the law.
If there is a trend illustrated in the events which led to Michael Brown�s death in Ferguson, Missouri, it is black lawlessness, not police insensitivity.
Those words may seem harsh, but they happen to be true.
Even if the president, the attorney general and various big-city mayors can�t see it.
Because what we were reminded of last night is that many people who happen to be black have a prejudice against the police. It is a bigotry against a profession as immoral and baseless as bigotry against a skin color, religion or sexual orientation.
That is the only explanation for some of the reaction to the decision of the St. Louis County grand jury.
Instead of basing reaction on the facts as ascertained by the investigation and grand jury decision, some people came back to their pre-existing belief � that the police are racists who target blacks.
The mayor of Rochester, New York, posted on Facebook: �I know that many members of our community are upset about the decision today in Ferguson. I am too. As I was thinking about how to respond, I went back to how the situation started: With a young, unarmed black man and an authority figure who had little regard for this young man�s life.�
Her final sentence is pure fabrication.
It is found not in the testimony before the grand jury, but in the prejudice of her own mind.
Regard for life in this matter is something which seemed to be lacking on the part of the young man who ended up dead.
It was he, after all, who attacked the police officer in his car and started grappling for his gun. It was likewise he, after all, who turned and charged the officer after repeated commands to stop and show his hands.
And that led to his death.
It was not some lack of sensitivity training � which the president said Sunday afflicts all of America law enforcement. It was not some racist attitude of the police. It was the lack of civil and legal deportment by the young man in question.
And that arose at least in part, it seems logical to surmise, from this young man�s upbringing in a stew of anti-police prejudice.
When the president and the pretend reverends from near and far lambaste the police, reinforcing folklore and fairy tale about a war on young black men, they encourage enmity with police, and antagonism toward them.
The kind of enmity that leads a young man to reach inside a police cruiser and begin pummeling a cop.
That�s the cancer that needs to be rooted out.
It�s not that the police don�t know how to respect minority communities, it�s that minority communities don�t know how to respect themselves � or anybody else.
And the palpable hatred of police leads to actions that endanger police and civilians alike.
And to bad policies, and bad policy positions by public officials.
Like the president, who said on national television on Sunday � the day before the Ferguson verdict � that more training for police on how to be sensitive to minority concerns would over time lead to building trust between police and �the community.�
Translation: Police are poorly trained and insensitive, that�s why there is distrust.
That�s what the president of the United States thinks and said.
And in so doing backstabbed all the cops in this country.
And perpetuated a lie.
Because the problems between the police and �the community� � I think that�s code for �black people� � are not the fault of police training or attitude, they are the result of a bigoted, prejudice-based attitude among the community toward police.
And the cops can�t fix that.
And elected officials shouldn�t perpetuate it.
Because it is morally wrong.
This vilification of police is immoral, dishonest and destructive of society. Nowhere is that more evident than in the reaction to Ferguson.
A young man initiated a violent attack against a police officer. He grappled for the officer�s gun. He charged the officer and refused to show his hands.
And he died for it.
It�s a tragedy.
But the truth is clear.
He deserved what he got.
No matter what color he was.