Racism in America-A Rush to Judgment?

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Zeus has led us on to know, the Helmsman lays it down as law that we must suffer, suffer into truth. We cannot sleep, and drop by drop at the heart the pain of pain remembered comes again, and we resist, but ripeness comes as well. From the gods enthroned on the awesome rowing-bench there comes a violent love.

-Aeschylus: Agamemnon- 

quote-there-s-always-such-a-rush-to-judgment-it-makes-a-fair-trial-hard-to-get-john-grisham-76204

We hear on the TV that most arrests in Ferguson, Missouri are of  African Americans but we don’t ask if the percentage given relates to the percentage of African Americans living there.  I don’t know the answer, but I’ll bet few people bothered to ask themselves because it complicates things and we’re looking for “proof” of something we know a priori. Most of us would be very disappointed at anything in the way of opinion or conjecture or documented proof that things aren’t the way we thought and perhaps not the way we hoped.  We want that cop to be guilty and his whole department complicit. It’s plausible after all and that’s enough for most of us.  Thank god for the law and the courts or we’d become what we think we oppose.

It’s well documented by many scientific studies that people will believe a simple, plausible story with few selected supporting facts, or even fallacies for that matter, before they will take the trouble to sort through all the verifiable facts and analyze how they relate to our chosen opinion. Occam’s razor cuts both ways and after all, our brains have evolved as machines for jumping to conclusions, not as calculators or statistical tabulators.  Hell, I suspect most people simply latch on to the opinions of the mobs they belong to, or aspire to belong to.  Far more witches have been burned than have been burned by witches.

I think there’s great wisdom that comes with self doubt — the ability to ask oneself  “what if everything I believe is wrong or absurd, or not worth consideration.” What if the case is far more complex and the certainties for less clear? If we’re lucky we have one of those epiphanic moments when it becomes obvious that we were wrong and we learn from it. We find out someone we were sure was guilty is innocent or vice versa. We find out we’re not who we thought we were, that something we believed without question is demonstrably false, that someone or something we had confidence in didn’t merit it. We find we’ve misjudged someone and we’re forced, to go out and rage in the storm like Lear.  We suffer into truth and the truth is that if justice is to be served, we wait for the evidence and we look at all of it without prejudice. It’s not easy.

The simple plausible truth behind the acquittal of O.J. Simpson was that he was the victim of racism. He’s black, the LAPD has a history of  brutality against minorities,  one of the investigators was once heard using the N word and so when his defense attorney told the jury they had to send a message to “the Man”  all the endlessly damning evidence was forgotten.

When Trayvon Martin was killed, so many of us, so well aware of  racism in small town police departments instantly assumed that a “child” was murdered by some racist intent upon hunting innocent black children and were appalled by the jury’s decision, because after all it was impossible that the innocent child jumped out of hiding in the dark at a “creepy guy” 4 inches shorter than him. Teenaged boys never do impulsive things, do they?  Impossible because we don’t want to consider anything but black and white both in a real and metaphorical sense. We wanted to tie it to our mistrust of guns and laws that had no part in the trial and so we did rightly or wrongly, guilty or innocent — case closed, minds closed.

When we heard some “child” was shot in Missouri. We saw the inevitable graduation picture wearing a mortarboard hat.  It was just so obviously a racially motivated murder to consider otherwise and of course if we want to pause and wait for more than confused and conflicting eye-witness reports we display endless anecdotes about racism in Ferguson.  So just as we as good liberals shouted “rush to judgement” at the lengthy Simpson trial, we turned about and rushed to judgement even before any investigation in those other two affairs.  Who wants to suffer? Who wants to be seen as a racist?

For those of course, of a different political persuasion, quite the opposite is true and Timothy McVeigh is a hero but Dr. King is not.  But enough about Fox News.  Enough too about questioning the need for the National Guard to stem the violence — it’s necessary because we think the situation is obvious and we are sure that nothing will be done if we don’t demonstrate and exhibit our credentials as racism fighters before we really know what happened.  We don’t.  We’ve just assumed and just decided what’s obvious.  We get angry because we assume a cop assumed and because we assumed that cops always assume and we make sure that everyone knows every thing that might be construed as evidence  of racism so that we don’t pause to reflect that sometimes we’re wrong when lives hinge on our being right.

No it’s absolutely certain that someone reading this will call me a racist or apologist for racism because I’m attempting to temper your crowd-sourced certainty.  If you do, you’re not a liberal nor a defender of human rights or of justice but a prejudiced partisan a long way from wisdom.

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Glenn Geist

Glenn Geist lives in South Florida and wastes most of his time boating, writing, complaining and talking on the radio
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Bill Formby
9 years ago

I think that everyone has gotten way too far into this incident. None of us know the facts (except for Mike who has the inside track on things, sorry Mike). I can truthfully say that I was not there, and I do not know all of the facts. I would love to investigate it myself, but I can not. I can say this to Mike, Timothy and anyone else who wants to know. I have faced a similar situation twice during my short career (6 years) as a cop with two subjects of relatively the same size (actually one was a bit larger. In neither case did I pull my pistol. In one case I “almost got my butt whipped before help showed up, in the other I kicked a guy’s teeth in when he bull rushed me. A third case I had the time to call for back up and it took four of us to take the guy too the ground. As Mike said, I did not join the force to get my butt whipped, but by the same token I did not join the force to kill people either. This was before the Garner decision when it was perfectly Constitutional to shoot and kill a fleeing felon and most anyone else a police officer deemed necessary. Both occurred in the late 1960’s. Then again, my department had a reputation for kicking people’s butts, not shooting them – white or black. It was probably more a matter of pride and machismo. A number of us at the time were former Marines. At the time I thought I was 6’2″, 210 lbs of romping, stomping hell, death, and destruction. We had people in Tuscaloosa, Alabama at the time that thought fight the police was as much of a sport as Alabama football. My initiation to the police department, since we did not have a training program at the time, was when my so called friend and training officer took my to one of the tougher redneck bars and told two drunks that he would not put them in jail if they kicked my ass. It was pretty much a way of life on the weekend evening shift that you were going to have to fight certain people. If we had pulled our guns out and shot everyone who attacked us, regardless of their size, we would still be escorting funerals. Every weekend the young, single coal miners would pour into the redneck bars and the football players and frat boys would pour into the college bars and there was always going to be fights. I once had to square off against Pete Gilaeba, 6’1”, 235 lb fullback for the University of Alabama football team who was determined to enter a party he was banned from entering. After a swift whack across the hamstring with my downsized Louisville Slugger Billy stick he decided to go elsewhere. Of course I couldn’t hit him anywhere that would damage him. Bear Bryant would have eaten me alive. I am not sure when things changed to police going for there guns every time they were threatened by some big guy, but it sure did not have to happen.
During my consulting days in the 1980’s I saw a female police officer who was able to talk down many a bad ass with out her gun being drawn. A good friend of mine who retired from the Tuscaloosa Police Department as Chief was somewhat famous for dealing with dangerous people without his gun. He was a bit younger than I. In fact I help break him in as a rookie so he had some of the same “advanced training” I did. He retired in 2002 as Chief with the reputation of having never having drawn his weapon. He talked down four hostage takers without a shot being fired. I can’t say that because I did get ambushed one and had one or two other episodes where I pulled my pistol. But, I never pulled my weapon unless the other person was armed. I did beat a guy senseless with a flashlight once when he pulled a knife on me.
Anyway, folks we have had some really good discussions here on MMA without the name calling. So knock it off. This is a good place to express our views on different subjects with others who are intelligent and, for the most part, passion about our beliefs. So chill out. This is one incident, involving two people that I doubt if any of us know personally. It is not going to be precedent setting and the only thing we can do is await the outcome of the investigation, the grand jury findings, and, if their is to be one or more, the trial(s).
Peace be with you all.

Timmy Mahoney
9 years ago

PennyJ. You are the worst liberal. Loud mouthed and unforgiving when it comes to matters of race and other favorite liberal causes, most of which you likely know little about. In your mind all cops are evil monsters, and all blacks are without sin. If a cop shoots a white man, that’s OK, but if he shoots a black, regardless of the reason, he and all those who stand with him are bigots and murderers. You may have come from the school of hard knocks, I don’t know, but you have never patrolled the streets of a major US city, surrounded by black people who hate and want to kill you. Until you do shut the fuck up about the blacks; some will kill you as soon as look at you.

Pennyjane Hanson
Reply to  Timmy Mahoney
9 years ago

i was wrong. this place is full of complete idiots, liars, racists and whinny intellectuals.

you, you moron….either have the reading comprehension skills of an earthworm…or just choose to be a lying jackass. a tea-party reject, not smart enough to make the grade.

back under your rock.

Reply to  Pennyjane Hanson
9 years ago

Wow Penny. That’s rather a shocking statement don’t you think? People disagree. We agree to disagree, at least I hope we do. Everyone has an opinion but I don’t think everyone needs a label. Do you?

Glenn Geist
Reply to  Professor Mike
9 years ago

Shocking, but amusing! Trying to keep it on an impersonal and factual level is “like calling me a dumbass” and shortly thereafter we’re all idiots, liars, racists and whinny [sic] intellectuals” All the better for the ungrammatical accusation of idiocy.

But of course, what can you do when you have nothing but invent something to take offense at? Strange too that one is a racist for not treating people as a group but as individuals. That’s why I don’t like to use the word any more. Like ‘liberal’ and ‘conservative’ it’s been spoiled to the point where it means anything but.

She “stands with the black people” as though she weren’t in some safe, air conditioned and comfortable place and as if all black people were alike in their opinions. Hey doesn’t that smell a lot like racism? Just sayin’

Marta Pellian
Reply to  Pennyjane Hanson
9 years ago

Well now Ms. Hanson you have certainly shown your true colors and in doing so have embarrassed liberals everywhere. You are doing exactly what you are criticizing others for doing. For shame.

Glenn Geist
9 years ago

“speak for yourself white man”

Oh, nice. So much for your objectivity. Is this what it now means to be a liberal: a presumption of guilt based on race? I’m part of a somewhat interracial family so your snark is a bit misplaced as is your presumption. I’m not a racist for cautioning against basing our conclusions on race and calling it objectivity.

At any rate, my reply to you wasn’t a riposte. I simply couldn’t understand what your point was and I’m still not sure that I can.

We have questions indeed and they should be settled by a court and that point seems to have gone over many heads. Is this one of those religious arguments where you have to acknowledge the existence of a deity called racism before you’re allowed to participate? Do I first have to recite the “racism is everywhere” mantra? Is this really all about determining guilt by due process or is it all about prejudice in the name of “raising awareness?” I remember St Louis in the early 50’s my friend, and I’m not unaware. No one is unaware of racism and that “white people” are unaware is simply racism and tribalism and bigotry.

This is about an impending trial, where evidence is gathered formally and examined formally and a verdict is reached on the evidence. What it should never be is a stage upon which we perform a passion play affirming our beliefs. This is not about a trial in the street or in the newspapers or in this blog. Most of all this is not evidence that we know anything a priori simply because we’re so hiply aware of racism.

The “other side” does not, by being another side, have to be any more honest or perceptive or less the product of tribalism, passion and zealotry, and “fair and balanced” is just another sort of Foxy fallacy that is used to disparage an argument through distraction especially when that “other side” is out to prove something and is using a biased and redacted version of events to do it.

We don’t know what happened. We know what biased observers are telling us and if we elect to buy the “hands up – don’t shoot” T-shirts I see on sale we must expect to be called premature. We must always temper our passion with the knowledge that we might be wrong and perhaps you missed the main point of my post.

Pennyjane Hanson
Reply to  Glenn Geist
9 years ago

pardon me….i meant to say “thin skinned white man”. but, as with all other reason, it just flies right over your head.

your juvenile hyperbole isn’t worthy of adult response, so i’ll just let it go.

Pennyjane Hanson
Reply to  Glenn Geist
9 years ago

“a long way from wisdom” is just another way of saying “dumbass”. i may not have your formal education but i can read the writing on the wall. calling people who don’t think like you a “dumbass” is what defines bigotry. he who calls those who don’t think like him “dumbass” is yelling at the fellow in the mirror as well.

if you aren’t willing to accept insults with dignity perhaps you shouldn’t first insult. he who lives in glass houses and all that.

Glenn Geist
Reply to  Pennyjane Hanson
9 years ago

Ah – actually I don’t have that much formal education and probably less than you do, but your response is so unrelated to anything I have said here that it’s even harder to understand what you’re getting at now than at first. It wouldn’t be pertinent anyway because arguing that you are somehow correct only because the other guy is smarter is arguing that you’re right because you’re wrong. Think about it.

Sorry if that seems like a personal insult, but of course it’s about your words and logic, not your intelligence or personal worth and certainly not about your race. You see, I’m not even responding in kind, even if you find me unkind.

Let’s start again. It’s all about facts and about how we ascertain facts and how we find people guilty or not guilty. You began with assertions based on stereotypes and shoddy shibboleths and peremptory proclamations and have progressed to personal insults. Funny how you pretend I’m the loser here when you haven’t made a case.

Was it necessary to cry havoc in the streets, to set fires and steal things in order to get the wheels of justice in motion? You’ve failed to support that with anything but assertion of facts that seem self evidently otherwise. But go ahead do it, if you can. I will listen.

I hate to resort to cliche expressions but really, what part of “check your facts before you hang somebody” is juvenile or hyperbolic? What part of finding someone guilty without a trial is offensive to you? What part of “white people are bigots and never to be trusted” is not bigotry? What sort of person resorts to childish insult and refuses to admit of the possibility of imperfection? Perhaps the sort of person who is dishonest enough to say a reasoned presentation is like calling you a “dumbass” and insists therefore that I actually did call you a dumbass and responds accordingly? Would that be a rational person, an honest person or someone who resoundingly has lost an argument and can’t accept it? Sorry, I never called you a dumbass or a smartass or an ass of any kind. Vide supra.

Would that be thin skinned, or juvenile on your part or would that be projection or reaction formation as psychologists call it? I’m arguing with your words, not your person – you know, like adults do. You found it preferable to invent an insult so that you could depart from trying to support your argument and turn it all ad hominem. Certainly someone with my eddykayshun would find it easy to produce unambiguous insult if He wanted to, doncha think?

Mob violence is a last resort, Ms. Hanson, or so I maintain — not a first resort and you nay disagree or not as you choose. Civilization, justice, decency are on my side. Mob violence has hanged the wrong people. It has alienated people who passionately work for justice and people like me who were out in far more dangerous streets and in more dangerous times demonstrating against far more serious situations. I should have thought it unnecessary to defend humanist values here, but I can if pressed.

For the record, I don’t think you’re stupid. I do recognize that even the most brilliant are prone to error and bias and I think the habit of being right has turned many a Liberal into the monster he’s been fighting. The experience of being wrong may be more valuable than all those degrees I do not have. You may recall my having said this above – nudge nudge, wink, wink.

So sorry, I’m not offended by the insults. I’m close to being offended that you don’t bother to read what I wrote and instead accuse me of arguments you wish I had made because you know how to counter them, but it wouldn’t be the first time and it won’t be the last, I’m sure.

Reply to  Glenn Geist
9 years ago

Well said Glenn, and I agree with every word. Every time the police shoot a black man an assumption is made they just went on a hunting trip and the poor, downtrodden black man certainly couldn’t have done anything to deserve it. I’ve heard this whine all my life and I challenge anyone to walk in my shoes when it comes to enforcing laws on St. Louis streets.

Glenn Geist
Reply to  Professor Mike
9 years ago

Yes, I’m personally aware of one case.

For the record, I loathe racism and racists but I also loathe people who falsely accuse and confuse collective revenge with justice.

Reply to  Glenn Geist
9 years ago

Here! Here!

Pennyjane Hanson
9 years ago

not necessarily an apology for racism….you’d first have to acknowledge it’s existence.

denial, enabling and validating is more like it.

i am a liberal, an anti-racist lover of justice….and, at least in my opinion (which i hold in at least as high esteem as i hold yours) no further from wisdom than you.

Pennyjane Hanson
Reply to  Glenn Geist
9 years ago

my point was…..flew right over your head…that in order to be an apologist for racism you’d have to acknowledge it’s existence (hmmm…i think that’s what i said)…in your article you only denied, which enables and, worse of all…validates (racism).

you say “we” act like a lynch mob, i say, speak for yourself white man. michael brown has already been shot dead in the street, now you get around to lynching him.

personally i have not advocated any opinion as the guilt or innocence of officer Wilson…that’s because i have no opinion….the facts aren’t in. i do have questions, that doesn’t qualify me for the lynch mob, except in the eyes of racists and those blind to the possibility that any police officer might be capable of doing anything wrong, those who think the very concept of a “bad shoot” is myth.

your article accuses only those with questions and those who have already convicted the officer in question. you don’t take on the “other” side….the racists and defenders of the “thin blue line”. right here we see mike, a perfectly rational, intelligent…seemingly decent human being, who yet, in the face of all reason, uses the tape of the dead thug in the convenience store as justification for his death.

he is blind to the fact that the two are not relevant to one another. the police officer did not shoot him because he showed himself to be a thug and a punk on the tape….we don’t know why he shot him. since we don’t know why another unarmed black man is shot dead in the street by an armed police officer…we have questions….it’s called scrutiny.

in this case we have three eye witnesses who, while not arriving at any conclusions, bring up some real questions. the police have not answered those valid questions. instead, they release the unrelated tape from the convenience store.

if you can’t smell a rat in that, your nose is broke. either you are just out and out racist, or a member of that sub-culture that mike belongs to.

the police in st Louis county have done nothing to quell the call for scrutiny and everything to exacerbate the need for it. the racists and defenders of the thin blue line are not the beleaguered minority here…they have a strong, powerful voice. but, of course, it’s the one’s lifting up the voices of ALL those dead black kids laying in the street who are the bad guys.

justice? we’ll see.

Bill Formby
Reply to  Pennyjane Hanson
9 years ago

pj, racism, bigotry, prejudice, injustice, or any other word one choose to attach to this shooting at this point is both pointless and speculative. We all, in our minds, visualize a particular scenario leading up to and involving the shooting of the young man. It may well be that the police released to the video to make Michael Brown seem more evil and perhaps deserving of being shot. On the other hand, that may have been somewhat less calculating as we might imagine. We have all heard versions of what alleged eye witnesses said they saw which may be what actually happened or what their mind’s eye chose to see. This is not unusual since eyewitness testimony is often not quiet correct in what it sees. The scrutiny will come on the investigation and what it shows both at the state and the federal level.Even when the investigation is over we, meaning everyone except the two parties involved, will still not know exactly what was in the mind of either of the principals at the time the incident occurred. Were they racial thoughts, or just fearful thoughts. With all of today’s technology we can reconstruct most everything but what was in those two peoples minds, and in the end, that is what really counts.

Glenn Geist
Reply to  Bill Formby
9 years ago

Yes, exactly, thank you.

Pennyjane Hanson
Reply to  Bill Formby
9 years ago

i agree with everything you say here, bill. the evidence isn’t in, no conclusions should be reached. my point is this:

if there had been no irrational outcry from the streets….the investigation would be over. the police officer would have said “good shoot”, the internal investigation would have concurred. bad black guy, bad black guy dead, let’s shake the dust from our sandals and move on.

that’s the status quo. that’s as far as the scrutiny would have gone.

i stand with the irrational blacks in the streets….if acting out in the street is the only way you can even apply for justice, then so be it. maybe they’re not quite as immature and savage as so many of us are so willing to think.

Reply to  Pennyjane Hanson
9 years ago

PennyJane you are mistaken about the amount of scrutiny officers are under, especially after the use of deadly force, and race has nothing to do with it. As for irrational blacks, well, I guess that pretty much answers the question of they they find themselves at odds with the police.

Reply to  Bill Formby
9 years ago

“It may well be that the police released to the video to make Michael Brown seem more evil and perhaps deserving of being shot.” Really Bill?

Bill Formby
Reply to  Professor Mike
9 years ago

Mike, I said it “may well be” because that is a speculation being bandied about. In an objective analysis all possibilities must be considered. As Holmes often said, “When one has considered all possibilities and rejected those that do not fit, the one that remains is the one that happened.” I also said that it “may have been something less calculating than that.” Except for your bias you might have considered both approaches also. Ask your self this Mike, why was this officer not waiting for back up when he learn that this was a robbery suspect and of that size? Did the officer have any less than deadly force options, if not why not? He was, despite your denial of the facts, dealing with an unarmed man, at least to the best of our knowledge. What should have been his protocol?

Reply to  Bill Formby
9 years ago

Bill he had no options beyond deadly force and there was no option for backup as this all happened in less than a minute from the first approach. As I mentioned in an earlier comment I would have shot Brown as well, and would have been within my rights to do so. As to denial of the facts Bill what “facts” are you talking about? If you are talking about the so-called eye witnesses who made the claim that Brown “dropped to his knees and put his hands up” that has long been debunked as total bullshit. As I said, if Brown attacked me, and then charged me after I ordered him to stop I would have shot him, just like Wilson did. You don’t have time to pray that a taser strikes true or even works. They are notoriously unreliable and you know police aren’t trained to wound. As to bias Bill, I submit you have your own. So, that’s my last comment on this subject. When the Grand Jury returns a “No True” bill those of us who know what happened, and dared to suggest it to the cop bashers, will be vindicated. Peace out 🙂

Reply to  Pennyjane Hanson
9 years ago

PennyJane the fact that he robbed a store; yes, Strongarm robbery is a class B felony, and enough cause for the officer to use deadly force if he can articulate that the subject presented a clear and present danger to either himself or the community. In this case it wasn’t until after the officer had told the two to get out of the street when he heard the radio call sending out the description. At that time he realized both fit the description, and saw the cigars in Brown’s hands. The evidence will show when confronted, Brown, afraid of going to prison, attacked the officer, another felony. Additional evidence, including forensic examination, suggest that Brown, after running away, turned around and charged the officer, who dispatched him. I would have done the same, hopefully without using so many bullets. No one is paid to fight a guy who is 6’4″, 300 pounds. That’s what happened. That’s what went down and that’s what the Grand Jury will hear. Peace to you. I respect your opinion even when it differs from mine. No argument or debate forthcoming. That’s what happened, contrary to the widespread belief that all black people are saints and a police officer’s sole purpose in life is to hunt them down 🙂

Admin
9 years ago

Blacks make up 12% of the population and commit 64% of the crime. Yes. Police shoot blacks because blacks commit more crime. They also shoot white folk but no one cares about that. Fact is a criminal is a criminal regardless of color and sometimes there’s no choice but to shoot them.

Bill Formby
Reply to  Professor Mike
9 years ago

Mike I was going to stay out of this but your statistics just harkened me back. Let us get straight about crime stats. You are speaking about the FBI statistics I assume which report on Index Crimes, or are you referring to the racial statistics based on arrest rates. Because there is a big difference you know. It is somewhat like the stop and frisk situation in NYC when 90% of the people they were stopping were young black males. If they had stop the same number of young white males, proportionally they may well have found a bit higher number of white males possessing marijuana than black males. The question would be, would they arrest them all. Well, that would depend on who they were in some cases, but probably not. But let’s put this on even firmer ground.
If you make the point that a crime is a crime, how many so called white collar crimes are committed every day by the big banks and insurance companies for which no one is even prosecuted. How many crimes committed by young black men would it take to make up for the amount of damage that Bernie Madoff did with his Ponce scheme. Investment bankers commitment thefts all the time and when they get caught they get a slap on the wrist, comparatively, and then they are out finding new ways to scam people. The banks in the sub prime disaster brought the country to its knees but how many people went to jail because of it. These people harm more people than any of the so called “real” criminals, yet no one gets upset at them. And the sad part of it all is that they have manipulated the system to be the way it is.
Back in the 80′ when I was doing a lot of consulting with police departments I ran across an interesting phenomenon. If you can objectively think about this I think you will agree with me. The mere process of the rich controlling the law making process has allowed them to keep the vast majority of people at certain levels of society. This has resulted in the formation of multiple subcultures each of which try to protect its members survival. Among these many subcultures are the blacks, the Latinos, in racial subcultures, but also law enforcement has fallen into its own subculture. There are times when these subcultures feel as if they are under attack by other subcultures, or in some cases by everyone. When a police officer is hurt or killed in the line of duty, all police feel that they have been attacked. The same is true when a black is killed by some other group, they feel attacked by that group or by everyone. It is basic subculture protectionism. When an officer is under attack by the media, all police feel that they are under attack just as the situation in Ferguson. Blacks feel like the young black man who is dead in Ferguson should not have his past life opened to the world. He was the victim they feel. Meanwhile, the rich and powerful go right on with their business of generating more money for themselves while everyone else fight for their pittance of money.

Reply to  Bill Formby
9 years ago

The victim here was the officer Bill, not the criminal, but life goes on, and the world turns 🙂

Bill Formby
Reply to  Professor Mike
9 years ago

That remains to be seen Mike. The point of my comment is that it again sparked a conflict between two subcultures. What everyone is failing to see is that as long as those in the lower economic class continue to clash with each other our eyes are not on the people who are creating the chaos among the general population. While you advocate that the officer is the victim, and black citizens advocate that the young black man is the victim, the MSM profits royally off keeping the crisis in the headlines. Neither of the groups actually know specially what happened. More to your point, it becomes less likely that the person who is dead, was shot as many as 6 times by one account, was not the victim. You have joined the closed ranks with law enforcement officers and thus cannot see how anyone else can see it any other way other than the young black male was the cause of his own death.

Reply to  Bill Formby
9 years ago

I saw the tape of him manhandling the clerk, right after he decided he didn’t want to pay for the cigars. I also have friends in St. Louis County and pretty much know what happened. You are right, however, I’ve been maintaining all along we need to wait for all the evidence and I’ve gone and broken my own rule. Yes. The thin blue line is strong. That being said it doesn’t matter how many times a suspect is shot. That’s another story however, and I have to take my dogs to McDonald’s so I can get my coffee and they can have their ride 🙂

Reply to  Bill Formby
9 years ago

Bill the other point is the police can’t be afraid to enforce the law when it comes to blacks. Crime is crime, no matter the color of the man who commits it.

Reply to  Bill Formby
9 years ago

You make some good points my old friend, and your words harken me back to that very first day at the UofA. Likely one of the best times of my life.

Bill Formby
Reply to  Professor Mike
9 years ago

Those were good days Mike. I wish we could have them back for a while.

Reply to  Bill Formby
9 years ago

Me too. Me too….

Lamar E
9 years ago

That white cop killed the black kid because he could. Black men are killed by whit cops everyday and nobody gives a shit.

9 years ago

I have to agree with the others commenting here. This might be the best summation of the racial blame game I’ve ever read. Kudos to you Glenn.

Timmy Mahoney
9 years ago

I have to agree with Rachael man. This is superb and echoes my sentiments to the letter.

Rachael
9 years ago

I’m a voracious reader of the news and commentary is my favorite, particularly the NYT. I must say this is one of the best I’ve ever read on this subject. YOU should be writing for the times Mr. Geist.

Reply to  Glenn Geist
9 years ago

LOL! Hey Glenn let me know when you get that offer. I can use it to advertise MMA! You can see it now: New York Times author once wrote here.

Glenn Geist
Reply to  Professor Mike
9 years ago

I’ve tried holding my breath all day but so far, the Times is still silent!

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