[dropcap]T[/dropcap]HE armored cars were rolling, the Walgreens was burning, the tear gas was flying, the glass everywhere was shattering.
And every bit of it — every good-on-TV moment of it — was entirely predictable.
Michael Brown — the unarmed black teen, as he’ll always be known — was killed by Darren Wilson — the white cop, as he’ll always be known. And the white cop was not indicted by the grand jury, even though grand juries nearly always indict — but with one obvious exception.
No one could have expected otherwise. Fivethirtyeight.com provided the numbers. In 2010, federal grand juries heard 162,000 cases — and all but 11 returned indictments. This was a state case, but you get the idea. And then there’s this: From 2008 to 2012, Dallas grand juries reviewed 81 police shootings — and returned only one indictment.
There were no surprises. A mother cried. A father asked for restraint. And yet the image of the night was the split screen on CNN, showing Barack Obama on one side asking protesters not to throw bottles at cops and, on the other, protesters in the streets throwing bottles at cops.
[pullquote]Every bit of this terrible story was entirely predictable.[/pullquote]
In this battle, the streets won.
It made no sense that St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert McCulloch had waited until 8:30 p.m. to make the announcement, a time when cities are more inclined to explode. The timing seemed like a provocation — although it almost certainly wasn’t. It was, I’d guess, just another in a long series of missteps, starting with McCulloch, a figure little trusted in the African-American community, refusing to recuse himself and name a special prosecutor.
This is a story we’ve seen before. Different names, different places, different circumstances, different DA, different jury. Same story.
What was different was that McCulloch released the grand jury testimony — grand jury testimony is usually kept secret — and we could read what Wilson had to say.
You could almost guess. If a cop fears for his life or fears for anyone’s life, he can legally use deadly force. And so we read on. Wilson said he had feared for his life when Brown had punched him twice while Wilson was still in the car. He said he “felt like a 5-year-old holding onto Hulk Hogan.” Brown was 6-foot-5, 285 pounds. But Wilson is 6-4, 210, and the only one of the two who was armed, the only one of the two trained for confrontations like this.
When they tussled, Wilson pulled out his gun, and Brown, he said, went for it. Twice, Wilson said, he tried to pull the trigger, but the gun wouldn’t fire. Finally, Wilson got off two shots, and Brown took off running. And even though Wilson said he was afraid of Brown — who, he said, looked like a “demon” — he raced after him because, yes, he said he thought Brown was a danger to anyone he might encounter.
And then when Brown turned around and, Wilson said, raced toward him, he shot his gun five times. He shouted, he said, for Brown to go to the ground, and when he didn’t, he shot and he shot and he shot.
And in the final charge — some witnesses said it was a charge; some said Brown was surrendering — Wilson said, “At this point it looked like he was almost bulking up to run through the shots, like it was making him mad that I’m shooting at him. And the face that he had was looking straight through me, like I wasn’t even there, I wasn’t even anything in his way.”
He would run through the bullets, until he didn’t. Until he fell. And until he lay there for 4 1/2 hours before they took him away.
And before a majority-black community with its nearly all-white police force became another chapter in a long story.
Before the story became about the militarization of police. And before it became about rapidly shifting demographics (also known as white flight). And before it became about police forces failing to reflect their communities.
And before it became about state and local officials who seemed to have no notion how to calm the situation back in August, and who seemed to have no better idea how to calm the situation Monday night.
And before it became about the first black president speaking in his measured way from the White House on the night of the grand jury announcement, saying we have to accept the jury’s decision whether we agree with it or not, praising those cops who face danger every day, and finally getting to the obvious point that minorities have ample reason not to trust the police, that they have their own stories and that “communities of color aren’t just making these problems up.”
After Obama’s statement, a reporter asked the president whether he would go to Ferguson. Obama said he’d have to see how things went.
It’s pretty clear already how things were going. The armored cars were rolling, the Walgreens was burning, the tear gas was flying, the glass everywhere was shattering.
And calm would eventually prevail. Until the fire next time.
Mike you sort of breezed over “Brown had punched [the cop] twice” but that’s says it all right there. Punch a cop and your ticket is punched.
“And before a majority-black community with its nearly all-white police force became another chapter in a long story. And before it became about police forces failing to reflect their communities.”
Each time Mr. Littwin writes about Ferguson he tacitly asks: Why does a majority-black community have a majority-white government and a nearly all-white police force? But, apparently, he lacks the intellectual curiosity to pursue the answer. Or maybe, just maybe, he already knows the answer and hasn’t shared it with his readers because it doesn’t fit his narrative of a poor, downtrodden, disenfranchised community powerless to change its fate. Maybe he prefers to avoid disturbing the perception with the facts.
Avoidance is not new to Mr. Littwin.
Fortunately, others who have had the same question also appear to have found the answer. This from Vox:
“The reason for these political disparities (black community, white government) appears to below voter turnout during local elections in March and April. MSNBC’s Zachary Roth wrote”This year, just 12.3 percent of eligible voters cast a ballot, according to numbers provided by the county. In 2013 and 2012, those figures were even lower: 11.7 percent and 8.9 percent respectively. As a rule, the lower the turnout, the more the electorate skews white and conservative.”Terry Jones, a political science professor at the University of Missouri at St. Louis, echoed the sentiment in an email, writing that the city’s white residents “are on average older in age and have resided in Ferguson longer. As a result, I estimate the electorate participating in the April municipal elections remains majority Caucasian.”
And this from Charles Cobb a former Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) field secretary and a founding member of the National Association of Black Journalists.
“Now consider Ferguson. Only 6 percent of eligible black voters participated in the last municipal elections — this in a town that is more than two-thirds black. No wonder the six-person City Council only has one black member and the 53-person police force only has three black officers. Just two generations ago, black Southerners endured arrests and beatings in order to vote. And yet, it seems we’ve already forgotten the immense power of the ballot. With the existence of the Voting Rights Act, low black voter turnout or registration cannot be charged solely to white people, no matter what machinations they use to suppress voters. Black people are not faced with anything like the violence that confronted those seeking voting rights five decades ago. Let’s end the excuses. The people of Ferguson have all the power they need to simply get rid of their unrepresentative government — vote them out. This does not take any great political computation.
The abysmal voting numbers in Ferguson — and in communities like it around the country — are a failure not only of the people, but of black leaders.
We see them parachute in and out of Ferguson, Harlem and Sanford, Fla. We see them on TV. We see them in marches. But ultimately, they offer nothing enduring.”
So, to answer Mr. Littwin’s question: Why does Ferguson, a majority-black community, have a majority-white government and a nearly all-white police force?
Because of “The abysmal voting numbers in Ferguson — and in communities like it around the country — are a failure not only of the people, but of black leaders.”
You’re welcome.
And when the next fire starts at least we’ll know who lit the match.
If the (Senate) filibuster is gone — or mostly gone — that’s a good thing. It’s a good thing if it’s bad for Republicans. It’s a good thing if it’s bad for Democrats. Either way, it’s still good for good government. – Mike Littwin
“And basically, call it the stupidity of the American voter or whatever, but basically that (lack of transparency) was really really critical for (Obamacare) to pass…” Jonathan Gruber, Obamacare architect
Wounded Warrior Project
Memorial Day – May 25, 2015
As usual we get another Lopez comment full of the usual bias and monotonous twaddle.
Avoidance is a common Lopez tactic as he attempts to spin his bias to facilitate his own arrogance.
How pathetic.
Hey Mildred,
Happy Thanksgiving!
Hey Spin Doctor.
Your twaddling comments are pathetic.
Hey Mildred,
Thank you! I appreciate the inspiration you provide.
By the way, do you prefer Mrs. Mildred or Ms. Mildred?
Hey Spin Doctor. Glad you’re inspired. You could certainly use some inspiration to improve your writing skills boring as they are.
Mrs. Mildred,
I forgot to thank you for bestowing upon me the title of “Doctor”, albeit honorary.
Dr. Lopez! Sounds great doesn’t it? And speaking of sounding great I really like the way this sounds:
Each time Mr. Littwin writes about Ferguson he tacitly asks: Why does a majority-black community have a majority-white government and a nearly all-white police force? But, apparently, he lacks the intellectual curiosity to pursue the answer. Or maybe, just maybe, he already knows the answer and hasn’t shared it with his readers because it doesn’t fit his narrative of a poor, downtrodden, disenfranchised community powerless to change its fate. Maybe he prefers to avoid disturbing the perception with the facts.
Avoidance is not new to Mr. Littwin.
And although this isn’t mine I do like the way this sounds:
“Now consider Ferguson. Only 6 percent of eligible black voters participated in the last municipal elections — this in a town that is more than two-thirds black. No wonder the six-person City Council only has one black member and the 53-person police force only has three black officers. Just two generations ago, black Southerners endured arrests and beatings in order to vote. And yet, it seems we’ve already forgotten the immense power of the ballot. With the existence of the Voting Rights Act, low black voter turnout or registration cannot be charged solely to white people, no matter what machinations they use to suppress voters. Black people are not faced with anything like the violence that confronted those seeking voting rights five decades ago. Let’s end the excuses. The people of Ferguson have all the power they need to simply get rid of their unrepresentative government — vote them out. This does not take any great political computation.
The abysmal voting numbers in Ferguson — and in communities like it around the country — are a failure not only of the people, but of black leaders.
We see them parachute in and out of Ferguson, Harlem and Sanford, Fla. We see them on TV. We see them in marches. But ultimately, they offer nothing enduring.”
You gotta admit, Mr. Cobb ain’t boring!
And I hope Mrs. Mildred is OK with you. Mildred Ryecatcher. It has a certain je ne sais quoi.
My goodness that was a fanciful rebuttal. But then that’s what you’re about. Egotism and hot air.
Mrs. Mildred,
Does your husband know how unusually protective you feel about Mr. Littwin?