file:
Soooo…I often wonder why bad things won't just “go away”. it has been a confusing week. I woke up last Monday morning up in Michigan to news of “Ferguson” Missouri. “A town near St. Louis” according to the New York Times and the BBC. Evidently a young man had been killed on the street. Evidently the young man was black and and the shooter was policeman who is white. Michael Brown was the name of the now deceased. The conditions of his shooting are at best suspicious and exhibiting of poor judgment by the officer and at worst look like an angry, brutal execution.
Soooo…I often wonder why bad things won't just “go away”. it has been a confusing week. I woke up last Monday morning up in Michigan to news of “Ferguson” Missouri. “A town near St. Louis” according to the New York Times and the BBC. Evidently a young man had been killed on the street. Evidently the young man was black and and the shooter was policeman who is white. Michael Brown was the name of the now deceased. The conditions of his shooting are at best suspicious and exhibiting of poor judgment by the officer and at worst look like an angry, brutal execution.
I was driving home on Tuesday and kind of thought this would all be “over” before I ever returned. It is about a 9 hour drive home. I have satellite radio and I realized that this was not going to “go away”.
Pictures of Michael Brown lying on the pavement...videos of michael Brown, lying on the pavement in what looked like a rain puddle but it hadn't rained. Etched. People giving accounts of a confrontation, a struggle, a shot, an attempt to flee, more shots, an attempt to surrender… more shots. Etched. And now it won’t go away.
Idiots on TV and radio. Everyone personalizing the story to fit their narrative… at first. Discrediting police accounts. Discrediting bystander accounts. Whatever you want to believe it was all there for you to spin out of the “facts”.
Police brutality
Black thugs
White flight
Profiling
Lawlessness
Execution
He had it coming
Racism
Entitlement
Resentment
Social Justice
Looters
Rioters
First Amendment
Stand Your Ground
“There is more to the story”
...whatever. A man is dead. Evidently killed by a cop who although alive, his life is forever changed by his actions and by the consequences. Part of the community would take the law into its own hands and crucify him, or worse. On the other end of the spectrum are the “innocent until proven guilty” crowd. If there is any trip or trope more played out and more a picture of guilt and cluelessness than “innocent until proven guilty” I do not know what it is. Yes… in the courtroom you have a presumption of innocence. In the world… not so much. In fact, not at all. In a 24 hour media circus you are guilty until proven otherwise.
What is amazing is how clueless political leadership has been. Of course it is not a party until the ass clowns like Al Sharpton arrive. On the other hand when Dick Gregory shows up, reasonable people should pay attention. But the local grandees failed pretty miserably. The City of Ferguson, failed. They couldn’t handle it. They called the County and the county arrived with swat teams and riot gear...all dressed in the Hunger Games finery to point guns at unarmed citizens for the national press. Mc Cullough stumbled and the black politicos piled on with Charlie Dooley relishing this and showing himself for the petty asshole he is by piling on and kicking Mc Cullough and the cops for their mistake. Nixon waded in with calls to the President and the Missouri Highway Patrol and a charm offensive by Captain Ron Johnson. That was smart.
One career has been made and that is City Alderman Antonio French.
Pay attention! He combined the ear, the apparent heart and articulated in a way that crossed all boundaries. The same cannot be said Maria Chapelle Nadal. She has grandstanded, and played to her base. Very safe. Very sad and even more important very dangerous. She seems whiny. French seems in touch and in tune. Ferguson is in her district. French is a City Alderman and he went out and stood on the line and Tweeted the whole experience and… a star is born.
His Twitter feed is worthy of following:
He is not going to “Go Away”. And I think that might be a good thing. For the black community and for the white community, for the city and for the region. We will see if he has the character to match his courage. He looks like a mayor and if he wants, Congressman. Once again, we will see but the point is that he is emblematic of my own change of heart about this tragedy.
Tonight we have a curfew. I do not know whether that is a bad thing or a good thing. The status quo was not acceptable because as far as bad they things...."They mostly come out at night...mostly".
White people and black people are marching together. Everyone knows there is something badly wrong in a society that has resulted in every black man being a suspect every time he leaves his home. Now we are having discussions that might be more nuanced. Might be more reasonable. Might be more interesting than the bullshit that has led us here with everyone clinging to their stereotypes and comfortable narratives.
The really hard line conservatives and mouthpieces like Glenn beck have demonized the term “social justice”. This is a classic Orwellian crime. I do not think the Jesuits invented social justice but the idea that Christians have an obligation to work for justice for our fellow men, no matter what their class is a noble concept and I hope that this conversation continues. I hear Glenn Beck quoting my personal hero Bonhoeffer the day…. confused, frightened and elated me. I wanted to laugh, cry and puke but… at least it is thoughtful.
Sometimes bad things. Heartbreaking things. Criminal things. Sometimes they are not going to Go Away! Sometimes God works through evil occurrence and sometimes when things do not Go Away… maybe they shouldn't and maybe we will be better for it. I think that is a prayer.
No comments:
Post a Comment