It seems every issue has liberals and conservatives on opposite ends of the spectrum and Ferguson is no different. Liberals seem to support Michael Brown and the protests while conservatives more than likely support the police. The sad thing about it all is that really no one really knows the truth. Only Officer Darren Wilson and Michael Brown know the complete truth. I would estimate that 90% of the public thinks they are in the know when in fact they are only agitators pouring gas on a burning fire. And it is our 24/7 media coverage that is brainwashing Americans into taking sides.
Last night liberal outlets excused the violent protests by proclaiming a vast majority of protestors are peaceful. In my book peaceful protestors within a violent group are also complicit in the crimes. And conservative outlets chastised the St. Louis Ram football players’ peaceful protests and are working with local Ferguson police to find the unlawful protestors. I am sure the police can find the violent protestors without the help of Fox News. None of this helps a devolving situation.
Meanwhile, the President has race baiting liberal Al Sharpton as his advisor on the problematic situation and his Attorney General is outlining new profiling laws. How can the general public be objective when our government and media cannot? There is absolutely no evidence this case was about profiling – if so the grand jury would have indicted Wilson.
If the President was truly objected he would listen to the voices of people such as New Orleans tight end, Ben Watson. If you have not gotten a chance to see the words written by the former Georgia University star, you need to read them. He has some unbiased insightful words. But for every Watson there are a dozen agitators.
The end result are violent protests occurring around the country killing more people and destroying hundreds of businesses. Yes, this is what our problem solving skills have resorted to. I am embarrassed to be an American. And both sides are complicit in this disaster.
I have had some very bad experiences with police in the past where they used excessive force. The culprits were White, Hispanic, and Black police officers. But as I look back on those difficult experiences I realize there are always two sides to a story. I was a dumb kid who put myself and hence the police in a difficult situation. I did not break the law and I did not deserve to be treated with brutality, but l should have never gotten in that situation in the first place. And I also realize that if I was in the police officers shoes I would have done arrest the same as they did. They have no idea who can be trusted and who cannot. So excessive force is warranted to protect themselves. I am not proud of these moments in my life, but the experience taught me a lot especially about putting yourself in someone else’s shoes. It is not easy to be a police officer and I came to respect that. In the long run, I decided that the conflict could have been avoided if I was not a stupid young man and hence most of the blame fell on me. Could officers have handled the situation better? Yes, but even though I did not break the law, I was drunk wondering the streets and they felt I could be a danger to myself and others. They were probably right.
My point is that I can see both sides of the story in Ferguson. Could the situation have been handled better by the police? I bet the answer is yes, but the whole situation could have been avoided had Michael Brown not broken the law and heeded to initial police requests without being belligerent. So, I blame Brown more than Wilson, but it is impossible to put ourselves into both men’s shoes without being there. Therefore, to claim to be in the know is impossible and incorrect.
We live in the narcissistic era of social media. It has taught us all to be selfish. It has taught us all to be socially ignorant to resolve issues. It has taught us how to become problem creators instead of problem solvers. And it has taught us all too completely disrespect people with differing viewpoints. The end result is what has happened in Ferguson Missouri. We should all be ashamed of the country we live in.
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