Of course we expect a mother to be upset in this Ferguson case. Certainly we have all been in situations where we are too close for comfort, it prevents us from understanding the full picture or taking in the reality.
The decision was made not to indict Officer Wilson because this is what the Grand Jury concluded based on the facts, the witnesses, the physical evidence, and other statements. They had the option of inditing him on a wide variety of charges including involuntary manslaughter. There simply was NO case to be made. No probable cause was found.
The witnesses had even changed their statements after the physical evidence was made known to them. Many witnesses are anonymous because they fear for their lives because they are telling the truth. That is ultimately the ugly, elephant in the room. If the people of Ferguson and the parents of Michael Brown were interested in the truth, there would be no reason for witnesses to be afraid. They would not be upset by the fact that Grand Jury made the correct decision.
Yet, here are the reactions from Brown's mother and stepfather:
One has to wonder if the apple didn't fall far from the tree? This violent, over-emotional, and hysterical reaction seems to be reminiscent of the Brown we found caught on camera stealing inside a convenient store that occurred just prior to him being killed.
At the same time, we are all human. I cannot imagine what it would be like to lose a child, let alone one to gun fire by a police officer. It is indeed a heartbreaking situation that easily pulls at the heart strings of anyone.
Emotions are natural and part of being human but emotions can pull us in directions - they can control us if we never learn to force ourselves to think objectively about life and the situations that come into our lives. It becomes even more difficult to look objectively when a particular issue is surrounding us, when it is all encompassing and nothing could be closer to us than issues that pertain to our children - our flesh and blood. For a mother, this is even more intense.
Sure Brown's mother was not perfect - none of us are. We hope that we do our best to raise our children in ways that will allow them to grow into adults that lead successful and fulfilling lives. There is no magical formula. All children come with their own personalities and interests. As adults we would like to think we have all the answers but often we can find ourselves just as clueless as the children we are trying to raise.
I'm not writing this to judge this woman as a parent or criticize her, or kick her down when she's already about as low as one can go. She may very well have done everything she could possibly do for her son and even more. Still, it is impossible for me to ignore that something is very wrong here.
Brown's mother seems to have some serious issues herself and that was displayed awhile back when she and a some others (including her own mother), decided to attack people selling T-shirts of her son. You can click the link for the full article and the investigation seems to be still ongoing. She could face charges of felony armed robbery.
The reason I bring this up is because this appears to be a situation she certainly had a right to be angry about but she certainly had NO right to attack the people involved, nor steal from them. What kind of a woman or person engages in this activity? What kind of values did she teach her son? Why did Michael think it was perfectly okay to go into a store and take what he did not purchase and then go one step further by grabbing a man and throwing him like a rag doll? Why did Michael not simply obey the Officer Wilson and move over the sidewalk? Why did Michael feel it was okay to punch a police officer? Why did he then take off, turn around and charge at the officer? These types of actions are not committed by someone who simply snapped that day. These are actions of a person whose behavior reflects a disturbed character. This type of character is not typically born but rather raised and learned from modeling those around him.
After seeing and hearing about Brown's mother and his stepfather, the picture of a violent household begins to emerge.
It is not okay to teach our children to be defiant at every turn. It's not okay to teach your child it's okay to disrespect the police. Yes, we don't want to teach our children to blindly obey anyone either. We all want them to think for themselves but that's really the issue here -- THINK before you REACT.
I want to understand why people are having such a hard time with this decision but I cannot understand the violence. I cannot understand why so many blacks seem to believe it's better to tear down their own neighborhoods than it is to act peacefully and build up their families and teach their children better values.
Watching the store owners have their businesses torn up and destroyed by the very people they serve is just pure evil. What we are watching play out in Ferguson isn't about justice or the truth; it's just about evil. People who want to find an excuse to do evil things.
Also let us consider that Wilson did not have the benefit that we currently do- sitting back and deciphering what should have/could have happened. Wilson and others in law enforcement are required to make split second decisions. Coulda, woulda, shoulda...could he have reacted differently? Sure, it's possible but he was doing his job and he responded in a way that reflects his training.
Ultimately the witnesses do indeed support his story. Those that lied changed their story when they were presented with the physical evidence, i.g., Brown was NOT shot in the back, contrary to initial claims. Brown did charge at the officer after he was told to stop.
Still waiting to hear more about the damage but so far, what has been recently reported is at least 25 businesses have been burned to the ground. A black man appears to have been shot to death and set on fire near where Brown was killed. The rest of the damage and carnage and what lies ahead is still not known.
Waiting...
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