1) I feel this entire Ferguson episode can be looked upon as an opportunity for conservatives to better engage in dialogue with many blacks. We first need to acknowledge, there is a segment of the black population that does indeed feel as though the system is against them. Whether this feeling is justified or not, we must at least acknowledge this.
Putting aside our egos, even our ideology for a moment can give us an opportunity to further investigate the problems and concerns that many black people have. Let's think of honest, sincere ways to inform blacks that we are not racist; we are not against them; we as conservatives are actually quite inclusive of all people. The time has come for us to all learn how to better communicate with those that feel so oppressed.
2) Try to keep the argument focused. Yes, black on black crime does occur in larger numbers but, bringing up this fact seems to be quite unproductive in any conversation. I have stated before in the previous article that this merely appears as if we are trying to move away from the original argument.
The first focus needs to be about asserting the importance of equal treatment for all. In our courts a man is innocent until proven guilty. While our justice system is not perfect, it is one of the best for this reason. Every man deserves to be treated equally under the law.
3) I do believe that racism still exists however, I feel as though people have a right to be stupid. I do not condone the behavior of certain folks who are publishing information about people who's opinions they do not like and view as being racists for the purposes of trying to get these people fired from their jobs.
There is a website that is currently browsing social media - mostly Twitter and Facebook and then taking the time to try and locate where these people live, work, and their phone numbers. Even worse, they are publishing scripted phone calls where a person is encouraged to call the person's place of employment and proceed to try and get them fired. While I agree that most the posts are overtly racist and distasteful, while I was browsing the website it appears as though they have already had to make a correction since one of the accounts they "exposed" was actually hacked by someone else. Not only did the person have to deal with her account being hacked, she was further harassed by this mob on the internet, until they were informed of the hack.
Let's agree, we hate racists. However, there is a danger in going after a man's ability to provide for his family. Putting a man or woman out of job is not going to help them - it's going to hurt us all. Furthermore, if they are already racists, you have permanently assured everyone that they will remain racists because of these actions.
Another problem is that the internet can only give you so much information. The details of a person's address or place of employment could be real, could be fake, could be old and outdated - we just do not know. So, if the information is outdated, a person who has absolutely NOTHING to do with the racist posts via social media could end up being harmed or harassed for doing nothing.
No, I'm sorry. I might hate racists just as much as the next person but, I believe in dealing with people directly or if it's over the internet, just block them and leave them alone. Isolating these people is not only the best for your sanity but, for everyone in general.
3) "Robbing a store doesn't mean he deserved to be murdered!" No, of course robbing a store is not grounds for being killed. Again, I suppose some depraved people out there do feel this way but I can say that for myself and many others, this is not at all what anyone is suggesting.
The point of bringing up the robbery is that is demonstrates a state of mind that Brown possessed that day and perhaps in general. As far as I know, Brown's record - if he has one - has not truly been vetted. It's tough for me to watch that video of him robbing and grabbing the clerk and think, "Oh, this must be his first offense." Call me crazy but that didn't look like a first-timer move. It's clear he did not have much respect for other people, their property, the law, and certainly no respect for authority.
It's clear that Brown and his friend were walking down the middle of the road. It's also been established that the two of them did not comply with the officer's request to get on the sidewalk. We also know from witnesses and from forensics that there was indeed a scuffle in or around the door of Officer Wilson's vehicle and that's Brown's DNA was found all over the interior door of the vehicle, on the door handle, and on the uniform of Officer Wilson.
Excerpt from Witness 44 interview #2, referencing the actions of Brown:
Yeah, like just instantly the car..pulled backwards, he just instantly like ran to the window like he had something to say to him.4) There is more testimony and of course the documents have been released. What is important here is that when we have several different witnesses we must understand a few important points:
A) Witnesses can only provide a unique and limited perspective. This basically means that one witness on one side of an altercation or event will have a different view, a unique view, when compared to another witness who is positioned in another area. It is because of this that witnesses can often have differing testimony yet, they are describing the same event.
B) All people are prone to having biases. This is always present and biases can even present themselves when there is absolutely no reason or no emotional attachment to the event or situation. Confirmation bias is what occurs when we have an idea in our mind and instead of applying a true-test methodology to falsify our idea, we often end up merely confirming what we believe.
Let me give you an example of how confirmation bias works. Keep in mind that the following is NOT an intelligence test. It is merely to demonstrate bias. Here is a statement I am trying to TEST:
If a card has the letter A on it, than it will have an 8 on the other side.
A J 2 8
Looking at the cards, which two would you use to test the statement given above? You can go ahead and give yourself some time to think but also think about WHY you are choosing the cards.
(scroll down)
What did you guess? If you are like most people, you will chose the card with the letter A and the one with the number 8. We tend to do this because the original statement gave us both the letter A and the number 8. Without realizing it, by choosing these cards, we are confirming our bias. In essence we find ourselves trying to confirm the statement rather than testing it.
In order to test the statement, "If a card has the letter A on it, than it will have an 8 on the other side," we have to try and falsify it, not support it. The statement says, "If A, than 8" ...so choosing A is necessary because it fulfills the qualification of the statement. We would not chose J because even if it did have the number 8 on the other side, the statement never mentioned anything about the letter J, it mentions only A as a necessity.
Now, if we chose 8 and turn the card over and find an A, that only confirms our BIAS. It could be only a mere coincidence that we find an A, and if we find another letter, that leaves us with the same problem we would have if we chose the J card. The statement only says, "If A, than 8..." so again, because the statement does not say anything about another letter, it would prove/disprove nothing.. Instead we must turn over the 2 and only then if we turn over the card and find the letter A could we disprove the statement, or conversely if we found another letter we would prove the statement - hence, a true-test.
So what's the point here? The point is that you have no attachment whatsoever to this problem. In fact, you could care less about these cards or this experiment yet, if you are like most people, you naturally have a bias of some sort. It's just natural. Our brains like to fill in what we think should be there based on other information given to us. Since the information given used the letter A and the number 8, we naturally assumed that those would be the cards we would use to test the statement.
When you have a case that was so emotionally charged from the beginning and stories being told all around about who did what and when and how, it's hard for some witnesses to be truly objective about what they witnessed. They may fill in details in order to satisfy those around them. Nobody wants to be perceived as the "weird one" or the odd person out. People like to conform; it's a part of evolution and survival. Biases are natural and whenever we consider any witness, we must always understand that this does occur. Again, this is yet another reason we find that multiple witnesses can often have great disparities about what they saw.
If a person has a biased opinion of police in general, their minds will have a difficult time with looking objectively at an event. A person might "fill-in" details that confirm their bias about cops. Any action by a police officer can then be interpreted as being something quite negative.
We now understand that bias can happen when we are not even aware, so imagine how hard it is for someone to ignore their bias when a case like this is extremely emotional and political?
The fact that there were indeed African-American witnesses that conclusively support the police officer's version of the story, and are quite similar, makes these witnesses extremely credible.
C) When police investigate, they too may have biases so, they must "test" each of the statements given to them. The investigation in this case shows that the witnesses' statements were indeed helpful but ultimately it would be the forensics that filled in the information, giving a full picture of what occurred.
D) Witnesses are important only to a certain degree. Both the defense and prosecution can use witnesses for support or to debunk claims made by the other side. In the end however, eye witnesses can be notoriously unreliable. It really depends on the case, where it occurred, when it occurred, and the circumstances surrounding the event or crime. This leads to the next point...
5) Our best evidence comes to us through forensics. Objective evidence can be collected and tested in the lab. DNA for example is not bias. Either the DNA matches the suspect or it does not. In this case the autopsy is the most comprehensive objective evidence we have. Now of course interpretations of an autopsy can produce bias and this is why multiple autopsies were performed.
In this case, we do know that Brown was not shot from behind; he was not shot while the officer was standing above him; he was not shot with his hands up. While witnesses can help support this, it is not necessary since the autopsies confirm these facts.
6) Evaluation of objective evidence and witness testimony can determine credibility. There were several problems with witnesses during the investigation. These issues were exposed during interviews and during the Grand Jury procedure. For example, witnesses made statements based on assumptions.
Grand Jury Volume XVI October 27, 2014 Page 77:
Q. So it was after you learned that the things that you said you saw couldn't of had happened that way, then you changed your story about what you seen?
A. Yeah, to coincide with what really happened.
This is just ONE example and let me tell you, the further I went along in reading the volumes that were published the more clearer it became just how utterly ridiculous this entire case was from the beginning.
7) There is a sad story that underlines this entire case. The fact is, we have people who were afraid to go to the police for fear of being harmed and we have youth who believe that they should never trust the police nor should they respect the police. These are very real and serious issues that need to be addressed.
It's definitely time to open up a dialogue. I can only hope that there will be enough people interested in actually taking the time to listen, rather than spending their time shouting out catchy phrases about injustice or name-calling.
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Eric Garner, another man who died after being arrested by the police caught the attention of many after that Grand Jury returned a no indictment ruling on the police in that incident.
In that case, Eric was a career criminal selling cigarettes in an illegal manner. He refused to comply with authorities and as such he was placed in a hold and taken down. This action has been blamed as the cause of his death. Medical attention was given and he died en route to the hospital.
It's fairly certain the man would not have died under normal circumstances. Eric was an extremely obese man who suffered from asthma and other health problems. Had he cooperated with authorities, there would have been no need to take him down in the manner that was presumed. It seems to have been his intimidating size that prompted the police to take the actions they did.
One could easily argue Garner should not have been arrested in the first place. That would require a discussion on our current over-reaching laws. However there is no denying that a person really takes their own lives in their hands when they forcibly refuse to be arrested.
It is quite doubtful that race was involved as some motivating factor with the police in either of these cases yet, the racist narrative seems to be the only one considered by many people.
Racism can very well be a factor in some cases where the person being arrested is of a different skin color than the arresting officer. Police brutality can and does occur. However, each case must be looked at objectively and individually. Many actions by police are indeed justified and they are motivated by circumstance, not race.
How can we move forward in our discussions? How can we better acknowledge the full picture and communicate with those who are only seeking to confirm their bias, rather than looking objectively at the facts?
Links and Resources:
http://apps.stlpublicradio.org/ferguson-project/evidence.html
http://neuronbomb.wordpress.com/2014/11/28/the-ferguson-masterpost-how-to-argue-eloquently-back-yourself-up-with-facts/#FakeFacts
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/11/28/IN-FERGUSON-WITNESS-INTIMIDATION-LYING-BY-COMMUNITY-OF-COLOR
http://wreg.com/2014/11/26/some-witnesses-admitted-lying-during-darren-wilson-testimony/
