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RAMS with #Handsup push Joe Scarborough into a tailspin

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Source: http://thecount.com/wp-content/uploads/St.-Louis-Rams-Stage-HANDS-UP-DONT-SHOOT

Prior to yesterday’s game between the Saint Louis Rams and the Oakland Raiders, several Rams offensive players entered the stadium with their hands up, mimicking the stance that some witnesses claim #MichaelBrown adopted prior to being fatally shot by Officer Darren Wilson.

This morning, Joe Scarborough of “Morning Joe” was on a rant.   He questioned how the Saint Louis Rams ( by implication, anyone) would choose to make a hero out of #Michael Brown who was clearly a “thug.”  It seems to me that  #MichaelBrown would have needed to be arrested, charged with a crime and convicted before one could say, with any authority, that #MichaelBrown was a “thug.”  Officer Wilson denied #MichaelBrown the right of a fair trial, so the world will never know if #MichaelBrown would have been found guilty of robbing a store and assaulting a police officer.  #MichaelBrown’s side of the story has been forever silenced.  One cannot say that the Rams football players did or did not come onto the field with #Handsup because they saw #MichaelBrown as a hero.  Perhaps, they simply saw a black teenager denied due process under the law.  Although I am not a lawyer, it is my understanding that even hardened criminals, in this country, should be accorded certain rights and protections.

Joe Scarborough ended his rant by saying that while most people will not say it publicly, 95% of people agree with him. I’m tempted to use my mother’s words — “if 95% of the people jumped off a bridge would you join them”? –but I won’t.  Instead, I will say that things often look different from a distance.

In 1967 Muhammad Ali opposed the Vietnam War and refused to be inducted into the United States Army on religious grounds.  Muhammad Ali claimed a religious exemption because he is a Muslim. Ali was initially convicted of draft evasion, sentenced to prison, fined and banned from boxing.  I would venture to say that 98% of Americans (including many in the largely Christian African-American population) agreed with the government’s harsh treatment of Ali. After all, he was not a Christian.  He was not even a Quaker.  So, who was he to refuse to serve in the military?  However, after reviewing the cascade of body bags, the dark days of anti-war protests (especially, the Kent State Massacre), and, finally, the Pentagon Papers; public opinions changed, as did government policy. I think Joe Scarborough would be hard-pressed to find anyone, looking back, who does not respect Ali for acting according to his conscience.

At the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico, two Black American Olympic medalists, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, stood on a podium, bowed their heads and raised their fists in the air,  giving the Black Power salute during the playing of the National Anthen.  This gesture of solidarity with Black Americans who were fighting for equality back home in the United States cost these athletes dearly. Millions of white Americans were offended by this act.  These two athletes could have followed the example of the great Jesse Owens, who won four gold medals at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany and greatly offended, I’m sure, Adolph Hitler by doing so.  Jesse Owens made no outward sign or gesture to show how he felt about racism or the fact that Blacks and Jews were treated differently (i.e., Hitler sought to exclude them from the games).  Jesse Owens’ only response to Hitler’s claim of Aryan supremacy was to debunk the theory of Aryan superiority on the track.  Reportedly, Jesse Owens did not receive the same congratulations from President Roosevelt as was accorded other American athletes returning home from the Olympics.  Still, there is no record of Owens acting to draw attention to the his reality.

It seems to me that the times dictate ones response to perceived racism.  Tommie Smith and John Carlos chose to bow their heads in acknowledgement of the Star Spangled Banner, while raising their fists in the popular Black Power Salute.  They knew Jesse Owens.  They must have known the racism he encountered.  They certainly must have experienced racism in their own lives and understood the struggles of Black Americans who were not standing there with them on the podium.  As a young college student in 1968, I appreciated the internal struggles that Smith and Carlos must have experienced — wanting to support the struggle for racial equality at home while pursuing their quest for the gold.  They did not burn any buildings or commit any crimes, but they gave us a sign that we recognized.  Their fists let us know that they cared.

It seems to me that the Saint Louis Rams players are standing on broad shoulders.  Joe Scarborough and 95% of his viewers may be offended.  This is not the first time that a lot of people were offended.  It will not be the last.  The majority can be wrong.  One’s conscience cannot be dictated by majority vote.  An act of conscience must be the result of one’s moral compass.  Others may not understand until they look back from a distance.

Deja Vue

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Like any good manager, trained to manage human resources for the good of the company, Bob McCulloch, the St. Louis County prosecutor in the case of Missouri vs. Darren Wilson, stepped forward at close of business on November 24, 2014 to issue pink slips to people who, despite all the negative forecasts, had gathered on that cold November night hoping that the work of meting out justice to Darren Wilson for taking the life of an unarmed young man in Ferguson, Missouri on August 9, 2014 would begin in earnest.  I was taken aback by McCulloch’s well rehearsed speech which set forth the premise that Darren Wilson acted properly, as an agent of the State, when he executed  #MichaelBrown, thus denying Brown due process under the law. McCulloch announced that Darren Wilson would not stand trial by a jury of his peers.  Instead, the people were given pink slips at the end of the day.

Bob McCulloch did the job he was created to do.  As a show of support for McCulloch’s good work, Governor Nixon met with faith leaders and community leaders and declared a state of emergency well ahead of McCulloch’s presentation. There were pleas from different factions of the company, urging the people to peacefully resign themselves to the way things are and to disperse quietly with their pink slips. The Chairman of the Board, who is generally focused on the big picture and moving the company forward, stepped up after McCulloch issued the pink slips to remind us that ours is a Nation of laws. And I was taken back in time.

I was taken back in time to the murders of Amadou Diallo, Sean Bell, Oscar Grant, Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, John Crawford and Tamir Rice. I was taken back to August 9, 2014 when #MichaelBrown lay dead in the street for over four hours after being denied equal protection under the law by Darren Wilson.  I was taken back in time to August  when peaceful protestors were met with tear gas and armoured tanks in the streets of Ferguson, Missouri.

I was taken back to a time in our great country when the law of the land was “separate but equal.”  I was taken back to a time when a 14 year old black boy was murdered because a white woman claimed he looked at her.  I was taken back to a time when a black woman was arrested for sitting in the wrong seat on a public bus.  I was taken back to a time when young black college students were arrested for sitting down to eat at a Woolworth’s lunch counter.  I was taken back to a time when James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner were murdered for registering black voters. I was taken back to a time when police with dogs and hoses were let loose on people who marched in protest of unjust laws.

I was taken back to Dr. King, sitting in a Birmingham jail, writing a letter to white clergymen asserting that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”  I was taken back to the murders of Medgar Evers, John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X,  Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.and Robert Kennedy — a time that left us floundering, wondering if we would ever reach the mountaintop that Dr. king talked about.   I was taken back to a time when cities burned.  And people prayed. And people cursed.  And people marched. And people sang. And people cried. And people went to jail.  And people died.  And people despaired. Then, people picked themselves up, went to the polls and voted.

The Puzzle: “Darren Wilson told investigators he was trapped in his car by Brown, New York Times reports”

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Darren Wilson told investigators he was trapped in his car by Brown, New York Times reports.

I find the leaks coming out of  the Ferguson grand jury that has been meeting to determine if charges should be brought against Officer  Darren Wilson for the shooting death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown puzzling.  Many people seem puzzled as to the source of the leaks.  As a news junkie, rather than a lawyer, I consider the source of the leaks less relevant than the content of the leaks.  Yes, I know the Ferguson grand jury proceedings are supposed to be conducted with utmost secrecy so as to insure “confidence” in the system (something like the trust insured by a jury of your peers or the transparency of The Sunshine Laws). Nonetheless, I am not puzzled by the fact that there were leaks, nor by the identity of the leaker. Rather, I am puzzled by the information that was leaked.

I am puzzled by The New York Times report that Officer Wilson testified that Michael Brown reached into the patrol car, punched the officer in the face and scratched his neck, while reaching with his right hand for the officer’s weapon.  I am puzzled by this.  Where was the officer’s weapon when Michael Brown reached into the car? Was the weapon in the officer’s holster on his hip, in the seat next to him, on the dashboard, in the officer’s hand?  I find the visuals to be confusing. If the gun was not already in the officer’s hand, why was the officer unable to use his hand to fend off Michael Brown or punch him in the face? If the officer’s hand was empty, why was he unable to subdue the teenager?  I am puzzled because it seems that a trained law enforcement officer, Officer Darren Wilson, lost an arm wrestling match with a teenager.

I am puzzled. The first leaked reports about the alleged injuries sustained  by Officer Wilson asserted that the police officer suffered major injuries, including a broken or fractured eye socket.  According to Snopes.com, reports that Officer Wilson suffered a broken facial bone and fractured eye socket are false. As a matter of fact, according to Snopes.com, images of Jim McNeil, a motocross rider injured in 2006, were circulated through social media to prove that Officer Darren Wilson had been seriously injured by Michael Brown.  Since that was all false, I am puzzled as to the true extent of Officer Wilson’s injuries.

I am puzzled because in leaked reports of Officer Wilson’s testimony to the grand jury, Officer Wilson states that he feared for his life.  I am puzzled as to when the officer feared for his life.  Was he fearful when the teenager turned and ran away?  Did Officer Wilson call for backup before exiting the patrol car?  Was Officer Wilson’s use of deadly force warranted by the circumstances?

I am puzzled. Did Officer Wilson file an incident report on August 9, 2014, the day he killed Michael Brown?  Had Officer Wilson filed a report of the incident by the following week, or the following month? If not, why not?

I am puzzled as to why Missouri Governor Nixon feels the need to appoint a Ferguson Commission to Address Inequality.  If the Governor is aware that there are problems of inequality, why did he not address the inequalities in the judicial system by appointing an independent prosecutor to handle the Darren Wilson case, especially in light of prosecuting attorney Robert McCulloch’s conflict of interest?

I am puzzled.

President Obama Addressed the UN Security Council

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I was depressed after listening to the President’s speech to the UN Security Council. While I understand that people with machetes, who aren’t afraid to use them, are a threat to all. An enlightened society where some can openly carry and shoot to kill unarmed Black men / women seems a more immediate threat to me and mine. So, because the President has been unable to put forth a plan to hold American citizens accountable for violence against other American citizens whom God created as a different race, because the President has been unable to formulate a plan to secure the safety (life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness) for the ethnic / racial minority in these United States of America; his words were tepid tea.

The President did mention Ferguson, Missouri as proof that he is aware that the United States of America has internal problems. However, he was unable to explain how our “enlightened” nation deals with our internal problems. Rather, it appeared that President Obama mentioned #Ferguson as a way of cutting off criticism “at the pass” from other countries.

Maybe the President’s rhetorical device worked with foreign leaders from around the globe; but, here, on “The Homeland,” it fell short. On the same day the President made an historical speech to the UN Security Council (meeting for only the 6th time at the Head of State level in history); Americans learned that an Ohio grand jury decided not to charge police officers for fatally shooting a Black man for shopping in a Walmart store while carrying a pellet gun he had picked up from the Walmart shelves.

Since the killing of unarmed Trayvon Martin, there appears to be a pattern of shooting unarmed Black men, with impunity, in this country. Perhaps these Black men are standing in for President Obama, for whom racist White Americans carry boundless hatred. Whatever the reason, the shooters of unarmed Black men, are generally cleared and deemed to have re-acted appropriately to a perceived threat of violence. The United States has long had a history of arresting Black men for DWB (driving while Black). Now, Black men can be legally shot dead for WalkingWhileBlack, #TrayvonMartin and #MichaelBrown, ShoppingWhileBlack, #JohnCrawford; or WorkingWhileBlack #EricGarner, choked on the street in New York for peddling cigarettes (possibly working at the only job available to him).

So, while I am sickened to see video of two American journalists beheaded by terrorists on the other side of the world, and equally sickened at descriptions of women and girls being abducted, raped, murdered or forced into marriage; I was depressed by the President’s speech to the UN Security Council. I was depressed because it appeared that the President only invoked #Ferguson Missouri as a preemptive strike against those who would dare criticize these United States, or “The Homeland,” as he now calls it.

When President Obama ran for office, he assured us that he could pat his head and rub his stomach at the same time. I need President Obama to recognize the threat faced by American citizens on “The Homeland” and come up with a plan to neutralize the threat. And, I need him to know that a mentoring program to show our young men how to pull themselves up by their boot straps will not neutralize or solve the problems faced by minorities in this country as racial minorities are not being killed by their boot straps.

I need President Obama to turn a portion of his considerable intelligence to protecting the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness of Black men and women in this country. I need the President to convene great leaders/thinkers in this country, just as he convened the Heads of State of the UN Security Council, to mobilize and activate plans to neutralize the internal threats to American citizens. Perhaps, then the United States will be able to speak to others from a position of moral authority.