One has to wonder, is President Obama dismally ignorant of the facts in the shooting death of Michael Brown? Or is he, like so many others, not interested in the facts. A white kills a black---it's the only fact that matters. Here emotion is the 800-pound gorilla and evidence is the 98-pound weakling.
Few doubt that if it had been a black who killed another black in Ferguson, Missouri, the incident would not have attracted much attention. Tragic, to be sure, but not unusual. Every day there is an average of 12 black-on-black murders. The fact that it was a white who killed a black reveals the true nature of Brown's death; it's not about a homicide, and it's not about justice, it's about race.
Suppose the Ferguson situation was reversed and it was a white, unarmed, 18-year-old teenager fatally shot by a black police officer. Ever wonder what would happen? Well, wonder no more.
That's exactly what happened two years ago in Mobile, Alabama. To make the parallel perfect, the grand jury did not indict the police office concluding that he acted in self-defense. Were there nationwide demonstrations, crowds waving signs, “No justice. No Peace,” die-in protests at shopping malls? No, indeed. As was said, Ferguson is an emotionally-fueled frenzy about race.
We'll not rehearse the shooting of Michael Brown. It's been given nationwide coverage for four months, sparked scores of riots in as many cities, looting of dozens of businesses, arsenic fires, and millions of dollars in property damage. It also prompted the President to give a most revealing speech, not in what he said but what went unsaid.
The President's nationally televised address on November 24th failed to have a single word of criticism for Brown robbing a convenience store, then shortly thereafter ignoring a police officer's request to walk on the sidewalk and not in the middle of the street, or Brown reaching into Officer's Wilson's patrol car to wrestle for his pistol, or punching him in the face. No sir, not a word.
He also managed not to say a word about the grand jury's painstaking decision not to indict Officer Wilson. Also ignored was the complete transparency of its decision based on a public release of all the forensic evidence, the autopsy, medical examination of Officer Wilson's facial injury, and the testimony of 60 witnesses.
However, the President did say “there's never an excuse for violence.” But that was not a reference to Brown's violence but to the rampaging mob in Ferguson. He urged them to vent their anger in more “constructive ways.”
He also manage to talk about “tackling much-needed criminal justice reform,” a “broken” criminal justice system, and “the broader challenges we still face as a nation.” But how, exactly is the justice system to be reformed, or what precisely is “broken,” and what are the “broader challenges” remained, little more than sound bites.
The President continued: “the frustration . . . have deep roots in many communities of color who have a sense that our laws are not always being enforced uniformly or fairly.” He continued, “These frustrations are rooted in some hard truths that have to be addressed.”
However, it is difficult to see the relevancy of these issues to Office Wilson's forced action taken in defense of his life.
The President claimed the faults are everywhere: the laws, the police, the criminal justice system, the racism, the deep-rooted frustrations, the hard truths to be addressed. In short, with everything except in the criminal behavior of Michael Brown.
During the President's 18-minute polemic the three networks switched to a split-screen, Obama with his calm, measured phrases on one side and Ferguson engulfed in riots and flames on the other side The juxtaposition. showed that the President and his message were as out-of-step with events as events were as out-of-place with the facts.
Sincerely,
Bob Scroggins
New Milford, PA