The black community is living with the aftermath of, what seems like, another blow of injustice. On Monday, a grand jury decided that Ferguson County police officer Darren Wilson will not be indicted for shooting unarmed black teen Michael Brown last summer.
The decision, announced by St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert P. McCulloch, means that Wilson, 28, will face no charges for the Aug. 9th shooting of Brown, 18.
The announcement, although not surprising by many within the black community, still unleashed a fury of rage and disbelief.
Of the decision, McCulloch detailed conflicting reports of initial statements provided after the shooting and the investigation that followed. He also mentioned several eyewitnesses recanting or changing their stories all together, bringing about further confusion as to what took place the afternoon of Mike Brown’s death at the hand of officer Wilson. It’s perhaps for that very reason, the jury found no probable cause to indict Wilson.
So where does that leave a nation divided by the ongoing display of racial tension?
In an essay by writer Tim Wise, he details that bitterness and conflict among black and white Americans.
To white America, in the main, police are the folks who help get our cats out of the tree, or who take us on ride-arounds to show us how gosh-darned exciting it is to be a cop. We experience police most often as helpful, as protectors of our lives and property. But that is not the black experience by and large; and black people know this, however much we don’t. The history of law enforcement in America, with regard to black folks, has been one of unremitting oppression. That is neither hyperbole nor opinion, but incontrovertible fact.
You can read more of what Wise had to say via tattletailzz.com.
You can also head over to Mediaoutrage.com for more details on the case and ruling.
Sweethearts, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the case and the decision made to not indict officer Wilson.
