If your television is turned on to CNN, you know all about the riots in Ferguson last night, know about the burning, the looting after it was announced that Darren Wilson would not be tried for murder. You also know that the black community is not happy with the outcome, is claiming that justice has not been served once again for the black community. You have the Brown family attorney and others calling for a Federal indictment, and we all know it is only a matter of time before the family of Michael Brown files a wrongful death suit against the Ferguson Police Department, and the officer that will probably be settled out of court by the insurance companies.
What I am wondering, is why no one including the news networks not asking certain questions. For instance, would Michael Brown have even been in a situation to be shot if he had not robbed a convenience store? Would Michael Brown have been in a situation of being shot if he had simply gotten out of the middle of the road and onto the sidewalk rather than telling Officer Wilson to "Fuck Off"? Would Michael Brown have been in a position of being shot if he had not physically attacked the officer in his car, tried to take his gun? Michael Brown is the single largest contributor to his own tragic death.
Shared culpability and personal accountability. Let me be clear...I think it is a tragedy that Michael Brown's life ended in the way that it did. Find it sad that stealing some cigars started a chain of events that would find him in a matter of minutes laying dead in the middle of the street. My heart goes out to his parents, and can feel their pain at the loss of a child. But let us individually, and as a nation also be honest...Michael Brown is at least partially if not significantly responsible for his own death. Let's talk about problems, but lets discuss them openly and honestly, where all sides are looked at...Michael Brown was not suspected of simple shop lifting, but a felony when he assaulted the store owner. He did in fact and deed attack a police officer, that is another felony. Evidence suggests that he did go for the officer's gun. Surely in a civilized society we cannot justify this young man's actions, yet you do not see the national media discussing this side of the equation, and when someone like former NY Mayor Rudy Giuliani brings up this other side of the coin, he is labeled a racist.
• Blacks are seven times more likely than people of other races to commit murder, and eight times more likely to commit robbery.
• When blacks commit crimes of violence, they are nearly three times more likely than non-blacks to use a gun, and more than twice as likely to use a knife.
• Hispanics commit violent crimes at roughly three times the white rate, and Asians commit violent crimes at about one quarter the white rate.
• The single best indicator of violent crime levels in an area is the percentage of the population that is black and Hispanic.
These bullet points are facts backed by national statistics. Which begs the question...what are the underlying causes that see blacks committing a much larger percentage of crimes compared to their percentage of the overall population, what saw Michael Brown decide he could go into a convenience store and steal some cigars? What underlying issues in his upbringing made him think he could simply bully the store owner, physically attack him and walk out of the store. What made Michael Brown think it was OK to mouth off to a police officer...especially after he'd just left the scene of a crime. Maybe the Brown family attorney is correct when he says we need to change the system, but maybe we also need to change within our families, and within our communities as well. Crime is crime, and like the old adage says, "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time" and sadly in this case Michael Brown's own decisions leading up the confrontation saw him pay with his life for his criminal actions.
If the black citizens want to place blame, do it fairly, and if you do it fairly, a big slice of the blame pie must be placed on Michael Brown's plate, on his family's plate.
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