Apparently things are so bad in Ferguson, Missouri, that the governor has called out the National Guard.
“Given these deliberate, coordinated and intensifying violent attacks on lives and property in Ferguson, I am directing the highly capable men and women of the Missouri National Guard … in restoring peace and order to this community,” he said in a statement.
Now, I’ve been reading as many articles as I can find about this situation down there and I have yet to come to a place where I can choose a side. I refuse to choose a side just because I’m white. And to be honest, I don’t know if there is enough information for anyone to really choose a side at this point, unless you are choosing based solely on race, emotion, or … more emotion.
Ferguson police face off against protesters. (Image courtesy of answercoalition.org)
What is going on down there isn’t peaceful protesting. Protesting is taking a strong side for an issue and supporting it. Marching around chanting “Hands up, don’t shoot” is not protesting. It’s passive-aggressive sneering. Peaceful protesting does not include carrying guns and shooting each other. “But it’s just a peaceful protest!” you say. Then why arm yourself? If you’re either hoping for or expecting violence, then stay away!
Regardless of what side you are on, regardless of whether you think the white cop stood there and gunned down an innocent, harmless black teenager for no reason whatsoever…looting? Violence against local businesses? Just plain ridiculous. Employees at a McDonald’s had to hide in a storage room because the store was invaded by “peaceful” protesters. Good grief.
What do these looters and vandals think they’re going to accomplish by acting like hoodlums and criminals? What possible good could come of that? Do they really think that the powers-that-be will say “Oh my goodness, I didn’t realize they were serious before, but now they’ve broken that window and stolen that TV. Good heavens, they ARE serious!” Ugh.
Ugh.
Society? Get yourself back under control! People involved in this on both sides? Quit acting like violent brats. Figure out how to get your point across in a mature way. Don’t like the system? Then start working to change it instead of becoming part of the problem yourself.
Ferguson is 68% black and the police force is nearly all white. Let’s start there. Let’s look at why that is and start to fix it…the right way. Crying “racism” and marching around is not going to change it. Will it happen fast? Not a chance. But change CAN happen, even if it has to happen one person at a time.
BOTH black and white need to fix this problem, but they need to do it by working together as mature adults. Not through name-calling and violence.