Ferguson, MO part. 2

I was wrong.

There is a HUGE divide. I did not realize how big this was until I was looming over two separate Facebook sites. One directed towards a general public one by D.L. Hughly. DL is a really cool comic. I’ve always liked his silly side. He seems so accessible and fun. Chris Rock strikes me as really smart. Closer to my sense of humor (and fed up with the world fun). But I never considered DL a political person.

On his message board announcing the Ferguson cop talking about how Michael Brown (the unarmed teen shot) was at close range. Which means he was at least a few feet away from the officer who shot him. This changes things, since the assumption now is that he shot Brown while being close then fired at him as when he was wounded and retreating. This is finding by the department. For which the African-American gallery exploded with comments about civil rights, profiling and so on.

Let’s be honest. Of course cops profile. They’ve admitted it. I’ve been profiled a LOT. I’m sure not to the extent of a black man in a Lexus at 10pm in Brentwood. But, it’s aggravated me. In my neighborhood it was mostly having money versus not. I drove a shitty VW through tawny neighborhoods. With a white t-shirt and torn jeans. Until they found out what high school I went to. They let me go. It wasn’t black and white (or in this case cinnamon). It was green. Money. Money changes the game. Money isn’t that you pay off cops. But they expect that your folks keep on the low down. That they don’t want to be sued. Or lose their place in status. This is what chains most people with money to civility. The inner city, and what seems like in Ferguson, lower middle class working people. There is low connection to what the law deals with. There is a huge suspicion with the police. Even though there was a low boil to their already tempestuous relationship. It’s like that crazy woman that you married and you step on eggshells not to break anything. Or have her explode on you with craziness. But your back is up against the wall. Both sides, really. The frustration of upholding law and stepping on civil rights keeps authorities really bound and jittery. Whilst on the other side, the African-American public in Ferguson is constantly wondering when the police will crack. Or waiting for something terrible to happen. This was it.

All eyes are on this town that can barely be bigger than a town in Los Angeles. I feel bad for EVERYONE involved. The officer who shot the kid, I’m most certain, regrets it. It’s an ugly situation. There was no reason for it to go the distance. And the rest of the world cannot get over why an officer of the law who’s had ZERO background of racism, violence, arrogance (see: Mark Furhman) would empty a magazine into this dude. It just all doesn’t make sense.

Either way, like I said before, if we’re in a police state, I haven’t seen it. I feel if one side is expecting something terrible to happen, it’s just going to happen. Or some are going to want it to happen. I almost think it’s that moment in “Tombstone” where they’re all at the OK Coral, then a small movement causes chaos to break out. It just seems like that’s where we’re headed. I hope not.