Screaming Liberal Post #9

I've been quiet up until now about Ferguson, MO and the Michael Brown shooting for lots of reasons, but I'm writing about it today.

First, I highly ~ highly ~ recommend my white readers click this link by Derrick Clifton. It says a lot of what's been rolling around in my head, as I've listened to the conversations around Brown's shooting. Also? It's good for those of us who are white to make sure our only sources of information aren't. Another excellent link for white folks is here, by Kate Harding.

Now that those calm recommendations have been made...

Are You Fucking Kidding Me?????

1. I don't give a good goddamn if Michael Brown was part of a strong-arm robbery before or not. He was, at the time he was murdered, an unarmed kid walking down the street. The cop who killed him didn't know about the robbery, anyway. And even if he had that doesn't give him the right to kill Michael Brown as he walked down the fucking street.

Stop talking about it. It is fucking irrelevant. What happened before has no bearing to being gunned down, unarmed. Period.

2. Why are we talking about looters? Shut the fuck up about looters. Focusing on them detracts from the real blight in Ferguson: the attacks by police on peaceful protesters. Pretending everyone is looting, or arguing that a few bad apples ruin the whole barrel, is a distraction at best, and a derailment at worst. Police are tear gassing peaceful protesters. Why the fuck are we talking about looters?

3. Stop asking why he ran, or if he struggled, if he'd done nothing wrong. Open your goddamn eyes already. Black people, black men especially, are the targets of white America. They are being killed for carrying Skittles, wearing hoodies, playing music, and asking for help. Yet when a young black man sees a white cop, he's not supposed to be afraid???? Are you fucking kidding me? We live in a world where black parents have to talk to their children, especially their sons, about how to be arrested, about how to stay safe, and we white people want to know why he was scared and might have run? Might have struggled? How was he supposed to feel anything but threatened????

Yes, we must talk about Michael Brown's killing and what's happened in Ferguson since. But we also must make sure we're having the right conversations.

Those are Pobble Thoughts. That and a buck fifty will get you coffee.