Justice?

I don't even know where to start. Thankfully this blog is all about rambling, so I can just spout it out and hope it makes some sort of sense.

I hate that I can't express myself as eloquently as some bloggers. I feel like if I could just make people understand my viewpoint better it would influence them. Which is just ridiculous. It's why I share stuff I read..thinking "This, THIS is what will make them understand" because when I say it they don't. But, nope, nothing matters. No one chooses to look past their beliefs and try to see if maybe, just maybe they are being naive (a nice way of saying racist?).

When they are faced with the thought that they are wrong, they change the subject. Everyone has an opinion on what happened in August to Michael Brown. The problem starts with the fact that it is just that...an opinion. NONE of us know what happened. But why focus on that...let's just pull "facts" that the media presents as evidence as to why our opinions are the right ones. FACT: Michael Brown was a criminal, let's ignore that the cop didn't know that. FACT: Michael Brown attacked the cop, let's ignore the photos don't support that statement and there are eyewitness accounts that go both ways, but let's stick with the ones that make our case. FACT: A grand jury isn't supposed to determine guilt or innocence of the cop, but let's just keep stating over and over again that they saw the evidence and they determined a trial wasn't needed, let's ignore that the prosecutor's father was a cop who was shot, let's ignore the lawyers who state the grand jury wasn't handled properly....let's instead focus on the riots.

Let's focus on the riots, instead of the injustice of that boy not getting a trial. Let's forget that nearly ALL grand juries go to trial. Let's keep saying completely ignorant things like "If THEY weren't breaking the law, THEY wouldn't be getting shot" because remember Michael Brown WAS walking in the street and that is illegal! (Don't even bring up those cigars, the cop admitted he knew nothing about that!) Let's pretend that we all follow the letter of the law at all times and if we didn't, we would be completely ok with being shot to death. Let's pretend that people don't get angry. Let's pretend the cop wasn't pissed at how insubordinate this "thug" was being, let's pretend that, in the same situation, a white person wouldn't get angry right back and mouth off to the cop. Let's pretend that that is a justifiable reason for shooting someone 6 or 7 times. Oh wait, you want to go back to the whole "He tried to grab the cop's gun argument"? Ok, let's pretend we should believe the cop...are we really ok with cops being judge and jury and executioner? Are we? Is that because you feel safe, being white? When it starts to become acceptable for them to shoot black kids and they continue getting off scott free, will they start shooting undesirable whites next? Will that be ok, because you aren't white trash? Why are you so ok with cops shooting anyone? Is it because a cop's job is so hard and I just can't understand what it would be like to be in their shoes? Because NO ONE forced them to join the force. They knew the risks and they promise to "protect and serve" not murder when they feel a little threatened. If their go to response it to shoot to kill, they probably shouldn't be allowed to have a gun. Why? Why are you so quick to defend this man you don't know? How are you so sure he isn't a racist cop with a chip on his shoulder? How are you so sure this situation couldn't have been handled better by both sides? Why don't you think at the minimum there should have been a trial?

Well...we were all denied a trial. So now let's focus on the rioters. You do realize the actions of people rioting have nothing to do with the August event? Because it seems a lot of people want to tie them together, almost like because some black people in the community loot and riot that that somehow is evidence that Michael Brown deserved to die. They are NOT related, they have nothing to do with each other. We have no idea if Michael Brown would or would not loot and riot. Stealing some cigars is a far cry from burning a store down. Oh and have you NEVER stolen anything...NEVER? Nothing? You have never jay walked, never sped, never rolled through a stop sign, pissed outside....
Oh and should the looters all be shot to death? Do we no longer need a justice system? Or is just the black people that don't need a justice system? And, hey, you may be right there...it's not like we send white collar criminals to prison for their crimes, and white kids with drug offenses get real lawyers (no offense to public defenders) to get them off easy...because I know you think because prisons are filled with more black people that means they are committing more crimes, it couldn't possibly be that they are just the ones that get sentenced harsher, nope that can't be it ...this is America...we wouldn't do that..

My favorite comeback is the meme about OJ...white people didn't riot after OJ....I see zero connection....zero, between a cop shooting someone and a random person murdering someone. Oh wait is it because both involved interracial crime? Because you do realize had that been any other black man there probably wouldn't have been a trial...either the cops would have coerced a confession or the public defender would have convinced him to plead out...yes I am a bit cynical, but tell me it isn't true? The reasons white people didn't riot is because he was a celebrity, we all accept anything that they do won't be punished. The Lindsay's, the Amanda Bynes, the football stars...none of them have to answer for their crimes and we have no outrage. But you know what WILL cause a white person to riot...a sports team's victory...and then how does the media portray that? Is there talk of the stupidity of trashing your own neighborhood? Does the term animals get thrown around? No, we just kind of laugh it off as the stupidity of white drunk guys.

So now that we are all so sure that justice was done. The Grand jury made the right decision...again forget that there were 9 white jurors and 3 black ones and only 9 votes were needed for a decision...
so everything was done by the books, we should all just shut up, nothing wrong happened in Ferguson. America is as safe for black men as it is for anyone....how many black men have died since that day in August? I don't know, I have seen numbers but I am sure there have been more since then.

The ones that stand out are the Walmart shooting...how do you feel about that one? That guy absolutely should not have been leaning on a toy gun in public! The nerve! How about the 12 year old boy with the airsoft gun at the park...are you sure that your kid wouldn't go to a park after a day playing with friends and wave it around trying to scare people, because kids aren't always known for making the best decisions. I can see my nephew doing it...his famous words at that age, and until at least 15 or 16 were "I didn't know THAT would happen"...he never thought through the consequences of his actions.  Should his immaturity be rewarded with murder? Watch the video....those cops pulled up and killed that kid in seconds...they claim to have yelled drop your weapon three times, there wasn't enough time to yell it more than once at the most. If the 911 operator dropped the ball by failing to inform the cops that the caller said (more than once) that he thought it wasn't a real gun, does that excuse the cops? Do we really want trigger happy cops? I can not imagine how that caller feels...I would not be able to sleep knowing that I was partially responsible for that kid's death. This video caused me to unfriend an uncle, grant it I was on the verge anyway because of all the racist muslim shit he kept posting, but this put me over the edge. He actually wrote "Point an airsoft gun at a cop and see how it ends for you"....Umm that kid did NOT point the gun at a cop and is that really a reason to be shot to death, there's no other way to handle that situation-- a KID with a gun...only way to handle it...shoot him dead. And this was an OPEN CARRY state...cops shouldn't be just shooting anyone with a gun, toy or otherwise....the fucking state ALLOWS people to open carry...do you really believe if this had been a white kid it would have ended the same? I don't see a cop car pulling up to a white neighborhood park and shooting a kid with a gun...but apparently if he did some of you would believe he was completely justified because kids shouldn't be playing with guns...since when? And which guns? Paintball, bb...plastic cowboy guns? On the one hand we should be getting rid of toy guns for kids but on the other hand we should be allowing them to shoot uzi's while on vacation? Which is it? Does anybody listen to the arguments they make?

My secret little dream ..hope...wish...whatever...is that one day white men will have to live under the same circumstance that minorities now live with. One day they will finally grasp that, just possibly, living life as a black child isn't the same. That if they just worked hard enough and stayed on the straight and narrow they could be come successful and not deal with racism. The absurdity of that statement being made by anyone other than a black kid growing up in that environment is so annoying. The stupid video of the black guy telling others to just stop being part of the problem...he IS part of the problem. There have been plenty of affluent black people subjected to discrimination, ask Oprah. Only when racial profiling stops will I find it ok for white people to make claims that it is the fault of the black community. If black people get so many advantages why don't you switch places with them and we will see how far you get. You want the communities to stand together and help the kids make better choices? Have you looked at white communities? I know where I lived in PA, there were plenty of kids doing drugs, dealing drugs (one even died in a drug deal gone wrong) but you know what the difference is? their parents have money, money to bail their asses out and even cover up their crimes so they can still get into college. Hell the white kids can even gang rape and get it all covered up...there's the difference...the justice system protects the white kids, and don't think I think all white kids are exempt, like I said before it's just a small step to white trash (using that term affectionately(sarcasm font) for the poor white kids), cops like to harass them too.

I don't know why I let this get to me so much. It is a very touch subject and I do get very defensive because while there are degrees of racism, I can't stand any form...and when you side with someone's version of events, without knowing anything about either person, and that person's skin is the same color as yours, part of that has to do with race, because you can't tell me you are siding with the cops because cops never lie. In the Michael Brown case, I still stand by my assertion that I don't know what happened and thus why i wanted a trial and no I really don't believe a trial would have found the truth, but it was still the right thing to do. as for that 12 year old boy and that guy in the Walmart...they were murdered, pure and simple and I believe with all my heart it was because they were black.

America isn't the same for everyone, that's a fact not an opinion. And just because you think there is no where better...well 2 (or more) wrongs don't make a right. I won't accept that as an answer, we can do better and burying our heads or distracting ourselves from the real issue won't change that there is a problem.

Oh..one final thought...there was a # trending on twitter #theygunnedmedown. It basically asked people to post what picture they thought the media would use if they were gunned down and then post another pic of themselves. It just makes you wonder...what pics are there of you that would make you look like something other than what you are? There is a picture of me pulling at the sides of my eyes in front of the Korean war memorial...would that go along with my anti racism message? No...would people who don't know me, realize I just have a sick sense of humor? Probably not. does that one picture reflect who I really am? Well, yes and no...I am the type of person who can use humor to make a point, so if you look at it that way but if all you see is a racist photo, then no it  doesn't. My point...we are all human, we do stupid shit and one gangsta photo may not tell the whole picture of who Michael Brown was, just as one instance of stealing cigars may not...just something to think about when you are rushing to judgement.