Aibu too not understand the reaction of the Ferguson Michael Brown in the USA

[Natashathemum]

My Dh thinks that it is a disgusting example of racial inequality in America. But i think having read a lot of articles/news that the police officer was only protecting himself. Although it is unfortunate that someone so young died.

However Dh feels strongly it is disgusting racism. He called me blind and crazy (lighthearted). Aibu for thinking this.

If there was any suggestion of racism or wrongdoing there should be a trial

I completely agree - but isn't deciding whether that happened precisely what a grand jury is for? After all as Nicknacky said, they had the necessary info and we don't

I recall a lot of anger at the time about MB being shot while running away and/or raising his hands; some even insisted this HAD happened instead of acknowledging than it was an allegation, which was hardly a measured approach. I'd imagine the jury took into account the scientific evidence which appears to disprove this, among many other things when reaching their decision

I just joined up after long time lurking to post that I'm utterly stunned by the posters who will not accept that institutional racism exists, I'm also stunned that somebody posted a pic of that poor child playing with a gun (what else do you do with a toy gun besides point it) as evidence that he somehow deserved to be murdered. I don't know if Michael Brown was a thug, neither did the cop who shot him. That's the point- innocent til proven guilty, not summary execution by cops cos they're scared of the big bad black man.
Creighton I totally get your frustration and I'm white. I hope some of this is trolling otherwise I really fear for the wilful ignorance some people are displaying here.
Strangely enough that red mark on Darren Wilson's face did not look to me like he had been punched twice by a 20 stone young man, I've had worse marks after scratching an itch. Wilson has changed his story about being hit in the car so he has proved to be an unreliable witness too.

MB was going to college a few days after his Murder, which means he was smart and motivated enough to further his education, not scum. He had no criminal record and paid for the cigarillos in his hand.
There was 1 inch in height between the cop and MB. If the cop would have followed standard equipment procedure, he could have tased MB, but it was too uncomfortable for him to have, which reduced his options to lethal force only. That fact should be on Wilsons conscience for the rest of his life.

sheba. I did not post that picture as evidence that the child deserved to die at all. Please don't attribute stuff to me. I never said he deserved to die.

I fully agree that a child should be able to play with a toy gun without fear of been shot.

I posted the picture as someone previously had stated that the kid hadnt been pointing the gun.

I'm not sure what difference it makes that he was going to college, do smart people not get aggressive too?

And where have you read about standard procedure in that he should have used taser? There isn't a step-by-step procedure for using officer safety equipment. You use the one that is most proportionate to the level of force that you are faced with.

Or maybe the fact that black people make up 13.2% of the people in the USA, but accounted for 52.5% of homicide between 1980 - 2008.

your more likely to be murder by a black person than a white person, which is odd when there is nearly 7 times more white people in america? you have to ask if the fear is down to the actions of the black people

Jesus fucking christ! Are serious Territt16? I'm appalled at what you've written above. "The black people" THE what are black people a separate species than white people? Do you really not think that poverty and terrible racist bias play a part in the fact that half of homicides are committed by black people?

MrsDeVere it was a replica firearm, NOT a toy gun. It wasn't a 5 year old in his back garden.

thatdammedbitch I notice you take umbrage at the word "the" but yet have made no mention of creighton's use of "whites like you" (or similar, can't remember the exact phrasing). That's worse, no?

I would agree that the police shootings of young black men all have mitigating factors. And all of us want to give the benefit of the doubt to the men and women who put their lives on the line to protect us.

BUT, there are some things missing here that make institutional racism seem pretty likely. Why no discussions of improving/changing policing training and/or protocols? Why no drive to increase the numbers non-white police officers?

Innocent black children keep getting shot; excuses are proffered; everyone moves on. No one seems to want to make any changes in response to the failings.

Yes he was 12. And it wasn't a toy gun it was a replica firearm.

Children of that age commit crimes too, and serious crimes at that.

I've dealt with many violent children, many of which are younger than that. So I'm not surprised that a 12 year old in America can get his hands on a replica firearm.

If you had seen him pointing a gun which to your eye looked real, would you really think "aww bless look at the little boy playing with his toy gun"? Probably not.

It was an airsoft gun that Tamir Rice the 12 year old was playing with, and no reason for him to be murdered. Airsoft is a game therefore it can be said that the gun was a toy-it certainly was a toy to that child.
Kids point toy guns at each other and adults all the time, thats what you do with a gun

No, Nicknacky I don't think it is worse. I see creighton calling racism on this thread by Territt16 in particular as it is. I'm white, I'm not offended by creighton's "whites like you" comment because I'm not one of those "whites like you", I'm not racist. Territt16 is racist and terribly fucking offensive calling a dead man scum! Especially when he never even stole a few fucking cigars or whatever he was supposed to have done. Even though, actually he didn't steal them did he! The cctv was edited to make it look like he did. Now why would they do that unless they were racist fucks who were trying to make their racist colleague not look like a racist murdering thug? The "scum" in this case is the person who MURDERED an unarmed man!

There is a pic of it on page 4 of this thread (or page 5). Kids don't normally point guns on public streets, you run the risk the police will be called. Oh wait...........

Here is an article from a reputable journal, explaining that police see black boys as 4.59 years older than they actually are, once the child is 10 or older.

www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/03/cops-tend-to-see-black-kids-as-less-innocent-than-white-kids/383247/

It's one small part of the problem. If you think a 12 year old is actually 16 or 17, suddenly the toy/replica gun looks more real. If you realise the child is only 12, you might stop and consider that a pretend gun is more likely.

If you had seen him pointing a gun which to your eye looked real, would you really think "aww bless look at the little boy playing with his toy gun"? Probably not. I also wouldn't think, "shoot the little scumbag". There is a long way between those two positions. Where someone is on that continuum is what is deadly.

The statistics seem to bear out that there is racism in the investigation of crime, stopping people, laws around drugs, Police reactions, reporting of crimes and reporting the Police reaction to crime. I know people hate statistics but what they show is a trend, rather than absolutes. If every single Police Officer is just slightly more likely to shoot a black suspect dead than a white one, there will be more dead black teenagers. Each case can be argued but together, they look damning.

Just slightly quicker on the trigger, just slightly more shoots fired, just slightly more likely to mistake the age of a suspect, just slightly more likely to think a black kid has a gun than a white kid. It isn't as easy as saying that this Police Officer isn't a racist or is. It is impossible to be raised in a white-dominated, Western, Christian democracy as a white person without having some vestige of racism, privilege, power, fear and all the other taints that history has left us.

If you are white and haven't looked at your own privilege and racism, can I suggest you do. implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/selectatest.html

I am so angry about the title
of this thread!! I am sorry but am drunk on
the bus and finding it difficult to post coherently and not been able to rtft @but seriously OP - look into this a little! Cannot believe people are justifying what is basically the death penalty for some petty thuggery/thievery that it is looking increasingly unlikely he was guilty of anyway!

Mrsdevere so I have to have black children to understand?

I have no idea if he had committed crimes and I never implied he had but I also an under no illusion that being 12 years old automatically makes him a sweet young child.

I was going to say more, but fuck it. What's the point? Particularly when you has posters like thatdammedbitch.

I might as well accept that as a police officer I'm considered institutionally racist according to posters on here.

www.elle.com/_mobile/news/culture/what-ferguson-means-for-black-women

I can remember my white brother in the 80s having a toy pistol which he played with in our garden and in our small close where everyone knew us.

I remember my mum refusing to let him take it with us into town incase he played with it on the bus and someone thought it was real and called the police.

Didnt the caller to the police also tell the call handler that he thought it was a guy "about 20yo" with a gun? Not sure how old this kid actually looked.