Racial Healing Has To Come With Real Problem Recognition

FERGUSON, Mo. - Dec. 20, 2014 - PRLog -- If there is one observation from the Nov. 24 decision by the St. Louis Grand Jury to not charge Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson in the August fatal shooting of Michael Brown, it is that there is certainly more to come in this case.

More questions. More emotion. More outrage. Since August 9, 2014 the nation has witnessed protests in about 45 cities and it’s likely that more are to come. There will be more questions, more protest and quite honestly there should be.

For many people, the topic of racial inequity sits at the core of this case. As a whole, the question of racial inequity has yet to be resolved in the country. It has yet to be resolved, because frankly nobody wants to have that taboo conversation. It makes people uncomfortable.

While the grand jury, which was made up of both blacks and whites, dealt with the specific evidence presented by authorities and the individual actions of Darren Wilson, police officer who shot and killed Michael Brown, an 18-year-old unarmed teenager, the Ferguson case illustrates the larger issue of what many people of color and community advocates say is structural disparity and racial bias involving the police and justice system in the country.

Until a deep conversation about race occurs on a national scale and genuine solutions for more equity and understanding are implemented, the raw emotions that have surfaced in Ferguson, and in the St. Louis area will likely continue.

Before the grand jury’s decision was announced, the Brown family called for peaceful protests. So did President Barack Obama. But the theme of “more” overwhelmed those calls. It might stop when the eventual civil lawsuit is filed against Officer Wilson. It might even stop if the U.S. Justice Department decides to pursue civil rights charges against him.

But how long can police departments field tactical squads on city streets to deal with protests? And how will the death of Michael Brown, Eric Gardner, and countless other people of color be memorialized and transformed? Through voting at the polls? Not a chance. People of color have become disenchanted with the legislative process, because even when they exercise their long disallowed constitutional right to vote, it took nearly 45 years to have get a black man in the seat of the President.

What if another excessive force case involving a person of color and police officer happens in the future? The U.S. justice system, in one sense, has a “zero sum” approach. Typically, in the eyes of the law, there is a winner and there is a loser.

Of course, this “zero sum” approach fails to take into account things that fall in the middle, like a grieving parent or scores of protesters who are telling government leaders that something is not right or a person. That is where policy plays a role and listening helps.

When will police departments and prosecutors across the country sit down and talk with people of color and anyone who lacks faith in law enforcement ? To listen and find ways to build authentic trust? To talk about alternatives to excessive force?

If they would consider doing this, then the theme of “more” might turn into more awareness, more listening, more understanding, more conversations and more deescalation. All of this would be desirable.

This needs to happen so that the body of a young Black man, or any person for that matter, doesn’t have to lie in the street after bullets have struck it and someone must reach for the phone to dial 911. So that his body is not thrown into the back of an SUV, and carted of like a piece of trash.

As this country continues to sort through Ferguson, it has to be recognized this has been a miscarriage of justice. More than anything, as a citizen of the United States you want to feel you can rely on the justice system to get it right, which by the accounts of many law professional in the country did not happen.

I continue to see instances where the justice system gets it wrong when it comes to the Black community. They find every kind of loophole and in this case, figured out a way to technicality set a potential free. This is another example of how Black people in society are not afforded justice.

I am an intelligent educated person, who is able to separate the fact that Mike Brown made a bad decision in that situation, but It still shouldn’t have cost him his life.”

Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson who told ABC News that he has a clean conscience. He stated “I know I did my job right.” He made nearly $500K on his GoFundMe page from supporters, and another $500K from the ABC interview.

Officer Wilson, If you really did your job right, an eighteen year out black kid would not have lost his life, and you would not be a millionaire now. No wonder black people don't believe in justice.

Instead they have been reassured that in American society, it is truly "Just-Us."

John Parker is a senior public relations and marketing professional, activist, journalist, author, and President of Parker Public Relations, a minority owned public relations firm in St. Louis, MO. He is also the Founder of the organization Evolution Today (www.evolutiontoday.org). He is well experienced in crisis communications, and public affairs with over 15 years of diverse experience in media relations, political operations, social activism and connecting individuals and corporations with the world through communications.