Justice, Maintenance, Empathy and Mike Brown

I’m thinking the same thing every black man from Flo-Town, Ferguson, or anywhere else in North County is: I was an 18 year old black kid once, doing nothing special in the same streets, community college bound. Thank God, I got through.

I want to take a moment to think out loud about justice, maintenance and empathy.

When a child is murdered in the street, the community he belongs to will logically be filled with anger towards the responsible party. Here JUSTICE has the opportunity to offer solace. It’s great really, we’ve created this system that can swoop in and deliver civilized punishment, liberating any community from the human need to seek revenge. But for me, the first blow in the Michael Brown episode came with the swiftness and callousness by which JUSTICE was denied. I just couldn’t understand how a kid killer could be kept anonymous and receive paid leave. In the place of the justice the police department could have easily provided, we were left to wallow in our anger; it boiled over into the streets of Ferguson.

Days went by each revealing dirtier details to the drama and supporting tales each ending in the death of unarmed black boys at the hands of trigger happy law enforcement. The rhythm and frequency of the instances of abused authority building until that moment of clarity. Mike Brown’s murder isn’t special; it’s only part of the day in day out MAINTENANCE necessary to uphold our power structures. In a flash I understand everything I’ve read about ogling, cat calling, and rape –these things are not about sex, they are the quick twitch actions necessary to stabilize our societal roles. One group dominating another. Tactics used on the black community only being a bit more severe. I remind myself, I’m a gainfully employed 28 year old black male… keep your head down. The tactics are working.

Cruising fb comments of people I knew in high school, I read sides being taken along racial lines -blacks posting videos of abuse and New York Times articles, whites commenting on the resultant mob and looting. All of whom seem nice enough in my memories. It is difficult to EMPATHIZE with an emotion you will never suffer. To have fears of your environment, fears of the authorities, verified. To know you and this murder victim are the same, and the perp is under protection of the law. It’s chilling to say the least.