THE FEAR OF FERGUSON RIOTS

boblonsberry.com ^ | 11/18/14 | Bob Lonsberry

[shortstop]

In Missouri yesterday, the governor put the National Guard on alert.

He and his state and much of the county are fearing the worst.

As early as today, a grand jury could come back in Ferguson after months of deliberation in the matter of a white police officer who shot and killed a black teen-ager.

The National Guard and the region’s police agencies are on standby because of the expectation that the jury will find no probable cause to charge the officer with a crime. That decision, many fear, could spark race riots in Missouri and elsewhere.

Earlier, upset in Ferguson led to violent riots that burned down a portion of the city and saw widespread looting and theft.

Many have warned that the reaction to an exoneration of the officer could be worse. And many believe that the results of the grand jury’s investigation of the matter have been purposely delayed in order to let the seasons change and the cold weather come.

Simply put: People don’t like to riot in the snow.

And there’s a polar vortex for the rest of the week.

So it could be soon.

And the anticipated reaction should give us pause.

We have made a national assumption that some black people, disappointed with the grand jury’s decision, will react with violence and mayhem.

That assumption, and the realities or perceptions that underlie it, is deeply troubling.

It presumes that some black people have disengaged from our system of law, that they do not civilly submit to it, but rather reserve the right to rise up, mob like, against it. It presumes that some black people have decided that the law does not apply to them.

It also puts some black people in a unique category of people who have opted out of the social contract.

That should bother us.

White people should be bothered by a double standard of citizenship, black people should be bothered that the country thinks so little of their maturity and behavior, and all of us should be bothered that our society is so deeply divided on the issue of race.

There is an unspoken problem in this country when the president is a genteel, black, sometime college professor, and yet the police departments of most American big cities have prepared contingency plans in case of black riot over the Ferguson decision.

The assumption across the nation is that there is a possibility that black neighborhoods throughout urban America could ignite in anger if the police officer is cleared.

Is that assumption bigotry based in stereotype, or is it prudence based in experience? Are the mayors and police chiefs unfairly characterizing black neighborhoods, or have black neighborhoods earned the mistrust and suspicion?

There hasn’t even been a decision announced and yet the St. Louis region law-enforcement community has been mobilized and the governor has called out the National Guard. They are expecting big problems.

From black people.

Which makes me think black people either have a conduct problem or a perception problem.

Again, the numbers of violent, thieving rioters is smaller than the total number of all protesters, but it is a significant and impactful number, and enough to drive police policy in the state of Missouri and elsewhere across the country.

And black people should be either angered by that or ashamed by that.

Angered if the rest of the county unfairly thinks they are a bunch of uncivilized rioters; ashamed if in fact they are a bunch of uncivilized rioters.

The activists have presented Ferguson as an insight into a problem between black people and the police, but I think the matter more clearly illustrates a problem between black people and the rest of America.

America does not trust black people to respond to a legal decision peacefully, and that is the result of either a horrific stereotype about black people, or horrific conduct by black people.

Either way, we’ve got a problem.

And it won’t get solved by looking the other way.

Because a society as large and as varied as ours is naturally going to have differing opinions and views – it has ever been thus in the United States. But the overwhelming majority of our history includes the ethic that we follow the rules, abide by what they say, and support our system of laws and justice.

That’s the American way: Be a good citizen – win, lose or draw.

But that is not what we are preparing for.

We are preparing for urban insurrection.

And that ought to shame one side or the other, and scare the daylights out of us all.

[Kackikat]

In freezing cold weather that might be harsh...lol

[trisham]

They’ll simply reschedule the riots for better weather.

[Veto!]

“double standard of citizenship” is such a stupid slogan.

In my town we just reelected the sheriff whose men are known to shoot to kill criminals. Without prejudice.

[dfwgator]

I think they just used to call it a cold front.