- History repeats itself.
Last month Officer Darren Wilson was not indicted for the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. I listened patiently to the prosecutor's explanation of the decision. As someone living several hundred miles away, I had no reason to doubt the Grand Jury discharged their responsibilities with due diligence. They digested considerable physical evidence and sat through many hours of witness testimonies before rendering their decision. It all seemed rather cut-and-dry to me. Evidently, it wasn't to many others in Ferguson who went on a rampage of destruction. What we witnessed was a wilding where the buildings of innocent merchants were ransacked and destroyed. One can only assume the rabble believed themselves to be above the law and turned to vigilantism.
We saw this same type of reaction in the Treyvon Martin case. In the rabble's mind, George Zimmerman was guilty until proven innocent. Even then, there was still unrest.
Actually, the upheaval in Ferguson is reminiscent of the Watts riots of 1965 whereby a black motorist was arrested for reckless driving by a white motorcycle cop. Word got out about the incident, a crowd formed, and escalated into six days of riots and violence. As in Ferguson, the National Guard was called in to help maintain order. Regardless, hundreds of businesses were looted and burned, thousands were arrested, and 34 people killed. The parallel between Ferguson and Watts is simply too uncanny to overlook, even if the two events were separated by a half a century.
In 1965, Democrat Lyndon Johnson was in the White House. The era was marked by Civil Rights and race relations. Prior to the Watts Riots, Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and in 1965 the Congress passed the rest of his "Great Society" legislation which lives on in the form of programs for welfare, Medicare, education reform, consumer protection, and the War on Poverty. In other words, great changes were in the offing for America, until Watts erupted thus igniting a series of race riots throughout the country.
As in Ferguson, the rioters of Watts showed little respect for the law. The ensuing violence had less to do with race relations as it did about simple thuggery. The same is true in Ferguson. The rioters only wanted an excuse to steal and destroy. Michael Brown was just the excuse to unleash their fury. In reality, those that rioted in Ferguson had no true regard for the tragedy of Michael Brown.
So here we are, nearly 50 years after Watts with another Democratic president who is perhaps the most racially divisive in history. Exit polls from the recent 2014 mid-term elections evidence-of-progress reveals both blacks and whites believe race relations have gotten worse, not better. Among blacks, unemployment has risen, as well as poverty under Mr. Obama. Many are simply giving up and becoming wards of the state, thereby stoking racial unrest.
So, were the Ferguson riots triggered by racism, or was it simply disrespect for the law? Actually, it was a little of both. As in Watts, Ferguson was a tinder box ready to explode due to the discord in the black community. The rioters simply wanted to vent their frustrations, not so much about Martin but about their lives in general. Whether the Grand Jury indicted Officer Wilson was immaterial, they were going to riot regardless of the verdict.
Keep the Faith!
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Tim Bryce is a writer and the Managing Director of M&JB Investment Company (M&JB) of Palm Harbor, Florida and has over 30 years of experience in the management consulting field. He can be reached at timb001@phmainstreet.com
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Copyright © 2014 by Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.
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