Black Eye

What is happening in Ferguson, Missouri is sad but typical of the human lot. We homo sapiens act before all the facts are known ... and, even when we start to know the facts, if they don't agree with the then-established popular narrative, we still often ignore them.

One can watch this failing being repeated in this suburb of St. Louis ... a cop shoots and kills an "unarmed black 'gentle giant' who was trying to surrender with his hands up" and a racially-motivated series of spontaneous demonstrations occur ... then riots .... then looting ... then shootings and arrests ... then wall-to-wall media coverage ... then ill-informed comments by politicians and spot-light grabbers ... then come the race baiters and the professional agitators ... then professional football teams show solidarity with the dead man ... then (all too) slowly the facts seem to be emerging ... many of which contradict the original story.

This same kind of scenario was frequently repeated in the South during the reign of Jim Crow ... often resulting in lynchings, another form of mob injustice. It took many generations and a book about the death of a mockingbird to dispel these atrocities.

What happens next in Ferguson? Either quality leadership takes hold and sanity slowly returns to the situation ... or such leadership takes a hike (or plays golf) and this ugliness can grow to frightening national proportions. Then, it is not just the policeman shooter who gets a black eye in this tragedy (see: NY Post Story), but most others involved too ... the neighborhood, the media, the local police, the state police, the state governor, our Justice Department, our national leaders, our president.

How many times does this silliness need to be repeated? I guess I answered this question in my firsts sentence ... apparently it's in our DNA ... maybe after some more generations and a book?

"A lie travels halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to put its pants on." -- Winston Churchill