Our news has been flooded with reactions
to the announcement that the grand jury in Ferguson, Missouri had failed to indict Darren
Wilson, the police officer who shot an unarmed 18-year-old black teenager named
Michael Brown. I feel sorry for his
parents. I am angry at the people who
rioted and destroyed property. I don’t
really know what happened that day. I
haven’t read the transcripts. I know there
was conflicting testimony. I wonder why
this officer isn’t being brought to trial.
But mostly I wonder what it must be like for a mother to watch her son
leave the house and worry that he won't return, to worry that he will be shot
by police--for being black, for being young, for wearing the wrong clothes, for
being in the wrong place at the wrong time. . . As a mother I just can't
imagine what it's like to be that mother. A report by ProPublica indicates that young black males in recent years
were at a far greater risk of being shot dead by police than young white men—a
21 times greater risk. As a white
mother, I don’t have to face such worry and heartbreak.
Racism is alive and well
in this country. We have to acknowledge
this and do something about it. How do we
change hearts full of fear and hate? I
pray for peace and justice in Ferguson and in all the other cities in this
country that fail to offer equality for all.
No comments:
Post a Comment