Are We Concerned? The Unanswered Truth About the Ferguson Riot

It’s apparent that the senseless death of 18-year old Michael Brown sent an awful discord through the streets of Ferguson. I wasn’t there in St. Louis when it happened. But, the images I’ve seen on various social media and news outlets, made me sympathize with the family of Brown and the people who lived in his community.

While taking an assessment of the reports and circumstances surrounding his death, it was almost inevitable that a town of only 21,000 people would disrupt. And Ferguson did.

On Sunday evening (August 10),  pictures and 15-second video began to pour down my Instagram timeline.  I scrolled passed a few and immediately thought, “Wow, I had a feeling a riot would pop off.”  The reason why I expected it was due to the Black community’s strong dislike of America’s justice system and the injustices served by law enforcement and government officials. Black society has simply had enough. The long-lasting affects of oppression – along with constant nationwide instances of police brutality – could easily make one believe that the aftermath of Brown’s death was predestined.

However, I continued to “take it all in”. I thought about the consequences many of the locals would suffer. Brown’s mother and father would no longer have a son, who had just graduated high school and was preparing to go to college. Looters and others committing crimes during the riot would be handcuffed and taken to jail. Local businesses would have to rely on insurance coverage to fix any damages and restock product in their stores. The 6-mile radius, which makes up all of Ferguson, would become an eye-sore. Also, race disparities would likely increase. I mean, while these things ran through my mind, I couldn’t help but to sum them up as an entire community destroyed.

How can a community that’s subjected to a riot (no matter big or small) recover from it? Is is possible to refocus an oppressed mind-state? How can we help one another find pride in our own communities?

It’s ironic that the Ferguson riot occurred almost 50 years after the infamous Watts riots in L.A.. In 50 years, has anything really changed? As much as Black people come together to protest injustices (i.e. Trayvon Martin), the fight is short lived. Today, our minds have a short attention span. The world acts and reacts at a much faster pace. Therefore, societal issues that should remain in the forefront of our brains, unfortunately falls to the back and are deemed unimportant.

So, how can we fix this as an community?

A solution and/or answer must be found immediately. If not, more Ferguson incidents will occur, grander and deadlier. Child welfare, black-on-black crime, gang warfare, drugs, etc all plague our communities. It’s past time that we take pride in ourselves and the places we live.

R.I.P Michael Brown…

Photo Credit: KDSK News