PUTNEY — Even among the current news stories which seem more violent and discouraging than ever, the horror of yet another cold-blooded murder of a black teenage boy has shaken and enraged me.
In part, it is because of the identity of the killer - a local police officer. In part, it is the completely insane and over-militarized reaction to the protesters - mostly peaceful, some not, but all powerless and needing an outlet for their rage. I also am shocked that we have learned that Michael Brown was shot at least six times, including to his head.
I have thought many times about how it must feel to be an African-American parent of a son, and to know that the same boneheaded errors in judgement that all teenagers make can get your son killed.
Anyone who has ever been a teen, raised teenagers, or even observed than from afar, knows that they are impulsive, emotional, and don't always take kindly to adult counsel. How does a parent raise a healthy black son in this country knowing that the necessary trials and errors of the process of growing up can be deadly?
Michael Brown's horrible and untimely death needs to be the wake up call for all of us. We can't accept a society where black men and boys are constantly victimized by the law. What kind of a country is this where the expression “driving while black” is understood by all to mean that black folks are stopped disproportionately from coast to coast for no crime other than their skin color? Where black men are incarcerated at far higher rates than others for the same actions.
We need to insure a thorough and unbiased investigation of this criminal act, and police officers need to understand that shooting to kill unarmed teenagers is not another day on the job.