I was reading one night and read a line that reminded me so much of what had been going on in Ferguson and people’s reaction to that event. Here it is,
“Lor bless ye, yes! These critters ain’t like white folks, you know; they get over things, only manage right.”
These are the words of a slave trader discussing how to treat slaves in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. And as it should, this language is shocking to us. It is shocking to think of a slave trader discussing the “humane” way to separate people from each other when they are sold to another owner. There is nothing humane about this and calling people “critters” really shows just how little white people thought of African Americans back then. We read that sentence and are shocked to our core, as we should be, but apparently not shocked enough.
I can’t help but think about the Ferguson ordeal as I think about this statement. The numerous comments that I have heard about the people in Ferguson lead me to believe that a whole lot of conservative white folks still think that African Americans are not really people…or at least as good as they believe themselves to be.
I don’t think my claim here is unsubstantiated. I live in North Central Arkansas and hear comments from conservative white folks constantly. That is where I am. That is who lives here. I have gotten into arguments with people who say “those people are all on welfare and live off the government”, or “those people are thieves”, or “those people don’t work”. These people might as well have said, “these critters ain’t like white folks”. Their racism was obvious, though not to them.
Here is my point. Racism still exists in a very real way,and the reaction that came out of the events at Ferguson are proof of that point. I know these thoughts are late. I had begun to write something about Ferguson as it happened, but put it on the side burner to wait and see exactly how things panned out. As it turns out, waiting may have been much more illuminating.
An Eye Opening Story
I worked at the Post Office for a while in Harrison, AR. That is where I was born and raised. There was an African American truck driver who drove from Memphis to Harrison a few times a week. I would talk with him, but he never wanted to be in Harrison after dark. One day I asked him why.
He had been driving after dark one day when two guys in a pick up truck through a brick through his windshield as they shouted racial slurs at him. But this is not what was eye opening to me. The Police Department blew him off. They didn’t really worry themselves with trying to figure out who had done this. It didn’t matter to them. He was not safe in Harrison, and he knew it. So, every time he came I loaded his truck and got him out of town long before the sun went down. It was all that I knew to do for him. That time period helped me to see that racism still existed and allowed me to think about it in ways a lot of people do not.
Picking A Side…Way Too Soon
A horrible thing happened. A teenager was shot. A mother will never see her child again. A father lost his child that day. They will never again hug their son. They will not have the opportunity to see him get married. They will not be in the hospital to witness the birth of their grandchildren at his side. They will not get to see their son grow up. I don’t think that I can emphasize enough that a horrible thing happened that day.
I was discussing Ferguson with one of my best friends, who happens to be an African American. And the statement that I just made was what he said so passionately. And it is the truth.
It seems that America chose sides before his body hit the pavement. Shame on us. Long before it should have happened the deeply ingrained racism caused us to cry out on one side or the other.
Here is what is incredibly disturbing. That child, by white conservatives, was seen as nothing more than one more angry black kid who got shot. I was sickened as I wrote the sentence, but at the same time I can’t come up with another way to describe what I read and heard in the days following his death. On the other side of this debate he became the poster child for police brutality. Both sides were quick, too quick to say anything.
Picking A Side Before The Evidence Is Seen
As it turns out the result of the Justice Department Investigation proves that both sides were wrong in some sense. Apparently, the investigation revealed the same thing that the Grand Jury did, the police officer was justified in his use of deadly force. At this point white conservatives tuned out, but there was more. There was a pattern of Civil Rights violations at Ferguson.
You see, as many people have been saying for a while, Ferguson really wasn’t about the one shooting. Ferguson was the place where racial tension that has been building for years boiled over. Racism was found to be deep seated within the workings of the Ferguson Police Department. This is really what all the fuss was about. It has been my contention that this is what white conservatives have not understood about Ferguson. “…them critters ain’t like white folks” seems to be the prevailing attitude among the Ferguson Police Department. It was okay for them to speak and act as if African Americans were below them. And it has been thought of as okay for conservative news to speak of African Americans as angry and deserving this sort of reaction. As vulgar and horrible as that is to say, we must look at the facts. And the facts delivered by the Justice Department were not pretty.
If the racial tension is not resolved soon there will be more cities that are torn apart. I’m not sure how else to say this. The tension has begun spilling over and we better take notice. My hope is that we begin to examine the racism in our own souls and consider what goes on around us. I also hope that people begin publicly discussing the problem of racism rather than acting that all that went away during the Civil Rights Movement.
Bad Reactions Do Not Justify Racism
Those people who have destroyed businesses and shot police officers in Ferguson need to be brought to justice. Those actions are unacceptable, even if it is because of racism that existed in Ferguson. But this must be understood. The wrong response of those people does not mean that turning a blind eye to the racism in America is okay. It certainly doesn’t mean that the Ferguson Police Department was justified in their racism either. That logic just doesn’t make sense.
Picking A Side And Sticking To Your Guns, Even If It Makes You A Racist
Even now there are many who are still sticking to their original thought processes. The Justice Department findings did not sway many people into seeing the racism that was prevalent in the town of Ferguson. What does that tell me and everyone else?
It tells us that the racism boiling over in Ferguson exists outside of Ferguson. This isn’t something that just existed outside of Ferguson. To hear that this is going on in Ferguson and not be moved is a sign that you really do not care how African Americans are treated in Ferguson or likely anywhere else. There is no other way to put it.
A Few Biblical Thoughts
As believers we want to be people of truth. We hold fast to the truth of God’s Word and the gospel. We are to be people of truth. Why then does this change when we begin discussing race? It should not.
As believers we understand that all people were created in the Image of God. So, why is it acceptable for racism to exist in Ferguson? The answer really is that it is unacceptable.
As believers we are to help those who need help (Proverbs 31:8-9). In many ways racism is always going to cripple the minority culture. As long as racism exists in America it will be harmful to the African American Community simply because there are less of them. Might does not make right. I’m not saying that you should go and protest in Ferguson. But you should open your eyes to the racism that surrounds us and say/do something about it.
There are signs that maybe, just maybe things will get better. I certainly hope and pray that is the case.
R. Dwain Minor
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