At this point, I believe most Americans know the story behind the Missouri debacle. A young African American, Mike Brown, is killed in a contested arrest, and is left to die in the streets longer than necessary. The local population responded with anger, rioting and in some cases looting. As the nation slowly sifts through the pile of furs to get to the heart of the Ferguson, Missouri dilemma, we can put aside the facts about what is driving the pot. Whether Mike Brown assaulted an officer, or not, is no longer a point of focus in a situation near the 1992 LA riots. We have passed the grey, white, and black lines, and are now facing serious violations of freedoms and rights. Does the local police force have the right to put an end to legitimate threats aka looting, robbery and the like? Very. When it crosses that threshold, and we have no-fly zones, journalists from the leading press (HuffPo, Washington Post) being arrested, and general disregard for human life (tear gas, rubber bullets, etc), then we have a problem.
The nation has weathered the suffrage movement, the civil rights movement, multiple terrorist attacks, and lots of just (or unjust) international conflicts, and yet we cannot handle local strife, which turn ugly, but are fully redeemable. PR never appears to be on budget for many local and state governments (or perhaps under ‘continental breakfasts and secret Santa Clauses’), and that eventually hurts, and in some parts, destroys our (as citizens) trust in people in authority. within the local scope. This is not a police state, and we don’t have anything to fear from those sworn to protect us. Journalists should have the right to cover situations, no matter how bad they’re at face value. It is the right of all of us, last I checked.
I’m against widespread panic, looting and the general disruption of everyday life, but as an individual who is part of the media, I cannot stand suffocating the truth we live in. Alan Moore (via Juvenal) famously asked us, “Who watches The Guardian?” , and the more that comes out of Ferguson, we get our answer. No one, because The Guardian has turned a blind eye to the world to the reality (or untruth) of what may be.
