Dear Editor:
In response to Kristie Scheulen's letter of Aug. 16 regarding the violence surrounding the one-year anniversary of the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, I must first admit to being as unfamiliar with some of the aesthetic qualities of black culture as any other white person. I do not pretend to understand the fashions, the music, the speech and mannerisms of this culture. But if I cannot appreciate, I can at least accommodate.
I would imagine that the first thing "they" are upset about is being referred to as "they," "them," and "those people." If I know anything about the black community it is the manifest diversity within the community. People of color come from a geographic background that evolved on the second-largest land mass on earth, the continent of Africa, much larger than the origins of white people. They also come from parts of Asia, Australia, and various Pacific rim nations. Indeed, if confining the argument in strictly geographic terms, one could suggest that God intended humans to be dark skinned and that white people are the adaptation. Yes, it is a silly argument.
The point is they are simply too vast and too varied to be lumped together as "them."
Yes, Ms. Scheulen, they do want jobs. They are not unique in this. I live in Jefferson City, not Ferguson. And I'm white, not black. And I'm as sick as anyone of busting my hump for a minimum wage that only promises to bring me steadily deeper in the red, while providing more comfort for the leisure class. And crime is part of the problem. But in Ferguson and many other Missouri communities the courts and police departments are used as revenue enhancers instead of dispensers of justice. The source of that revenue becomes the community itself, often the least able to pay.
What do they want? They want hope and they want justice; we all do. Michael Brown Jr. was no innocent child. He was one example of "conflict resolution gone horribly wrong" between a police officer and a member of the black community.
It happens every day. It happens way too often. It could certainly happen here.