Mike Brown: why must a dead black child defend his right to life?

[bu.]

Mike Brown is currently engaged in one of the most difficult, but common – for black men, anyway – forms of criminal defense in the American criminal justice system: he is engaged in The Ultimate Defense.

Granted, it’s rather hard for him to wield The Ultimate Defense effectively, as the unarmed teenager was killed over the weekend – shot dead by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. But that’s the cruel irony of The Ultimate Defense: it’s always invoked posthumously, when the defendant can’t really defend himself because …well, because he’s dead.

Why was he in the police car?, people will ask. Why did he run? If he’d just been a pliant enough, wouldn’t he still be alive?!

Brown’s prosecutors in the court of public opinion will nonetheless demand he defend himself against these charges because he was a black teenager. His killer will remain presumed innocent. But for Mike Brown, there was a collective presumption of his guilt by the Ferguson police ... and that of the Ferguson citizens who gathered to air their grievances about the shooting long before any rioting started – and the timing of this is important. As a St Louis community activist who talked to me on Monday put it, he knew something was amiss when the police stationed K-9 units at the protest at 9am protest on Sunday.

“I have never seen police dogs barking at us at a peaceful march before,” he said.

The dogs aren’t just present in historic images of Southern police intimidating civil rights protests. (St Louis, notably, is the largest city in Missouri which, via the eponymous Missouri Compromise, was the last slave state admitted to the union.) The dogs are also tied into how other burned-out northern industrial towns use harsh police tactics – like the tear gas and rubber bullets fired at protestors on Monday night – to keep their marginalized peoples from erupting, and how northern and southern tension merge in St Louis, smack in the middle of the US.

But such containment can’t last forever. I spent some time in St. Louis earlier this year reporting on a racially-charged story and came away extremely depressed by how blighted huge swaths of the metro area are. Ferguson sits north of the city, not so far from where Pruitt-Igoe –themost notoriously disastrous housing project built during Urban Renewal – once stood. It was abandoned and blown up less than 20 years after it broke ground. What remains nearby the now overgrown ruin, like what’s visible throughout much of metropolitan St Louis where black people live, is an “economy” based on fast-food restaurants, payday loan sharks, casinos and, inevitably, crime.

In such quarters of our nation, where men seem as likely to have contact with the criminal justice system as with the public education system, citizens often find themselves on the defensive with police.

The Ultimate Defense is the final step in how black men (or, in the cases of Trayvon Martin, Jordan Davis, Mike Brown and many more, blackchildren) try to navigate this uneasy relationship with law enforcement in the United States, which collectively assumes our guilt before, during and after alleged crimes occur. This presumption doesn’t die – even when one of us is killed by law enforcement.

The first step in navigating this assumed guilt is “the talk”. My father, who was routinely harassed by police when he was driving to college at night, had “the talk” with me when I was six or seven, explaining how people would automatically assume that I was up to no good, and would often even presume I was about to commit (or had just committed) a crime.

I’d never heard white people discuss “the talk” until George Zimmerman killed Trayvon Martin, when some conservatives started having strong ideas about how “the talk” could be altered for the benefit of white people. But I’ve heard endless variations of “the talk” among black folks – perhaps the most alarmingly when I was investigating police profiling in New York City in 2011. That’s when I learned the term “stop and frisk virginity”: black and Latino boys, as young as 10, would brag about who’d lost theirs or who was still a virgin.

Having a police officer act out his presumption of your guilt, it seems, is so ubiquitous – even today – that it’s a rite of passage toward manhood for these black and brown boys.

Their understanding is rooted in a harsh reality. In New York City, where I live and where Eric Garner was recently choked to death during an arrest, people of color are thought to be more guilty of crimes and therefore more likely to be stopped. And while black and brown New Yorkers are stopped exponentially more often, the NYPD’s own data “demonstrate slightly higher rates of contraband yield” from white people than Hispanics or blacks. 

In Ferguson, as in New York, black citizens are also far more likely to be stopped by cops, even though the Attorney General’s office reports that “whites are actually more likely to have contraband”.

It takes micro-defenses, if you will, to manage these daily assumptions of guilt, whether you’re a teen stopped on the street, a shopper followed in a store, or a Harvard professor arrested for entering your own house. But a lack of habeas corpus is easier to fight with breath in your corpus. Lacking that, you need The Ultimate Defense.

Why were you wearing a hoodie? And walking through a gated community while black? Those are the kinds of questions Trayvon Martin had to ultimately defend himself against posthumously, despite the fact the unarmed 17 year-old was killed by a gun wielding maniac (who’d eventually walk away free and later harm women). Trayvon must have done something to deserve his death.

Why were you playing your music so loud? Don’t you know you’d still be alive if you had your music quieter? Ultimately, Jordan Davis had to defend himself for that. One jury couldn’t decide if Davis’s right to life trumped Michael Dunn’s right to “stand his ground” at a gas station. Jordan must have done something to deserve his death.

And now, Mike Brown’s ghost has to similarly invoke The Ultimate Defense. Sadly, the weight of all of this is being born by Mike Brown’s family, who have to simultaneously proffer The Ultimate Defense to a skeptical public: that their son, alive last week, had the right to live to see this one.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/12/mike-brown-ferguson-shooting-police-black

[Aquaria]

Cops are fucking pigs, it is absolutely shameful.

[bu.]

Wow this is bigger than I thought. Is this what the riots were about?

[Rock & Roll Hall of Game]

Wow this is bigger than I thought. Is this what the riots were about?

Yes... Injustice at it's best

[Laveaux]

this is the type of shit that makes me want to summon Marie Laveau so she can raise her zombie army and hunt those 'protect and serve' bitches down.

[Shawn1814]

It seems people on Twitter want to blame Obama instead of starting with the Mayor, Senator and Governor..

 

Has any other president stepped in during a riot/protest where police were shooting rubber guns and tear gas?

[Escapade]

It seems people on Twitter want to blame Obama instead of starting with the Mayor, Senator and Governor..

Has any other president stepped in during a riot/protest where police were shooting rubber guns and tear gas?

Exactly! These ppl obviously slept during government class.

[Rock & Roll Hall of Game]

It seems people on Twitter want to blame Obama instead of starting with the Mayor, Senator and Governor..

Has any other president stepped in during a riot/protest where police were shooting rubber guns and tear gas?

Some people slept during history class when the US government was discussed

To answer your question.. No.. That would be overstepping his authority

[Rock & Roll Hall of Game]

Exactly! These ppl obviously slept during government class.

OMG we said the same thing

[Shawn1814]

Exactly! These ppl obviously slept during government class.

 

 

Some people slept during history class when the US government was discussed

To answer your question.. No.. That would be overstepping his authority

They were really upset at him for his speech today.. Some were mad because he didn't mention the word racism .  

[Rock & Roll Hall of Game]

They were really upset at him for his speech today.. Some were mad because he didn't mention the word racism .  

 

They need to pick up a history book

 

No.. The President shouldn't jump to conclusions... There's already a federal investigation.. They need to wait until they finish that before pulling the "racism" card

 

I read the story and it's heartbreaking if what the witness said was true.. Something needs to be done for these random acts of police-civilian violence. 

[Angela]

I'm surprised this thread doesn't have more responses.

[ThatOtherFan]

Peaceful protesters being gassed! The media isn't giving the people the full story. 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA4IT-rGNDg&feature=youtu.be

[bu.]

I heard the police are stopping the media from reporting properly??

[ThatOtherFan]

I heard the police are stopping the media from reporting properly??

 

- They have instituted a no fly zone which blocks news helicopters from flying and getting coverage of  what the police are doing.

 

- On the ground, the media have been placed in an area away from where they tear gas and harass protesters. However, many have been posting in social media about the harassment they have have received from the police. Including quite a few being arrested and physically assaulted.

 

I'm know I'm missing a lot. It's just a nightmare down there... and it doesn't have to be that way. 

[ThatOtherFan]

Let that marinate....

 

[Reyna ♔]

The fact that such blatant racism and targeting is very much alive, and the example it shows of the growing militarization of local police forces to the point they are equipped with TANKS for fuck's sake makes this incident all the more devastating. The only even remotely positive thing I've heard after following this story for days came today when someone mentioned on CNN that there are a few good cops trying to handle their radicals and community leaders taking care of theirs. At least, to me, it shows some sort of attempt at peaceful opposition. Still, there's so much more that needs to be done, and even if this case closes with a conviction of Darren Wilson, that won't even be a start to addressing the problems here. 

[bu.]

Let that marinate....

 

 

There's always one. SMH!! 

[bu.]

The fact that such blatant racism and targeting is very much alive, and the example it shows of the growing militarization of local police forces to the point they are equipped with TANKS for fuck's sake makes this incident all the more devastating. The only even remotely positive thing I've heard after following this story for days came today when someone mentioned on CNN that there are a few good cops trying to handle their radicals and community leaders taking care of theirs. At least, to me, it shows some sort of attempt at peaceful opposition. Still, there's so much more that needs to be done, and even if this case closes with a conviction of Darren Wilson, that won't even be a start to addressing the problems here. 

 

What I'm glad to see though is that it isn't just black people voicing their disgust. From some of the pictures I've seen on social media it's angered a diverse range of people. That gives me hope. But this should never have happened.

[bu.]

 

- They have instituted a no fly zone which blocks news helicopters from flying and getting coverage of  what the police are doing.

 

- On the ground, the media have been placed in an area away from where they tear gas and harass protesters. However, many have been posting in social media about the harassment they have have received from the police. Including quite a few being arrested and physically assaulted.

 

I'm know I'm missing a lot. It's just a nightmare down there... and it doesn't have to be that way. 

 

A complete mess!!

[Reyna ♔]

What I'm glad to see though is that it isn't just black people voicing their disgust. From some of the pictures I've seen on social media it's angered a diverse range of people. That gives me hope. But this should never have happened.

That's very true, and I'm happy to say that I'm not very surprised that the diversity is there. This is certainly a less polarized America than in the past even though there's still a long way to go.

It really shouldn't have. Even if the officer supposedly felt his life was "threatened", (by what, I'd really like to know given the fact the evidence shows Michael surrendered almost immediately) in most cases it's only necessary to shoot to wound not to kill. There's really no way around that point, and it shows his total disregard for a human life other than his own.

[Rock & Roll Hall of Game]

It's comforting to know Attorney General Holden is there

What are your thoughts on citizens following what the police says?

For example, if Mike Brown actually followed the "advice" of this officer and walked on the sidewalk, like people are suppose to, this wouldn't be happening.

Before you attack me, AG Holden talked to his son about dealing with police.

[trackboy]

Some people slept during history class when the US government was discussed

To answer your question.. No.. That would be overstepping his authority

 

It is not overstepping their authority which is why President Obama has instructed Attorney General Holder to investigate the situation and has sent him to Ferguson.  Former precedence of this can be traced back to the civil rights era when President Kennedy utilized National Guard troops to escort two African-Americans into the state ran university in defiance of the governor of the state. 

 

The problem with the criticisms is I'm not quite sure what they want President Obama to do.  He's already addressed the situation and started an investigation.  He can't go down there and riot himself. He can't bring Michael Brown back. He can't change the fact that police nationwide still view young African-American males as a dangerous threat and open fire on them innocently enough in a much higher rate than white counterparts.  Maybe he can send National Guard troops in but what is that really going to help? 

[trackboy]

It's comforting to know Attorney General Holden is there

What are your thoughts on citizens following what the police says?

For example, if Mike Brown actually followed the "advice" of this officer and walked on the sidewalk, like people are suppose to, this wouldn't be happening.

Before you attack me, AG Holden talked to his son about dealing with police.

 

Advice should be complied with and respected.  However, no amount of disrespect short of a threat of death or serious bodily harm should warrant a deadly response by a police man.

[Rock & Roll Hall of Game]

It is not overstepping their authority which is why President Obama has instructed Attorney General Holder to investigate the situation and has sent him to Ferguson.  Former precedence of this can be traced back to the civil rights era when President Kennedy utilized National Guard troops to escort two African-Americans into the state ran university in defiance of the governor of the state. 

 

The problem with the criticisms is I'm not quite sure what they want President Obama to do.  He's already addressed the situation and started an investigation.  He can't go down there and riot himself. He can't bring Michael Brown back. He can't change the fact that police nationwide still view young African-American males as a dangerous threat and open fire on them innocently enough in a much higher rate than white counterparts.  Maybe he can send National Guard troops in but what is that really going to help?

I understand that completely.. He is the Attorney General and it is Holden's job to step in during this however I believe people wanted President Obama it literally step in and do something immediately before concluding the investigation. Yes I remember learning about that in History.. Though it was President D. Eisenhower, not President Kennedy. I had to look up the President btw #ThankYouGoogle