A Malat Musing: “Houston, We Have A Problem”

The troubling events witnessed in Ferguson, Missouri are all part and parcel of a malady that has been festering for decades in American.

The entire nation witnessed the March 3, 1991, beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers. That was followed by a jury verdict that refused to hold these lowlifes and thugs accountable for their vicious behavior. The frustration and anger from this injustice consequently rocked Los Angeles with awful rioting and violent protests.

We might have rationally assumed that in light of these developments, there would be a concerted effort to end police brutality. Certainly, police departments would step up and improve their methods in determining and qualifying applicants who wear badges and carry guns and batons. They would provide more thorough psychological and emotional stability testing for both their current and future peace keepers to weed out the violent and racists elements. One might also assume they would have implemented more effective training methods emphasizing that force is always and forever the last resort. Common sense would also lead us to believe that more rigid forms of discipline and penalties would be established. Such assumptions are clearly rational and reasonable. So, how many of these common-sense assumptions are strongly favored and moving forward? Answer: NONE!!! So, what’s being discussed and considered as remedies as the epidemic of police beatings and murders continue???

Between 2006 and 2012, 439 complaints were filed charging misconduct by Minneapolis police officers. Ninety-five (95) of these ultimately cost the city $14 million in damages. Only eight (8) disciplinary actions resulted from these 439 complaints.

In the wake of this most distressing reality, we now learn that the primary concern by both the Minneapolis and St. Paul Police Departments is hiring larger numbers of minorities as peacekeepers. This befuddled thinking stems from a desire to engage in social experimentation. Both police departments are suggesting that real positive change can occur from employing officers that better mirror the communities they serve. What evidence is there of this?? Answer: NONE!!!!! Baffling indeed and most alarming to say the least. We are being told that police misconduct and violence will be curbed and maybe eliminated if the primary qualification for employment is ethnicity. In other words, these geniuses believe that the general population within the Twin Cities of Minneapolis / St. Paul are morons. How does this insanity validate who is a proficient individual to perform duties in a profession where thinking and behavior can result in life-or-death outcomes?

Let us not be shocked or horrified by all the ugliness as it unfolds in Ferguson, Missouri - for it is nothing more than yet another residual of racism, callousness, apathy and ignorance that has plagued our law enforcement communities for decades. The ugliness will only continue and intensify with lamebrain thinking and solutions.

Which brings us to the ugliest of remedies if common-sense is abandoned and the above realities and recommendation continue to be ignored. As a longtime grassroots organizer and activist within the civil rights movement once said; "When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty." Are we really willing to allow our businesses to be burned and our streets to run red with blood to stop the brutality??? Are we comfortable with the callous disregard and ignorance in inane solutions such as trial-and-error social experimentation? If so, then we best prepare ourselves for the day President John F. Kennedy cautioned will come; “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.

So, what did we learn from the Rodney King fiasco? Answer: NOTHING!!!!!