Is Ferguson An Indicator of How Life Is Valued?

What #Ferguson is teaching us all is that there are a LOT of people who do not value black life. Serve and protect, my ass.
— A. Cedric Armstrong (@cedteaches) August 14, 2014

First of all, my heart goes out to the late Mike Brown family in their very public hour of bereavement. Losing a young man just as he enters a period of transition is devastating, and for that, words cannot suffice. Let us all as citizens of the human race pray for them.

Where do we start?

Ferguson is proof that black life is not valued by not only mainstream media, but also within our communities. How can an unarmed eighteen-year old take ten gunshots and be left to die with the cop standing over him in the heat? Instead of showing respect and covering the body, Mike Brown was left exposed for over an hour and essentially thrown in a van like a dog. The ensuing outrage is the result of a fed-up community by authorities and elected officers who do not look like them - or care, for that matter. Four hundred years of psychological warfare does that to a people to delude themselves of what we have always had:  a voice. From my ancestors being captured from western Africa, brought on a slave ship to the auction block in South Carolina and eventual migration to central Arkansas, we have been treated as second-class citizens. It has been only within the past fifty years or so that integration has afforded us some of the opportunities to succeed, many of which are mirages to most of us. For example, some high school counselors choose which students receive the extra help for scholarship aid and honors recipients. If this were not the case, then why are more young people aspiring to become entertainers and professional athletes than professionals in other fields? Where are the mentors and those who have "made it", and why are we silent beyond keystrokes? Where is the anger?

Why does black life mean less?

Could it be because the government has targeted us from Day One? Or the substandard health care providers who often set up practice in our communities only in it for a buck and not the total individual? What about the elementary school administrators, who upon the first sign of trouble, are quick to place our little boys and girls into a special education track? It is pretty obvious that law enforcement does not care about us, and the militarization of our police departments only confirms that belief. Do cops really need AR-15s and tanks to fight petty crimes?

As the introductory tweet shows, a LOT of people do not care about black life. Take a look around you and tell me that I'm wrong, and I'll tell you to take a look at your own life. This is greater than Ferguson, Sanford, Charlotte, Detroit, Oakland, Brooklyn, Little Rock, or any individual city; behaviors have been around since the advent of America. Keep in mind the Civil War was about slavery - don't let the actors tell you otherwise. I'm honestly more afraid of police now than I ever have been because they tend to shoot first and maybe ask questions later. There are good cops out there, like my bro Schmeck and fellow church member C.T.; generally, I am on eggshells among the rest of them. Several years ago, I was pulled over in Avon, CT for what was a minor traffic violation - I didn't read the stoplight that said not to turn right, but the officer should have realized I wasn't from there from the Arkansas tags on my car. Sure, I'm taking over tony Hartford suburbs in a red Hyundai Santa Fe. Right. After being held for nearly half an hour, he finally released me to go home. Lesson learned:  1) you never know what the wrong officer can do to you, and 2) Avon Mountain is one of the most dangerous intersections in New England. Driving while black is real, let me tell you!

From a religious perspective, it is easy for ministers to find something to preach from this upcoming Sunday. 1 John 2:11 reads as following: But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes. Sin has blinded us into thinking that the life of one man is lesser than another solely because of how he looks. That is as wrong as dancing in two left shoes, yet people are so comfortable with associating with one group over another. Did Jesus do this? No. He ran with tax collectors, fishermen, and those whom the Jews considered the scourge of society; why would we expect to be better than that? Ferguson residents and the police department are learning together what happens in the dark comes to light eventually, and when it does, get ready for the fallout. Four hundred years of psychological warfare - loss of culture, language, and inability to acquire knowledge - tends to do that to people. The time to stand up for right is now. No more waiting for someone else to take the lead, we have that innate talent. Stand up against oppression. Stand up against sin. Stand up against bigotry. Stand up against the ignorance on our televisions. Stand for something!