In Tom Wolfe's 1987 novel, The Bonfire of the Vanities, a rich, white stock trader is in an automobile accident. His car is seen running over a black teen late at night and then leaving the scene. The novel is written as a satyrical morality play. It is a morality play because Wolfe focuses on the decay of society across the entire social and economic spectrum. It is a satire because there are no good guys. The crisis begins with the "slaughtered" young black man being portrayed as an innocent child, heading to college, who was "never in trouble," and who was viciously run down by an uncaring white man who had taken a wrong turn in his big, black Mercedes. Almost immediately, the activists come out to "support the family." The politicians make inflammatory statements about bringing the white man to justice. The prosecutor commits himself to an all out effort to get a conviction, regardless of the evidence, and the protesters take to the streets to ensure that "justice is done."
As the story unfolds, however, we find that the young black man was in fact not so innocent. He had some criminal history, and in fact had likely set up a road block on the street with his friend to trap and rob motorists at the time of the accident. Of course, by the time the truth comes out, everyone is married to their positions and no one can retreat without being humiliated. Everyone digs in.
In my only other article on this topic http://libertyswindow.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-sad-and-unavoidable-story-of.html, I cautioned everyone to wait and see all of the evidence before committing to treating Michael Brown as either a martyr or a criminal. We did not yet know whether Officer Wilson was a racist who shot a surrendering black teenager or whether the shooting was reasonably justified under the circumstances. Unfortunately, relative ignorance did not stop the speculation. The Governor of Missouri, for example, called on the grand jury to indict, even though he himself had not seen all the evidence. President Obama, addressing the United Nations, used Ferguson as an example of the "racial divide" in the United States, unnecessarily elevating the issue, and Michael Brown, to an issue of international importance. Then of course there were all the Al Sharpton's and Jessee Jacksons on the ground, digging in on the issue and encouraging others to jump into the foxhole with them. All of this set the stage for enormous confusion and disappointment when the grand jury found that there was insufficient evidence to indict officer Wilson on any of the seven charges.
And so the bonfires were set. "Burn this bitch down," Michael Brown's stepfather said, standing next to another man wearing a "No Justice No Peace" t-shirt. As the small business district in Ferguson was looted and burned, I couldn't help but to think how much of all of this was the result of a series of self-fulfilling prophecies.
First, and most obviously, everyone from the President down to the local police chief basically accepted that rioting would happen; that ordinary people could not contain their disappointment and express it in a non-violent or constructive way. In effect rioting was inevitable because, after viewing the evidence, the outcome of the grand jury was a near certainty. Our leadership decided that rioting would be an "expected" response to the result, regardless of how just that result might be. Then, just as with the riots over the summer, the vast majority of the police resources were withheld so not to be seen as "interfering" with "legitimate protests." As a result, business burned, and those businesses will not be coming back.
Also inevitable was the grand jury's decision. There was obviously very little evidence to support the "racist white cop shoots an unarmed child with his hands up" story. The early facts had already shown, in the clearest possible way, that Michael Brown had bull rushed a convenience store clerk just minutes before the confrontation with officer Wilson. As a result, the early allegation that he had also bull rushed the officer was not altogether unlikely. Again, investigations needed to be completed and the facts needed to be reviewed before any conclusions were drawn.
It now appears that there was no reason to even charge Darren Wilson, much less subject the public to a months long emotional build up during the grand jury process. Everyone privy to the evidence had to have known that the grand jury process would only lead to disappointment to Brown supporters looking for "justice." The delay in closing this case allowed, maybe even forced, supporters of Brown to become married to the false narrative. Then, after months of advocating the "racist cop shoots boy" narrative, there was no going back. The disappointment then was inevitable and yet another prophecy was fulfilled when the "racist cop" was set free.
Then there are the future prophecies which will inevitably become fulfilled. Darren Wilson's life is over. He is either a dead man walking, or he will be moving to some remote part of Idaho or Montana and working in relative obscurity. His life will never return to normal. Do not make the mistake of thinking that every police officer in this country isn't watching this, regardless of race. It would not be surprising if we started seeing fewer and fewer police officers willing to work in low income black neighborhoods for fear that, if placed in a similar situation, they too will have their lives ruined. Fewer police officers will result in more crime, and more crime will result in fewer businesses and fewer jobs, which will result in even more poverty and despair in these neighborhoods. The "crumbling inner city" prophecy then becomes fulfilled.
Finally, by focusing on stories like Ferguson, our nation overlooks the real institutional racism that continues to plague black communities. I have no doubt that there are some racist cops out there who harass blacks because of their skin color. Darren Wilson, however, is not one of them. Similarly, I have no doubt that innocent young black men are subjected to additional police scrutiny without cause. Michael Brown, however, was not one of those young men. But, by making men like Wilson the bad guy and men like Michael Brown the martyr, all evidence being to the contrary, the race issues that really need to addressed are dismissed as "overblown," and the messengers not credible. President Obama, for example, addressed the nation on the first night of riots, condemning violence and calling for calm. He also, however, acknowledged the legitimacy of the protests. The problem is, a cause that is entirely based on a false narrative is not a legitimate cause. Protesting the fact that a uniformed police officer was not criminally charged for using deadly force against his attacker is not a "legitimate protest." The President and the Attorney General continue to feed this inflammatory, false narrative by insisting that the protests associated with Darren Wilson's release are legitimate. They are implying that the "legitimate" result; i.e. the one that would not have been deserving of protest, was to have Darren Wilson indicted. That is not how our system works and the President and the Attorney General should be the most vociferous defenders of the result in this case.
The President and other civil rights leaders should instead be focused on systemic issues that, while affecting all races, disproportionately affect blacks. For example, a system that throws a black single mother of 4 in prison for 20 years because she was in the same house as her boyfriend when he was busted with drugs and guns is unjust. A system that puts a black 18 year old away for life for holding a dime bag because he was on his "third strike" is unjust. A criminal justice system that removes sentencing discretion from judges and instead imposes mandatory sentencing on every citizen is unjust. Racism is having so many little laws that police basically have plenary power to stop you and search you at random. Racism is requiring young black children to stay in failing schools, surrounded by drugs and violence, rather than offering black families real choices for their children's education. And, yes, racism is aggressive profiling and "stop and frisk" policies that allow police to treat all of us, particularly blacks, as criminals just for walking down the street.
But none of that has anything to do with Ferguson, Michael Brown or Darren Wilson. The saddest part of the Ferguson story is that it will all happen again. Our leaders have demonstrated that they have no desire to fix the real institutional problems that cause us to distrust those institutions that govern us, both black and white. It is that distrust that causes us to jump to conclusions when we see police use force, or when hear government officials talk about "justice" in the abstract. It is the broad distrust of all of our institutions that must be fixed if we want to see real change in our communities.
In the future, Ferguson will be remembered as the place where all the vanities gathered to be burned as a sacrifice, so that we could continue to avoid addressing the real institutional problems we face.
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