Michael Brown is Our Story, Ferguson is Our Town, and We Are America

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Within the last few days, my social media feed has been inundated with a form rhetoric that is passionate and heartbroken as well as maddening at times. The recent news coming out of Ferguson, Missouri is gut wrenching and reminiscent of the tragedy of Trevon Martin. Here we have a young man, Michael Brown, being stopped by a police officer for jaywalking and the officer cites him for struggling; thus, the officer shoots and kills an unarmed Michael Brown. They then left his body out, uncovered, in the street as it fell for hours. The police seemed to be walking around not knowing what to do and sparking outrage from the community on the dishonorable way they were treating the Brown's body.

Those that witnessed the incident were outraged and as those witnesses took it to social media they sparked a mass outcry from the population of Ferguson and eventually the nation. Understandably people began drawing conclusions of racially spurred accusations that have since mounted to racial unrest and another example of the human condition in the United States of America. Racial profiling has existed since before the American Revolution and despite the great work done in the Civil Rights movement the fight is still being waged.

It is of my own understanding that you cannot judge a person based on the color of their skin any more than the color of their eye. You cannot know a person by the clothes they wear, whom they love, or what food they consume. To know a person one must have a conversation. How many people outside of your skin color, religion, or sexuality have you really had a conversation with? If you are one that thinks social profiling does not occur I am prepared to guess that your answer is not very diverse.

Diversity if the lifeblood of human existence. Only through diversity does biology flourish. We live in the land of the free and the home of the brave, yet so few of us are willing to brave taking a step outside of our comfort zone and trying to understand that not every life experience is congruent to our own. Everyone has different struggles, different relationships, different social constructs; and still some how society continues to grow and expand. It is our duty, those of any religion, social group, or community to do what is right morally and that does not include brushing such issues to the side, but determining that if so many people have a problem with something; perhaps then there is reason to try and understand. Understanding is calming, so many people feel as if no one understands or cares, which often leads to riots and bloodshed. We care, we care about Ferguson, and we certainly care what happened to Michael Brown. His story is our story, but we determine how it will end.

To those in Ferguson I would exercise caution. Petitioning and rioting are two very different activities. You feel, understandably, enraged and heartbroken, but if you really want to see a response do not make the other side respond out of fear, but through demonstrations that are nonviolent and peaceful, but demanding of a response.

My prayers go out to the Brown family and the community of Ferguson. Stay strong.

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