This Thanksgiving Remember that #AllLivesMatter and #BlackLivesMatter

by Tommy Lee Jenkins, III


I am an American.  I am a veteran.  I am a writer.  Above all, I am a Black man living in America.  When I saw the Michael Brown story, I was appalled at what I saw captured on cell phone video.  I saw an unarmed Black teenager, gunned down in the street, at point-blank range with his arms raised in the air, trying to surrender.  Michael Brown had been shot 6 times.  It seemed like a slam dunk case.  The officer who did the shooting would be fired and arrested and placed on trial.

Wrong.  The officer who shot Michael Brown was Darren Wilson.  He was placed on leave with pay.  He was under investigation for indictment by a grand jury.  He was not indicted.  In the history of grand juries handing down indictments, there is a 98-99% rate of indictment.  This case, of an incident where a murder has taken place, on video, as it happens, seems to fall in the category of the 1-2% exception.

I've been Black my entire life.  I understand how unjust and irrational protocol can be in America, especially when you introduce race into the mix.  People become hypocrites.  Institutions, such as the justice system applies a double standard in certain situations.  It influences whether people find me attractive or not.  I wasn't really shocked when the grand jury came back without an indictment for Darren Wilson.  I'm not even shocked that the Pew Research Center released a survey confirming that Blacks are more likely than Whites to see the shooting as race-related.

I'll tell you what I'm shocked about.  I'm shocked that we are embarking on the holiday season - Thanksgiving and Xmas, and there is no empathy for Michael Brown's family.  The grand jury who returned a vote for not indicting Darren Wilson have just told the Brown family that their son's life was not worth the effort of a trial.  The looters who burned down Ferguson have just told the Brown family that they are not going to respect their wishes, even though the protests are being held in their names.

There is a problem on both sides.  Personally, I lean towards the side of the protesters because I don't see how a person could be unarmed and shot on video and no one see anything wrong with that.  A lot of people who are upset with the protesters believe in the rule of law when it comes down to the protesters burning down the place and looting, but the rule of law did not apply to Darren Wilson when he shot the teenager.  Before the verdict had been publicized, people were calling on protesters to be non-violent, but no one seemed to care that Darren Wilson had not been nonviolent in the case of Michael Brown.  It was a situation that could have easily resulted in arrest versus death.

I refuse to let this news ruin my holidays and I urge you to do the same.  This holiday season, enjoy yourselves and your families.  Reach out to people you don't normally reach out to during the holiday in the true spirit of Thanksgiving and remember that #AllLivesMatter and #BlackLivesMatter.  I think it's a shame that we can send a man to the moon, but we can't manage to get along.

P.S. It's pretty hard to get along with someone if they think my life doesn't matter.

Anyway,
G-d Bless and Take Care
Happy Thanksgiving, America
I Hope You're All Proud of Yourselves