I am really disturbed by what I am hearing

[indivisibleman]

Why is it that news programs and my own family members are all about finding dirt on Michael Brown but look for nothing on Darren Wilson? (not that it even matters in regard to Brown's murder. But they are bringing it up as if it does.) I see this attitude as just another example of racism because it is. Racism is so ingrained in our society that most whites don't even see it.
Has anyone heard anything about Darren Wilson's character besides what the police department has reported?

[arcane1]

1. It's a double standard

Bors, as always, nails it:

http://www.truth-out.org/art/item/25635-double-take

[Rex]

2. Nothing about him, they (Ferguson PD) helped him flee

and to get out of town. Then again, they've been holding reporters and threatening to shoot them...so if they think that little about the media...what does that tell you about how they feel toward average citizens?

[valerief]

3. Wilson is white. Duh. nt

[Anansi1171]

7. Winner!! New High Score!!-nt

[L0oniX]

42. Thread winner!

[blkmusclmachine]

4. Cops can never do any wrong. And they have a whole system set up to protect them when they do.

[Lex]

5. Was Darren Wilson tested for steroids, stimulants, or other drugs?

He's the one who pulled the trigger 6 times.

[Boreal]

8. this n/t

[ReRe]

15. Absolutely!

This is what happens when they don't do the right thing to begin with, when they don't take the suspect in. Don't tell me they couldn't have built a case in 48 hours. At least valuable evidence wouldn't have been lost. I cringe when I think of that... the evidence that was lost.
That's a crime in itself!

[ybbor]

27. I thought that it was more than 6

I may be mistaken, but didn't they find bullets embedded in some of the surrounding houses?

I think testing for steroids makes perfect sense. So of course they won't.

[Enthusiast]

31. +1

[Kali]

6. there is a story circulating about his mother

criminal record as a con artist or something, but yeah the focus is on the victim and even I have been a little guilty of it in a thread about that video from the store.

which was obviously the intent behind releasing it

[ohnoyoudidnt]

9. There are a lot of questions to still be answered about Wilson.

I am also a littte disturbed that the white kid leaving a 7-11 wearing headphones that was gunned down by cops is getting so little attention. Racism is certainly an element in these shootings, but every citizen of any race should be concerned about a cops ability to kill and walk away so easily. Maybe a lot are vets who are used to doing it overseas.

[indivisibleman]

21. True

I've only heard about the 711 kid being gunned down now after the shooting of Michael Brown.

[ohnoyoudidnt]

44. And only because a Duer posted a story from local news.

I bet the number of unarmed people that are killed by cops far outnumbers the cops killed by armed people.

[ZombieHorde]

10. I saw a lot of this with Martin.

I saw many more people bring up Martin's past than Zimmerman's past.

[JI7]

13. yes, trayvon posing in certain ways mattered but Zimmerman's thug past of assault

did not

[secondwind]

11. I've always said that racists don't know that they are being racist... n/t

[indivisibleman]

22. Very true

[AverageJoe90]

28. With all due respect.....those types of racists are very much in the minority, especially today.

I'm sure many of us would like to believe that most racists don't know that they're racist, but unfortunately, we need to put away the rose-colored glasses: the sad truth is, many racists actually *DO* know that they are bigoted. Some of them aren't necessarily open about it, of course, and many will, certainly, use code words to avoid controversy. But deep down inside, they do know that they do hate group A or that group B is "inferior" somehow, etc.

To be fair, though, this actually does hold true with lesser levels of prejudice(which isn't exactly the same as racism.). But racism, misogyny, etc.? Such a genuine lack of awareness in those cases is actually quite rare, and most likely to be found in either elderly persons(no offense to senior DUers intended, btw!) or those suffering certain types of mental conditions.

[freedom fighter jh]

12. I'm not sure Wilson exists.

Lots of people have been following this much more closely than I have, so please someone step in if I'm way off base.

But all I've heard about Wilson is that the Fergie cops say it was him, that he left town, and that no one can find anything about him through a google search. Oh, and one neighbor expressed shock that it was him.

Could this be a set-up? Could the cops have created this character to protect the cop who really did it?

[BuelahWitch]

14. There was a supposed picture of Wilson on Yahoo the other day

A man with thinning, sandy hair who looked closer to 38 than the supposed 28. *Of course* the picture has him getting an award (to contrast with Mike Brown supposedly shoving a store clerk) for his impeccable service to the force.

But I know what you mean, this who "Dennis Wilson" thing has me feeling a bit

[handmade34]

16. a young girl

has video that she took right after the shooting and it shows Wilson pacing around the body, yah, he exists

[freedom fighter jh]

33. How does anyone know that guy's name is Wilson? nt

[handmade34]

49. the photo being

circulated supposedly comes from his father's facebook page... it has all been talked about and there is not reason to speculate about other theories

[AverageJoe90]

29. You know something? It very well could either be this....

Or that this Wilson character may possibly be being protected by a larger conspiracy out there.....just sayin'.

[freedom fighter jh]

35. Agree.

I'm pretty sure it's gotta be one of those two things.

[Unvanguard]

39. Of course he exists, their story would fall through eventually if he didn't.

Would make no sense to tell that kind of lie. Plus, too many moving parts, someone would leak the truth.

[IdaBriggs]

17. Other than his previous department was disbanded due to corruption,

And a history of assaulting black people, nothing.

Officer Darren Wilson Lives in Crestwood, Black Population 1.3%
http://colorlines.com/archives/2014/08/officer_darren_wilson_lives_in_crestwood_black_population_13.html
(From Article: “Wilson previously worked in nearby Jennings, where the black population is 86.1 percent.”)

Jennings police department dissolves
http://www.kmov.com/news/local/Jennings-police-department-dissolves-117864314.html
(Article Dated: March 12, 2011 “The council said corruption inside the department led to this.”)

You probably saw it all over the news, right?

[indivisibleman]

23. Wow!

Was Wilson formerly with the Jennings police department?

[Cleita]

18. In seems to be in our DNA to flog the victim or blame

those on the bottom of the ladder.

[MrMickeysMom]

19. What is the due process of the law for this crime?

And, it is a crime, IMO.

Taken into custody? Booked? Arraigned for trial? Lawyer up? Grand Jury? Trial by a jury of his peers?

Meanwhile, evidence is analyzed and entered into the record for this due process? Notice, none of this should include characterization of the victim or perpetrator. Am I right so far?

So, use the law as it was meant to be used. Don't talk like it's okay to misuse the process just because a police force did.

Then, the court of public opinion can carry on to see how to put an end to this misuse and abuse.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

20. Where is his personnel file?

In the case of the police who have the power of life and death over us, I don't think their personnel file/disciplinary record should be allowed to be privileged. The Ferguson police said he had no record of discipline and we are to take them at their word. And what about citizen complaints in his file for which no disciplinary action was taken? I believe they qualified that statement by indicating there was no record of discipline as a Ferguson police officer. What about in the two years he was a cop in another town? That police department supposedly has been unresponsive. I think the police should be an exception to the laws allowing personnel files to remain privileged. This is not like some technical worker at Microsoft; it is a man licensed to carry a gun and use deadly force.

[antiquie]

24. From Daily Kos

So Darren Wilson has a clean record?

[elehhhhna]

34. FIOA request should get it

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

50. The FOIA applies to records held by federal agencies

State or local government agencies are subject to privileges of non-disclosure under state law. Virtually every state in the U.s. places police personnel/disciplinary records of law enforcement off limits to the public. i remember how OJ Simpson's defense team pleaded with judge Ito to get the LAPD to release Mark Fuhrman's police personnel file. They were denied. Here's Missouri's relevant code regarding privileged records which includes police personnel files (see #3).

http://www.moga.mo.gov/statutes/C600-699/6100000021.HTM

[AverageJoe90]

25. I'm afraid the corruption is obvious in this case.

And our media's been going backwards since 9/11, thanks to Rupert Murdoch, and the Kochs, etc.

The media was never perfect, mind you, but even I've noticed the backsliding, and I'm only 24.

[agbdf]

26. Racism is a terrible thing.

However, I don't believe that most white people or even a sizable portion of whites are racists.

[AverageJoe90]

32. This is very true, no doubt.

(Honestly, if most white people were actual racists, this country would be in very deep trouble, and we might very well have turned into Nazi Germany, or even worse, by now.)

However, though, I think his actual point really was, is that the remnants of structural racism have still managed to wedge themselves into the cracks and are going to be tough to eliminate entirely. To say it as a computer geek would, if I may, It's just one of those software bugs that'll require many patches to finally repair.

[agbdf]

41. Great point! Thank you for your comment.

[Unvanguard]

37. That seems rather naive of you.

[agbdf]

43. I hope not...

I have a couple of members of my own family who would agree with you. Yet, I don't think there are that many racists in white America. Maybe I am naive but I hope not.

I do believe that racism is one of the most ugly forms of hatred there is. It's a very serious thing and I don't think the label should be applied to people carelessly.

What I myself have seen over the years is that some
people (although not most) simply
paint others as racist for merely disagreeing with them on an issue. This cheapens the whole idea of racism and the ugly threat it poses to society.

I am not suggesting that you would be one to do this but, I have seem those who do.

[Unvanguard]

55. Racism is pretty widespread in this country.

One of the two major political parties more or less openly champions the cause of white racism and the other rarely steps up to challenge it frontally. From Ferguson to immigration debates to longstanding housing policy to suspicion of means-tested benefits for the poor to attacks on the rights of minority voters to the (slowly receding) mainstream tolerance of mass incarceration, racial prejudice, hierarchy, and subordination infect our public policy from top to bottom.

Racism does not usually look like the caricature of the racist that you seem to be invoking; that is, it is subtle and insidious rather than blatant and explicit. Here is a good article on the subject.

[agbdf]

56. Thank you, I'll read it.

[AverageJoe90]

59. Ta-Nehisi Coates? Really?

Racism does not usually look like the caricature of the racist that you seem to be invoking; that is, it is subtle and insidious rather than blatant and explicit. Here is a good article on the subject.

Sometimes it is, yes. And in fact, NOBODY has denied that here. So what's your point?

[Unvanguard]

61. Yes, really.

His article speaks exactly to the point being described. And he is entirely right about it.

[AverageJoe90]

45. It's really not.

Yes, there are a fair number of people in this country who ARE indeed truly racist or otherwise prejudiced.....but they were in the majority, do you think we'd have elected President Obama, let alone have a still truly democratic country? More than likely, we'd have the Teabaggers dominating something on the order of 90% of Congress and a genuine 1984-esque police state, at best. At worst? A repeat of Nazi Germany. Possibly multiplied at that.

[Unvanguard]

57. Many racists voted for Barack Obama.

More of them voted for his opponents, who, you might recall, both got nearly half of the vote, and strong majorities of white people.

Your notion that widespread racism must resolve itself either into a 1984-style police state or Nazi Germany is rather bizarre. Surely you can accept that the South prior to the Civil Rights Movement had a deeply racist white majority. But it did not resemble either of the regimes you describe. The United States today is obviously less institutionally racist than the Jim Crow South but it retains a de facto system of distribution of rights, benefits, and resources along racial lines. The lives and well-being of black people just do not matter very much to many white Americans. And that is why our society is still so deeply racially inequitable.

[AverageJoe90]

58. I don't think you understood what I meant. Perhaps some clarification is in order. And further.....

Many racists voted for Barack Obama.

I'm sorry, but this is clearly inaccurate. In fact, do you realize how TeaParty-esque that sounds?(Including when you realize that at least two-fifths of the people who voted for Obama were "white".)

But it did not resemble either of the regimes you describe.

There's a difference between casual racism and hardcore racism(which is what I meant by "truly racist&quot . I realize that there may have been some imperfect wording on my part, but it really doesn't change my point one bit.

But it did not resemble either of the regimes you describe

No, not Nazi Germany, maybe, but the U.S. South pre-1950s was very much like a police state in MANY areas. And, what's scary is, actual hardcore racists were probably never much more than a third of the population. Had it been much more than that.....well, let's just say that this country probably would have had a far more tragic Fifties and Sixties than what we'd already had to put up with in our world.

Your notion that widespread racism must resolve itself either into a 1984-style police state or Nazi Germany is rather bizarre.

Not at all.

It has, in fact, often been the case that widespread hardcore racism has led to such ends. South Africa, for example, may not have been Nazi Germany but it was very much a police state(albeit one that may not have always been obvious). And look at certain of the Middle Eastern states, in which hardcore racism against Jews is widespread; virtually all of them are non-liberal republics and many of them are(or were until recently, in the case of Libya) dictatorships.

[Unvanguard]

60. It's true that de jure systems of apartheid tend to depend on pretty blatant violence.

So I accept your point re: the Jim Crow South and South Africa. (I guess I was reacting to your use of "1984-style", which neither of them remotely were.)

I'm ok with your distinction between "hardcore racism" and "casual racism" as long as we appreciate that even so-called "casual" racism has very serious and sometimes deadly effects. American "casual" racism, while not being "hardcore" in the sense of not being explicitly ideologically committed to the superiority of white people, nonetheless perpetuates a social system of immense racial inequality.

As far as my claim being "TeaParty-esque," I'm not making the (ludicrous) Tea Party argument that Barack Obama's campaign was built on "reverse racism"; what I'm saying is that racism (non-reverse racism, racism involving fear of, resentment of, lack of consideration for black people and other non-whites) is present in the Democratic Party and among Obama voters.

[AverageJoe90]

62. Well, alright.

So I accept your point re: the Jim Crow South and South Africa. (I guess I was reacting to your use of "1984-style", which neither of them remotely were.)

TBH, about the only thing that really held the South back, though, was the fact that many people up North wouldn't have put up with that.

I'm ok with your distinction between "hardcore racism" and "casual racism" as long as we appreciate that even so-called "casual" racism has very serious and sometimes deadly effects. American "casual" racism, while not being "hardcore" in the sense of not being explicitly ideologically committed to the superiority of white people, nonetheless perpetuates a social system of immense racial inequality.

Okay then, I see what you're saying now, I think.

As far as my claim being "TeaParty-esque," I'm not making the (ludicrous) Tea Party argument that Barack Obama's campaign was built on "reverse racism"; what I'm saying is that racism (non-reverse racism, racism involving fear of, resentment of, lack of consideration for black people and other non-whites) is present in the Democratic Party and among Obama voters.

The main problem was how it was worded, more than anything. And yes, there probably are a few racists-in-denial who might have voted for Obama, that may be true. But, to be truthful, they were definitely very much in the minority, even if we take the non-white racists(of which there are indeed a token few, if only a token few) into account as well.

[840high]

51. Agree. My circle of friends

is not racist.

[agbdf]

52. Nor is mine.

[sadoldgirl]

30. It is very easily explained

a) the victim was black and is DEAD, so no counter argument possible;

b) The shooter was white and a protected "serve and protect" guy.

Clear this up very quickly.

[Unvanguard]

36. It's a psychological mechanism, a kind of confirmation bias.

General assumption: when a police officer shoots a black man, there's a good reason.

Apparent contrary case: police officer shoots an unarmed black man with his hands up.

Resolution: Find whatever evidence you can to make that case fall into the pattern of your general assumption. This is facilitated by the general white American fear of black men as thuggish and dangerous.

[onecaliberal]

38. Unless you would be okay with your

unarmed kid being shot dead in the street for no reason, I don't see how you defend the cop or his action in any way.
This isn't an isolated case, there is a theme and black skin seems to be very dangerous in the eyes of zealot white cops.

[SheilaT]

40. There's a long and honorable history of blaming the victim in this country.

Women who are raped know this all too well.

In this case, the race aspect makes it noticeable in a particular way. But here in New Mexico we've had a recent epidemic of cops shooting unarmed people, and here almost everyone is Hispanic so the race thing isn't in the forefront. But invariably the cops have the usual myriad of excuses about why they had to shoot to kill.

In recent years policing has become something more like an occupying force. John Oliver's recent rant about what's happening in Ferguson is incredible: http://www.vox.com/xpress/2014/8/18/6030265/john-oliver-ferguson-monologue

[L0oniX]

46. Law is so last century. Now it's power.

[mehrrh]

47. police records

The police department had never put reports of police misconduct into the officer's file -- any reports remained in the case file and closed.

[maindawg]

53. Here is what I find Ironic

These people in Ferguson are fighting for our freedom. They have taken alot of abuse.
Fox news should be backing them in the same way they backed Cliven Bundy. My white racist frenemies will vehemently criticize the people of Ferguson and call them rioters.
When they say the word 'rioter' we know what they mean. Just like when they call them drug dealers. They mean n!ggers. Likewise 'poor people= n worders.
Pretty soon we are all going to be n worders. Because we are all going to be poor. We already are , they have stolen our treasure and now they must have an army to control the n worders/people.

The n worders are freedom fighters. Some one alert fox news right away. They should get Bundy down there he could prove how much he loves the blacks.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

54. Let's get Donald Trump to go to Ferguson asap to mediate a peace

"I've always had a great relationship with the blacks."