And now you made me get out the computer. I can't rant on the phone.
I don't think the grand jury is wrong - I wasn't there, and I don't know what they know. That's not my point at all. If I had to pick, I'd be more on the "side" of the cop, but that's also not my point. It's that I'm making that decision based on very limited information, which makes me exceedingly uncomfortable.
We are all choosing sides based on very limited information. I wish people* didn't seem so gleeful about this. Maybe it hasn't been your experience, but I've seen so many posts/comments by white people that are borderline (if not outright) racist. It's making me want to puke, because though I don't think Brown was innocent, and I don't think he should have resisted (etc) Wilson, and looting is abhorrent (and, and, AND!!), I don't like that we're using this as a reason to pretend racism doesn't exist, or that it's becoming ok again because someone else is acting like an idiot, or that these people absolutely can't have any well-earned reason for desperately wanting to fight the system, or are so apathetic that "bring it on" feels more appropriate than "sorry, officer, I'll go home now," or, or OR!!
...
I told you it would be tiring. The nuance isn't in the case itself (or I'm not well-informed enough to find it there). It's in the way everyone is treating it as one thing or another, when there are so many freaking layers I can't stand it.
*possibly mostly the media flavoring things, but I've seen too much shit on facebook to believe it's all down to them.
For the record, none of this rant is directed at you. I definitely appreciate your attempt at true/fair discourse. I'm just ANGRY.
if you feel like wading through the bullshit, i think Mike Brown's friends testimony is pretty well nuanced and touches a lot of what i think you are trying to say as far as the actual case is concerned. for the rest, it would have made a lot of sense to have everything put on trial where the facts could be judged appropriately, even if it resulted in a non-conviction. refusing to even bring it to trial has caused much more anger than normal, and everyone is going to have their own take on why and how to move forward. the only thing i think that can be done is to accept that the police should be aware that they are being more scrutinized than ever before, and that minorities should probably carry their own always-on cameras to record any potentially fatal encounters with police.
"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman