The Grand Jury (GJ) to investigate the death of unarmed African-American young man Michael Brown in the hands of white police officer Daren Wilson has given its dreaded verdict. It has decided not to indict the police officer, which means there is no case against him and he is free although the Justice Department can still pursue whether there is a case of civil rights violation in the case that is unlikely to go anywhere. The Ferguson GJ is not a usual one. Its verdict had kept not just Ferguson, a county of 21,000 people in St Louis, Missouri, on tenterhooks but also the nation with the rest of the world watching.
The media build-up in the last few days over what verdict the GJ would give was tremendous and sensational. The leading TV giants of USA, like CNN, Fox and the rest sent their super stars to Ferguson to cover what was billed as "breaking news". The GJ itself helped the media to create the drama in announcing its verdict. It played a game of cat and mouse and a little of politics as well. After keeping the nation tense for days, the GJ finally decided to make its announcement not over the weekend as it very well could have done but on a Monday and that too late in the evening so that business would be closed and with Thanksgiving on Thursday and the long weekend to follow, the nation's attention would also be divided.
Missouri Governor Jeff Nixon declared a state of emergency and curfew in Missouri before the announcement of the verdict. He also brought the National Guards and made all other arrangements that left no one in doubt that he was expecting great trouble if the verdict went in favour of the white police officer.
Michael Brown's shooting death has been a major issue in the nation's media ever since he was gunned down in early August while coming out of a store where he took things out without paying only to be confronted by Daren Wilson in the street nearby. The police officer was unaware of the incident in the store but nevertheless shot at Michael Brown six times and killed him instantaneously.
The debate in the media ever since the shooting has been an issue of race. The Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution protects individuals "from unreasonable government intrusion …whether through police stops of citizens on the street, arrests, or searches of homes and businesses." Thus under the law, individuals anywhere in the country should have no fear of life from "search and seizure" that police officers have to carry out routinely in the line of their duty.
The Fourth Amendment works like magic when it is a white that police officers anywhere in USA confronts in the line of duty while enforcing "search and seizure". Unfortunately, it works like black magic when the subjects of "search and seizure" are African-Americans. Then the unfortunate African-Americans are often likely to be gunned down before the police officer, when white, is even close enough to search or seize him as was the case with Brown.
Thus it is now a sad reality in the United States that parents of African-Americans have no faith in the Fourth Amendment because they fear to believe in the first sentence of the Declaration of Independence that "all men are created equal". African-American parents in the country these days teach their children to forget the Fourth Amendment and prostrate themselves before the white police officer in a manner that should make the "search and seizure" irrelevant and where the white police officer would not have the slightest fear from the African-American he was about to apprehend. Unfortunately, such is the force of race and racial prejudice in USA that such teaching often does not work and African-Americans can only depend on God Almighty to come out with their lives when confronted with white police officer's "search and seizure" procedure on the streets.
It is not that African-Americans are in danger of their lives in the streets from police alone; they are also in the same danger when armed white American civilians confront them in the streets. The case of Trayvon Martin, a couple of years ago, underlined that truth. A white civilian member of a neighbourhood vigilante group killed him. That case went to court but a jury of 5 white women and another from the minority community set the killer George Zimmerman free to the consternation of the African-Americans and the right thinking people of the country.
A disappointed and dejected President Barak Obama had then told fellow Americans in a national address how difficult it is for African-American males to grow up in America where they cannot walk into any neighbourhood in the country or even in public places without their fellow white Americans looking over their shoulders at them with fear and suspicion.
President Obama again addressed the nation almost immediately after the verdict of the GJ in Fergusson. He asked for calm from the protesters. He took a sentence out of the statement made by the father of Michael Brown who while expressing extreme disappointment over the GJ, called upon the protesters to express their anger and disappointment in a peaceful manner. The President underlined the importance of the rule of law in American life. He also called upon the law enforcement agencies for "care and restraint" in handling the protesters.
He stressed upon the enormous progress in race relations in USA over the course of the past several decades" but at the same time also underscored that there are still problems in race relations and "and communities of colour aren't just making these problems up."
The President's call and that of Martin Brown's father notwithstanding, there were protests; some looting and some businesses were also put on fire following the GJ verdict. The danger of the protests and violence spreading over the next few days is still there but with months to prepare and with the expectations that the GJ would not indict Darren Wilson, the law enforcing agencies have been better able to prepare themselves for the worst which is now showing some positive signs in the immediate aftermath of the announcement of the verdict. The months of waiting for the verdict have also been able to bring into play some positive developments for the future of race relations and handling of civil rights issues.
For one, the death of Michael Brown has led to realisation in the mainstream America that African-Americans are not getting protection under the law as enshrined in the immortal first sentence of the Declaration of Independence that "all men are created equal". The law enforcement agencies are now being trained better as Washington Post wrote in its headline story the day following the CJ verdict:Â "County and state police, meanwhile, have been training in how to handle civil disobedience and de-escalate encounters with demonstrators."
There is also a qualitative change in the way the various groups protesting over Martin Brown's death are coming together on race issues. The Washington Post has written that the shooting of Michael Brown, the frustration of the GJ's verdict and the disturbances and violence following it notwithstanding, has brought together "seasoned organisers from across the country who have been imparting their experience with colourful and creative tactics designed to get attention without violence.
A defining feature has been the alliances forged across racial and class divides." Thus many believe that the death of Martin Brown may not be a futile one. It could very well be a milestone in the development of positive race relations in the United States.
Unfortunately until the future evolves that way, the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson by a white police officer and the verdict of the 12-member GJ of whom nine were whites will remain as a stigma on USA's standing as the world's oldest democracy in which Americans take a lot of well-deserved pride.
The writer is a retired career diplomat.
serajul7@gmail.com