COMMENTARY: Looters Undermine Justice For Mike Brown

I cringed while watching looters on national television smash store windows, stuff pillow cases with stolen goods, and run unrepentant into the Missouri night.

For the second straight evening, police in riot gear barricaded streets and fired rubber bullets and tear gas into an angry crowd of protestors to break up the chaos that has consumed Ferguson, a mostly Black town of 21,000 near St. Louis with one less black citizen after Michael Brown, 18, was gunned down by a police officer last weekend.

Witnesses say Brown was surrendering with his hands up when he was shot, Police say there was a struggle over the officer’s gun and it led to Brown being shot some distance away from the police car where the struggle began.

Tensions are still running high in Ferguson. Police arrested 15 people in the overnight hours Tuesday, following the arrests of 32 people on Sunday. But watching residents loot stores for shoes and hair weaves, throw rocks and bottles and shoot at police helicopters, is a lot to take. It’s irresponsible, unacceptable, and undermines the cause.

How does stealing hair weaves advance the cause for social justice? There will always be those misguided souls who will exploit a legitimate movement as a rationale to misbehave. Simply put, looters are mangling the message.

President Barack Obama must have cringed, too, as he pleaded for calm Tuesday.

“The death of Michael Brown is heartbreaking, and Michelle and I send our deepest condolences to his family and his community at this very difficult time,” Obama said in a statement.

“I know the events of the past few days have prompted strong passions, but as details unfold, I urge everyone in Ferguson, Missouri, and across the country, to remember this young man through reflection and understanding.  We should comfort each other and talk with one another in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds.  Along with our prayers, that’s what Michael and his family, and our broader American community, deserve.”

 For the moment, the nation is focused on Ferguson. Americans are watching the felonious behavior of some young people who are tarnishing the legacy of Michael Brown and giving validity to conservatives and racists who argue, generally, that young Black men are hoodlums and menaces to society.

It’s sad to watch Michael Brown’s mother, Lesley McSpadden, plead for calm in her community while she is also grieving the loss of her son.

“It is important to distinguish activism from vandalism,” said Dr. Leah Gunning Francis, Associate Dean of Contextual Education at Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis, and the mother of two young boys.

“The thousands of concerned citizens who have participated in peaceful protests, prayer vigils and strategy meetings are actively seeking justice on behalf of Michael Brown,” said Francis, who is interviewing Black mothers for a national research study on young Black males. “But it appears that the few who are stealing and destroying property are acting on their own behalf and for personal gain.”

Francis attended a jam-packed community meeting Tuesday night where concerned citizens gathered inside a St. Louis church to hear from Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, who has called for the U.S. Justice Department to investigate Brown’s death.  

I understand the outrage and anger the community in Ferguson is experiencing. I’m angry and outraged, too, I also realize that racism, high unemployment, the paucity of quality public education in this country and a long history of distrust between Black men and police in Ferguson contribute to the rage among its citizens.

However, thugs in Ferguson know right from wrong. The looters who smashed windows and ripped off local stores don’t care about Michael Brown. They don’t care about justice for Brown and his family. They don’t care about Michael Brown’s dream of going to college. They don’t care about collective healing in the aftermath of this tragedy.

And let me be clear: I don’t believe these looters represent all young people living in Ferguson, but for the thousands of Americans – Black and white –who are watching this madness play out on national television, the looters are the perceived representatives of what Ferguson has to offer.

I’ve seen how civil disturbances can tear black communities apart. I’ve covered three major riots in my journalism career – two in Miami and one in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Often times, we burn down buildings in our own neighborhoods and then expect local and federal government to allocate funding for rebuilding and revitalization. It’s a twisted cycle.

Meanwhile, on Monday night, more than one thousand responsible citizens packed Murchison Tabernacle CME Church in St. Louis where civil rights leaders urged protesters to stay calm in the wake of Brown’s fatal shooting by a Ferguson police officer.

James Clark, vice president of community outreach at Better Family Life, a St. Louis social-service group, said local leaders have a civic responsibility to take charge peacefully.

“The eyes of the world are on St. Louis,” Clark said. “Let’s lead.”

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