Bringing over my response to TheDuchess, in case she misses it, due to thread closing:
I'm sorry TheDuchess. I must have missed your previous posts. I can't speak for everyone, but the shooting death of MB is more symbolic than anything else. When he was shot, people assumed the shooting was racially motivated. Not because of the facts of the incident itself, but because of their own personal experiences with police officers in Ferguson. As I've stated, the relationship between black residents in Ferguson and Ferguson police officers has been strained for many years. Many AAs in Ferguson can share horror stories around being profiled, pulled over without cause, having weapons drawn on them without cause, their vehicles tossed without cause, etc. I realize not everyone believes these stories when they hear them- even I do not believe all of them- but there is enough of a breakdown between residents and LE that people assumed the worst. Racism.
Some of the issue is a lack of education. I'm not talking school-system education, I'm talking about education of the process in general. People already believed no one in LE cared that MB was shot, so it wasn't a leap for them to also believe his body had layed in the street for 4 hours as an act of disrespect. For many in the community, it is literally easier for them to believe, based on their own experiences, that those officers didn't care about MB than it is to believe there's a logical (non-racially motivated) explanation.
It truly is easier for many residents to believe MB had his hands up in surrender and was shot anyway than it is to believe OW was acting in self-defense. Again, the reason for this is because of their own experiences, their own histories with local LE. Many believe a white police officer shooting an unarmed black male without cause was inevitable. Many express shock it hasn't happened sooner. When MB was shot and killed, they took it as proof of the breakdown they've perceived between LE and their own families for many, many years.
THAT is why I believe race has to be a part of the conversation regarding the death of MB. Not because I automatically assume OW was racist, but because people are acting out the pain and anger of decades of dysfunction. You cannot begin to understand where they are coming from if you don't understand the racial tension that has haunted the region over such a long period of time.
Someone not impacted by the racial dynamic may find it easier to look at the facts objectively, with no filter (racial or otherwise) and come to a certain conclusion. The residents of Ferguson do not have that luxury. It's not because they're bad people, it's because they live in a racial divide, where their existence is literally "us vs. them". Now, some of that is their own doing. I'm the first to admit that. But not all of it is, and there are some people that have enjoyed measurable success- black and white alike- off of the racial divide.
Hopefully that answers your question somewhat?
