It finally happened. The US justice Department issued its decision regarding the death of Michael Brown. I was stunned, because I didn’t expect any decision. But I have to admit, I was more surprised by my reaction to the Justice Department’s decision.

Initially I was angry and disappointed that Darrin Wilson was not charged with the death of Michel Brown. It took several days for me to process the process of decision making. Darrin Wilson was just doing his job, or should I say, performing the duties as outlined in the unofficial job description. He was and is a man protecting the status quo.

I was angry and disappointed, because in my world, Wilson should have been kicked off the force, jailed or released to be condemned to live the same sorry existence as George Zimmerman.

It took a while for me to get beyond my own limited vision to appreciate the bigger picture. Firing or even arresting Darrin Wilson was a short term solution to a long, long, long term problem. Instead of indicting the man, the Justice Department (led by US Attorney General Eric Holder) choose to indict “the system.”

The result: key players stepped down and away from the Ferguson machine; hopefully they will hopefully be replaced by fair, honest, honorable people who will mirror the community’s population.

The Justice Department decision could provide the momentum needed for social justice movements to unmask and replace Apartheid, Ferguson Style. And hopefully it will force us to actively choose between denial and truth and face the broader issues of policing practices and protocols throughout the US.

 

Janet Cormier is a painter, writes prose and poetry, and performs comedy. JC prefers different and original over pretty. She loves collecting stuff, but cleaning not so much. Janet also talks to strangers… a lot. Her column appears regularly in Oddball Magazine.