This is a paper I just wrote for my sociology class, and I just wanted to share it because I think it has some good points. I don't want this to cause any arguing or conflict, this is just my ideas on the matter, and everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
On August 9, 2014 Michael Brown, an
18-year old African-American man was shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson
(Buchanan, et al., 2014). In the days and
months following the event rioting broke out in Ferguson and eventually spread
across the entire country. When Officer Wilson went in to work that day I’m
sure he had no idea the events that would occur, and because of those events he
has had to move to a new location and will probably never feel completely safe
for the rest of his life. Even today, 8 months after the shooting, there are
still riots happening and daily more people are being hurt in the Ferguson and
surrounding areas.
In
the article, A Look at the Destruction
After Ferguson Riots, Rheana Murray talks about the lasting effects of the
rioting. On November 24, 2014 a grand jury cleared Officer Wilson of all
charges in the shooting of Michael Brown (Murray, 2014). Immediately after riots erupted all
over Ferguson, MO even worse than in August (Murray, 2014). Rioters were
shooting at police officers, throwing rocks at their cars, even setting police
cars on fire along with several businesses in the area. Murray reports that
there were at least a dozen buildings burning on the morning of Novermber 25,
and 61 people had already been arrested for various charges including arson and
assault (Murray, 2014). All of this was being done supposedly
to demand justice for an “innocent black boy”, but what the news station didn’t
show was that Michael Brown really wasn’t innocent. On August 9, 2014 at
11:45am Michael Brown was caught on video surveillance stealing from a liquor
store; as Officer Wilson pursued Michael Brown there was an altercation between
them where Wilson fired two shots from inside his vehicle (Buchanan, et al., 2014). There is evidence
that Brown was reaching in to the vehicle to try and get Wilson’s gun (Buchanan, et al., 2014). Officer Wilson
ended up pursuing Brown on foot where there were eye witnesses who stated that
Brown turned and ran toward Wilson. Officer Wilson fired off more shots because
Brown was rushing him. The autopsy reports prove that Brown was bent down
charging at Wilson as he was shot, indicating that Officer Wilson fired
multiple shots in order to protect himself (Buchanan, et al., 2014). There were rioters
from all over the country who came to Ferguson demanding justice, but none of
them stopped to consider whether Michael Brown was innocent or not. All they
cared about was that he was black and the cop was white. This is a perfect example
of conflict theory.
Conflict
theory is defined as “a social theory that views conflict as inevitable and
natural and as a significant cause of social change” (Basirico, Cashion, & Eshleman, 2014, p. 41). Karl Marx believed
that when an economic system supports inequality, the exploited class will
eventually realize their lower status and revolt (Basirico, Cashion, & Eshleman, 2014, p. 42). In the case of Michael Brown he was not an
outstanding citizen of Ferguson. He frequently stole from local stores, and was
known as a trouble-maker. When he was killed it was just an opening for people
to claim that the African-Americans of their community were treated differently
than the whites, and that Brown was shot simply because of the color of his
skin. I know that there have been cases where this is true, but in this case
Brown was not innocent and Officer Wilson was simply doing his job. But, because
people began rioting and causing so much destruction police officers and the
National Guard from surrounding areas had to risk their lives to come patrol
and try to contain the rioting. Conflict theory tells us that we must look for
the hidden strains and frustrations between those in power, the upper class,
and the lower class (Basirico, Cashion, & Eshleman, 2014, p. 43).
If people were
more aware of the social classes in their area, and how it can actually be a good
thing and help people understand social interactions better events such as this
may not be as frequent. Unfortunately, there are a lot of uneducated people
when it comes to recognizing potential conflict. I am not sure when the debate
on Officer Wilson’s innocence will end if ever, but I do know that because of
this one event many lives have been forever changed. If people would just learn
how to have positive interactions with each other things like this wouldn’t
happen.
References
Basirico, L. A., Cashion, B. G., & Eshleman, J.
R. (2014). SOCI 200 (6th ed.). Redding, CA: BVT Publishing.
Buchanan, L., Fessenden, F., Lai, K. R., Park, H.,
Parlapiano, A., Tse, A., . . . Yourish, K. (2014, November 25). What Happened
in Ferguson. The New York Times Company. Retrieved April 6, 2015, from
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/08/13/us/ferguson-missouri-town-under-siege-after-police-shooting.html
Murray, R. (2014, November 25). A Look at the
Destruction After Ferguson Riots. Retrieved April 6, 2015, from
http://abcnews.go.com/US/tour-destruction-ferguson-riots/story?id=27163962
