Literature Review

Michelle Chavez
University of Texas at El Paso

The incident in Ferguson between Michael Brown and the police officer took over. For so
many reasons, many people think that officer Wilson shot teenager Michael Brown
because he was an African American and others thought because he was charging at the
officer. Nobody really knows the real story. There are so many questions that many
people ask in order to understand this situation more, but in reality you could never really
know what actually happened or what were going through the minds of teenager Michael
Brown and Officer Darren Wilson. There have been many investigations due to the fact
that Michael Brown was unarmed but was still shot and killed in Ferguson. Just like any
other story the media takes control and sends this story nation wide, and it should be so
other officer can understand how serious their job is. Many say officer Wilson shot
Michael Brown because of his race, but there is no evidence to back up that opinion.
There can be many stories as to why this situation happened the way it did. Officer
Wilson was found innocent in the death of Michael Brown, and once the news got out
Ferguson went crazy. They started riots and they destroyed the city so they could get
justice to the African Americans. This story was very sad, in the news you could see
building burning because of the people that were mad that Officer Wilson did not pay for
killing an unarmed African American. I wanted to go further and investigate more on this
story so this is what I asked myself.
1. How are Fergusons officers trained?
2. How did the Grand Jury come to the conclusion that Officer Wilson was found
innocent?
3. Was racism a factor in the situation?

How are the police officers trained in Ferguson?

After Michael Browns situation with Officer Wilson the police department of Ferguson
decided that the officers needed more training. Officers need to be wiser about what they
are doing. They need to be trained to learn how to deal with all different kinds of people,
and treat them equally. Police chief Jackson has been impacted by what has happened in
Ferguson and believes that everyone should be equal. He heard about the talk black
parents give their children, saying that many people will see them as being a threat
because of their skin tone, regardless of how nice and well behaved they are. The talk, in
the black community, is a conversation in which parents tell their children they inherently
have strikes against them and that many people will view them as a threat, regardless of
character. (Addo, Koran. 2014) Jackson admitted that hearing about the talk hurt him,
they already see themselves as bad people just because of their skin color.
Jackson believes that they need to give training that actually works for the
officers, so they can understand that this is not something they should be taking so lightly.
The officers need to know that they are working in a community that deals with African
Americans and they need to know how to treat them. Not only do they need to be trained
in police work but also they need to learn a little something about race. Jackson got many
comments about the police officers and how they are with blacks, one said panelists
complained that police treat blacks in poor neighborhoods as less than
human.(Addo,Koran.2014). In some cases blacks feels as if they are not getting the
justice they should be getting compared to other people. Officers need to learn how to
handle each situation to the best they can. In some cases they need to be more careful
because some people are to offensive and get bothered by the little things someone says

or does. The police officers should get trained with the mentality that everyone is the
same and everyone has the same rights. It should not matter what color your skin is, as
soon as you put that uniform on you should see everyone equal because everyone
deserves their justice.

How did the Grand Jury come to the conclusion that Officer Wilson was found
innocent?

In these cases it is really hard to come up with a decision. Mainly because you need to
hear both sides of the story and figure out which one is the truth. There is always two
sides to a story. In this case the Grand Jury had to hear about what went on in Ferguson
on August 9, 2014. An 18 year old African American was walking in the middle of a
road when Officer Wilson had asked him to get off the street and walk on the side walk.
After Brown refused things just took a turn for the worst, which resulted in the death of
Michael Brown, who was shot by Officer Wilson. The Grand Jury decided that Officer
Wilson was innocent of the death of Michael Brown, with this decision Ferguson went
crazy. They started destroying the city because they thought this decision was unfair
and they thought it was because Michael Brown was black. The Grand Jury did not
look at skin colors, what they looked for was evidence from the shootings and
testimonies from witnesses and Officer Wilson himself. Many people were interviewed
but not all saw or heard what had happened. There were many similar stories but not all
matched up together. Some people were saying Michael Brown was surrendering and
others were saying that he was charging at Officer Wilson before he got shot.
Testimonies did not really help so they had to go to the crime scene evidence. They had
found blood inside the police car where the officer had shot the 18 year old teenager
and his blood just splattered. They also saw Michael Browns autopsy but there were no
bullets in his back, so that shows that he was not running away from the officer while
being shot. They also interviewed Officer Wilson about what had happened that day. He

admitted to being scared that he was going to die that day while being abused by
Michael Brown. The teenager was bigger than officer Wilson so he had no other
defense. It is clear that Officer Wilson warned the officer that if he would not cooperate
the teenager would get shot. It takes many hours, even days, to come with a solution to
many of these court cases. It takes a lot of looking into the situation and the evidence in
order to come out with the best outcome. Officer Wilson was found innocent from the
death of Michael Brown, which the Grand Jury decided after hearing hours of
testimonies.

Was Racism a factor in the Michael Brown situation?

Racism has always been a factor in the United States, we might not always see it but
somewhere around the country it is going on. In this particular case we have an 18 year
old African American who got shot by a white officer. Many people will have their own
opinion, in this case many people were asked what they thought about the situation and if
they thought racism was the main point why Michael Brown was shot. Throughout the
years there are many statistics against African Americans, a survey was taken in order to
get peoples opinion. This survey asked people what kind of race the police were most
likely to use a deadly force on. In total the highest statistic was 51% which was that race
did not matter. If you were doing something the would put others in harm you would get
shot, but the second highest percentage was African Americans with 40% and white
people with 2%. Not only was it used for racial issues but many civilians also pointed out
the fact that police officers might be to quick to use their weapons on people. Another
survey was taken to get peoples opinions on Michael Browns Grand Jury Decision. They
tried to hear peoples opinions on weather the Jury did well on not charging officer Wilson
with Browns death. 45% were pleased and satisfied with knowing that officer Wilson was
not charged with Browns case. 41% were disappointed or angry that he was not charged
with the death. Of course whites and African Americans thought differently. The statistics
show that 51% of the whites were satisfied with the decision of the Grand Jury and 82%
of African Americans were disappointed or angry. Many people have conflicts with this
case in weather the decision was or was not justified. Many Americans are saying race
did play a factor in the death of Michael Brown. Mostly African Americans are saying

race had the biggest role in this situation. Whites say is was not a factor, it was justice.
African Americans are more likely to say they have been treated differently with police
officers because of their skin color. 66% of African American people say they have
personally been discriminated by a police officer, and 10% of white people would say
they have been discriminated. Civilians were asked how they felt when they saw a police
officer near by, most African American say they feel anxious instead of safe. If you were
to ask a white person and a black person how they felt when it came to the police force
many would have different answers, and many would be different skin tone. 61% of
blacks say they are not to pleased with how the officers do their job. 69% of whites say
that the officers do a good job at protecting the city. Racism has always been a problem in
the United States, it will only come out with cases like Michael Browns. A few people
around the country think some officers do treat colored people different, not all officers
but some. That it is so wrong, weather they are colored or not you should treat everyone
the same. In Michael Browns case, this situation did not deal with the fact that he was
black. The teenager charged the officer, and all the officer had asked him to do was to
move to the sidewalk. Do not get me wrong, there are many African Americans who take
everything in the wrong way. Everyone just needs to calm down and talk to one another
politely. Officers are not the only ones to be racist, so are some African Americans.
Racism may still be a big deal in other states but I think it all has to do with the way
people treat one another. African Americans may be discriminated because of their color
but so are white people. I think you should always respect people does not matter what
color of skin they have. Michael Browns situation opened the eyes of many people,
showing them racism is still out there. The way you see this situation has to be your own

opinion. Many people believe it was racism other believe it was not. No matter if it was
or was not racism is still a big part in some parts of the United States. I saw this saying
and it said Racism is not an opinion, racism is a fact and that this saying could not be
any more true. We all know that some where out in the United States racism still exists.
Just because it might not happen where you live does not mean it does not happen
anywhere else. Many Americans think that the white race killed Michael Brown, not the
police officers. Maybe the police officer Wilson did think about what color he was, and
maybe he did shot him for all the wrong reasons. Nobody will ever know what was going
on in these peoples head that were involved in this situation. Many people discriminate
African American race, this has been going on forever, just because they see a black
person on the street they think anything bad about them. They think they are going to
shoot them or mug them. Most African Americans are not like that. They are humans just
like everyone else. In an interview with officer Wilson, he said the situation would be the
same if Michael Brown was white. (CBS News, 2014). He also said that he is not racist
and that the officers in Ferguson are not racist either. He said you cant be a police officer
and be racist, he helps people that is his job. (CBS News, 2014) Many people do not
think he is a racist, they think he was doing his job trying to protect the city. There could
have also been other steps he could have taken instead of shooting the teenager. He could
have called for back up, or he could have had his camera on, to give some evidence on
how the teenager was acting.

Jennifer De Pinto, Sarah Dutton, Anthony Salvanto and Fred Backus. CBS News. December 10, 2014

Conclusion

In conclusion, this situation with Michael Brown and Officer Wilson is very messy. There
could have taken other actions instead of taking his life. Weather the teenager was
charging Officer Wilson or not, he was unarmed. Officer Wilson could have gotten better

control of the situation and he could have searched him before he shot him. Although that
always does not happen. Officer Wilson had to protect himself from this teenager who
was bigger than he was. Not always is a police officer going to have back up right away,
so he needs to take control of the situation, it might not always be what is positive, but it
for their own good. Many people are upset about the Grand Jurys decision but their
decision took a great deal of time and thinking. They had to listen to many people talk
about what they saw or heard for hours. They also needed to see evidenced from the
crime scene and investigate deeper into the situation. At the end, they need to make the
choice the majority of people that think is the right choice in this case Officer Wilson was
found innocent but still many people felt as if it was a racist act. Given that the teenager
that was shot was black and the officer who shot him was white. The situations with
people burning down buildings and cars in Ferguson was not right, because many people
did not even know what actually happened that day of the shooting. A police officer is
going to do anything to protect himself and the community, so weather the person is
black or white they are still going to bring justice. Many of these people took a situation
and made it bigger than what is had to be.

Works Cited
CBS News. December 10, 2014.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/michael-brown-and-eric-garner-thepolice-use-of-force-and-race/
Chauncey DeVega, Alternet. August 13, 2014.
http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/10-ways-racism-killed-michaelbrown-and-eric-garner
Koran Addo. September 27, 2014.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/ferguson-policechief-sees-need-for-more-officer-training/article_c087debb-f970-5f6ebd87-5888c1ee01e0.html
Eyder Peralta, Krishnadev. November 25, 2014.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/11/25/366507379/fergusondocs-how-the-grand-jury-reached-a-decision