Would the results of the decision have mattered either way?
Last week, as many of us were preparing for a short work week and making plans for Thanksgiving, the residents of Ferguson, Mo. waited with anticipation for the grand jury’s decision on whether or not the police officer who shot to death an unarmed teenager would be indicted.
Having witnessed a similarly heated and controversial late-at-night decision to terminate a football coach, I couldn’t believe when I heard that decision would come at 8 p.m. CST. It was not surprising that a town that has been walking the tightrope since last summer erupted with the district attorney’s after dark announcement.
No indictment. Forensic evidence, as well as conflicting and inconsistent witness testimony, including testimony by some who had not previously made their accounts public, reportedly supported the police officer’s version of the events that summer day.
Since the announcement, the media has been ablaze with stories of assault, violence and, in rare cases, hugs documented between protestors and the police including in cities outside of Ferguson and St. Louis (examples include New York, Los Angeles and even right here in State College). Over the weekend, protestors attempted to disrupt the biggest shopping weekend for retailers in malls and department stores in Missouri as well as in other places across the country.
Politicians, news anchors, social scientists, community organizers and many others have speculated on the reasons that communities like Ferguson are so ripe for the flames of distrust between the authorities and residents. Frustration with a system that many believe favors race when it comes to opportunities and success. Critics point to disproportionate arrest rates and an inconsistent sentencing structure that seems to favor one race over another. They point to government programs which support schools and education that underserve communities like Ferguson with other government programs that are over utilized and which foster dependency and anger in those same communities.
When groups are so clearly delineated as “us” and “them,” research has shown that labeling, stereotyping and assignment of negative characteristics to the other group is heightened. In communities like Ferguson and others across the country, they (aka the police) are only to be tolerated and called when we (aka the residents) absolutely need them – and then are never to be trusted. As is so often the case in with stereotyping, we look to the behaviors of the others in such a way as to confirm our existing biases.
After the incident in Ferguson, people can basically point to both the tragedy and the aftermath and say “See, we were right. That group is bad.”
The in-group/out-group dynamic is evident when the boundaries between groups are exaggerated. Race as a division is only one factor. It can be seen in many different groups including families (think Hatfields and McCoys), sports team fans and cliques in a middle school.
On a much, much smaller scale, we see it with the Penn State Board of Trustees and the outspoken alumni who are demanding accountability. When one group is viewed as having the power and the other feels powerless, the divide is even deeper. Ironically, we sometimes have more in common with members of the other group than we do with our own; our similarities are lost in the stereotyping of the others.
Until we come to a place that us and them become “we” the problems will continue.
Communities like Watts in Los Angeles have collaborated on programs that have served to break down the US versus THEM and have been fairly successful. The Los Angeles Police Department, working with a grant from LA’s Housing Authority, developed a community partnership program that focuses on what they call “relationship policing.”
Officers, many of whom grew up in Watts, are visiting the neighborhoods (in less aggressive clothing and posture) to meet residents in non-threatening situations and are serving as youth football coaches, scout leaders and in other community support positions. Something as simple as a Pop Warner football team, coached by police officers and supported by parents, has become a community rallying point. Astonishingly, 9-11 year old boys from different gang neighborhoods are serving as role models for not only building community but for positive interaction with the police. In the short time that the program has been in operation, gang-related violence and murders have dropped significantly in number.
Whether it be race relations, immigration policy, rights for women or even accessibility for individuals with disabilities, our human tendency to point to others and assign to them negative traits and characteristics and to link elbows with those we view as being part of our group creates the unrest that continues to divide our country.
In the midst of the stories of burning and looting came the stories of hundreds of thousands of dollars sent from citizens across the country to help rebuild a neighborhood bakery that was burned in the melee or to keep the Ferguson community library in operation, to name just a few. We empathize with the business owner or the library patron and feel a connection and want to help.
Depending on the group for which one identifies, we may never agree on the outcome of the decisions in Ferguson. Creating a sense of “we” is the only way to move forward.
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