State Of Emergency Declared in Missouri.

Erik Skaarnes.

     On Nov. 17 Missouri Governor Jay Dixon issued an executive order activating the National Guard to assist local law enforcement agencies during any possible period of “civil unrest.” This declaration comes as the Grand Jury nears a decision regarding the fatal shooting of 18 year-old Mike Brown. According to witnesses, Officer Darren Wilson shot and killed the unarmed teen on Aug. 9 in Ferguson, Missouri. The shooting sparked endless protests both peaceful and unruly from the outraged citizens in Ferguson and the surrounding areas. The frustration, tension and anger in Ferguson is beginning to have a feel similar to that of the L.A riots which followed the Rodney King beating.

As the National Guard puts boots on the ground in Ferguson; citizens are become more worried about what is to come after the Grand Jury announces their decision regarding Darren Wilson. Civil rights leaders persistently preach peaceful protests. Others in Ferguson and the surrounding areas, however, are fed up with the government and threaten violence if Wilson is not indicted.

The incident in Ferguson has become much more than just a police officer shooting an unarmed citizen. It has become a race war brought to our front steps and thrust into our living rooms. Mainstream media, in a way, has glorified the happenings in Ferguson, Missouri. News outlets constantly address many of the protesters as thugs, violent and unruly. The media will not come out and say this, but the reason is that the majority of protestors are black. Mainstream media is painting an unfair picture for the nation to see on the nightly news to divide us. I see white citizens, especially on social media, restlessly trying to find a reason to call Mike Brown a thug; while Black citizens, in Ferguson, have been threatening the safety of other white citizens.

From what I have watched, read and heard; it seems a majority of the nation shifted their focus from a police officer fatally shooting an unarmed citizen, to finger pointing and idiotic rationalizations for their wrong doings. Will the events in Ferguson, Missouri go down in history as a show of the people's strength in numbers; or as another national tragedy only spoke of during Black History Month? My eyes have been opened to the true racism and oppression in our country throughout this three month stand-off and I do not want to imagine the inevitable atrocities to come in the next three months.