Shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri

Greetings Everyone,

I hate the fact that Michael Brown got shot. I hate the fact that the police used tear gas to try to keep things under control in Ferguson. All of that was bad. My prayers and my heart goes out to Brown's family. I hate the fact that African American people are more likely to be targets of the police and the rest of the system. And the citizens of Ferguson, Missouri are right to protest. I think the police officer that shot Michael Brown should be arrested and put on trial. BUT according to the news and the rest of the media, there are some (not all) citizens of Ferguson that are breaking into businesses and looting. My dear brothers and sisters, this is not protesting. There is a difference between holding protests and just doing things just to be doing it. Don't get me wrong, we all have a right to get angry, but what affect us is how we use our anger, for good or for bad. When people do things just to be doing it, such as breaking into buildings and looting, people destroy their own community. When people do things just to be doing it, they give the police a reason to arrest them. They allow other people to have negative views and opinions about them. There are some police officers out there that get a kick and a thrill out of arresting African Americans and other minorities in the United States of America, so why would some of the looting African Americans in Ferguson give them that satisfaction? While people are going out to commit senseless crimes out of anger, such as breaking into buildings and looting, in order to prove a point, those same people are also proving the point of some of the police officers' as well. Protesting is considered to be walking with their hands up (as a sign of surrender) and holding signs in the air, not committing crimes out of anger and putting other citizens as well as children in danger. We as African Americans have got to be smart and use our minds. Some (not all) of the citizens of Ferguson who are breaking and entering into buildings and looting have turned a reasonable protest into a riot.

http://www.thewire.com/business/2014/08/ferguson-businesses-struggle-to-deal-with-looting/378696/

http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/16/us/missouri-teen-shooting/