Natalie Johnson

Student

Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor,
At first glance the news outlets covering the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson,
Missouri had me under the impression that this was yet another example of southern white
supremacy enforced by a white male police officer upon a young black man. Conversely, as the
story continues to unfold its clear to see that this is not your typical pre-civil rights era lynch
mob. The evidence uncovered recently indicates that, while tragic, Mr. Browns death is
certainly not a hate crime. The protestors in Ferguson may choose to believe that this a case of
discrimination, but if we take a look at a video of Brown roughing up a store clerk for a pack of
cigarillos ten minutes before his death it is easy to see that this man is not a saint. However, Im
not writing to convince anyone of the innocence of the officer involved either. My deeper
concern is the misrepresentation of which group involved is actually prejudice (or at least the
party who is unapologetically prejudice).
In past years we have seen several news stories pop up regarding an African American
being killed or abused by a white man. These stories always generate a massive amount of
attention from the public because of the potentially racist motive that enrages the masses.
However, when the script is flipped and a white person is killed, murdered, raped or kidnapped
by a minority the story rarely ever reaches the national level. Why is that? Is it because people
care about white people less? Probably not. In the past 50 years the race war has opened the
door for civil rights activists to come out for one race and be applauded. At the same time any
white person who claims to be proud of his/her color of skin is immediately labeled as racist.

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Perhaps its time for the double standards to end, after all, how can people truly move past
racism when one side is applauded for it and the other is shunned?
Equality is the basis behind the entire civil right movement, the fight for the ability to be
treated equal created an immense amount of positive change in our country and we have
benefited from it ever since. Self-proclaimed civil rights activists jump at the opportunity to
refer to the killing of a black man by a white one as a hate crime but if the skin tone is reversed
then the perpetrator becomes a victim of oppression.
When it comes to racism, the majority of people will say that they are not racist, but
when we look within ourselves it is clear that we all pass judgment. Whether it stems from
locking your car doors when driving pass 3 black gangsters on the curb compared to not really
thinking a second thought if it was three white business men standing there. We all have
judgmental thoughts, it doesnt make you a bad person, it makes you human. We cannot control
what other people think or do, we can only control what our actions are. It doesnt matter what
color of skin you have, what type of family you come from, or even where you live. We all
have the right to be treated equal and that includes racism. Parents, teachers, public figures, etc.
pass on the judgment card to the ones surrounding them especially if the ones surrounding them
are young innocent children who absorbs everything like a sponge. Until we stop that chain of
passing our beliefs of hatred onto them, it is going to be really hard to end racism and profiling.
Even the media has poured their thoughts and beliefs onto the ones watching which can range
from any age.
At the end of the day I am writing this article with the risk of being considered a racist.
Not because I believe that I am superior to anyone else, but merely because I disagree with
people such as Reverend Al Sharpton who, I believe, fans the flames of racism rather than

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making moves to end it. In my opinion equality means equality, meaning that a less qualified
person doesnt get a job over a more qualified person because of the color of either skin,
meaning that college applications should be color blind and that an interracial killing should be
tried by judge and jury rather than by an angry mob or journalists writing for ratings.

Sincerely,

Natalie Johnson
Natalie Marie Johnson
SLCCs Pre-Med Club President
Njohn133@bruinmail.slcc.edu