'Birkenstock Racism'
and Europe's Moralizing Over Ferguson (The News, Switzerland)
"If
suddenly indignant voices condemning this injustice are raised - that is
proper. However, in the face of what's happening in Europe at the moment, an
undercurrent of hypocrisy is unmistakable. … Now, when the results of Europe's
foreign policy of favoritism toward the post-colonial regimes we installed (naturally
with U.S. approval) can no longer be overlooked, Africa has apparently morphed
into the black heart of the world. ... Just as the United States must make
fundamental changes to its society and the treatment of its African American
population, Europe should start to consider its former subject territories,
which for the most part it gave up only grudgingly."
No charges will be
filed against the policeman who shot the unarmed, and in particular, Black
youth Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, after a very long and opaque grand
jury investigation. A wave of outrage - from Europe - is certain. But by what right?
The United States now presents us with a flawless example of
racism. A White officer from a primarily White police force shot a young Black man
six times. Several witnesses testified that victim Michael Brown’s hands had
been raised when the policeman pulled the trigger. But there were
contradictions in their testimony and therefore there was no indictment.
The task of
grand juries, however, isn't to find the truth, but determine whether there is
enough evidence to bring criminal charges. It would have been the grand jury’s
task to get to the bottom of any contradictions. Yet it wasn't permitted to do
so. Considering the old adage, “a grand jury could indict a ham sandwich,” it
is all the more clear that the desired outcome wasn't justice, but to wash
clean a police uniform.
All this occurred against a backdrop of the release of Ricky
Jackson and Wiley Bridgeman, set free last week after 39 years of unjust
imprisonment for an alleged murder. Jailed due to the testimony of a twelve-year-old
pressured by police to lie in court, the two were convicted. Only by luck were their original death sentences commuted to life in
prison.
Posted by Worldmeets.US
Ricky
Jackson: set free after being wringfully convicted of
murder 39 years ago.
These two
events cast a spotlight on the thoroughly racist judicial system in the United
States, which for over 150 years has served to keep African Americans where
many think they belong - even after their ancestors were subjected to the
enormity of slavery. The riots that again have broken out are occurring not
only due to a sense of impotence, but of a hopelessness that can only be
expressed through violent and destruction.
If indignant voices condemning this injustice are raised -
that is proper. However, in the face of what's happening in Europe at the
moment, an undercurrent of hypocrisy is unmistakable. Of course we must start in
Switzerland with the grotesque Ecopop
initiative [a proposal to reduce Switzerland’s ecological footprint by imposing
strict immigration rules and family planning measures]. The plan, which is
like dispensing Birkenstock racism from the roof-top patio of an illegally-remodeled
Rustico [Swiss farmhouse], apparently assumes that all evil comes from
abroad - Africa in particular. That stricter and consistent environmental
protection through land-use planning and restrictions do not affect Swiss
citizens themselves is indicative of the tunnel vision of the initiative. [This refers to a controversy over historic Swiss farm buildings in Tucino, Switzerland's southernmost canton.
Entrepreneurs love remodeling them into vacation homes – which violates environmental restrictions. As many of the same people support the Ecopop initicative, the author considers them to be hypocrytes].
Now, however,
when the results of Europe's foreign policy of favoritism toward the
post-colonial regimes we installed (naturally with U.S. approval) can no longer
be overlooked, Africa has apparently morphed into the black heart of the world.
Of course, the wealth that comes from the importation of African raw materials that
pours into the accounts of the commodity giants (often domiciled in Switzerland),
not to mention the wealth gleaned from weapons exports, remains socially
acceptable - even highly prized and much loved. The fact that the resulting
human suffering, its roots in that very colonial era (which first gave Europe
the foundation of wealth it now defends) is suddenly manifesting itself in a
tangible way just as the post-colonial order we installed collapses – is
nothing but a consequence of history. Strictly speaking, that its victims are again
being blamed is a continuation of that history.
Of course, after such a statement, people immediately wag
their finger excitedly, “Does that mean that WE are to blame for everything?” Of course not. But as human beings with basic moral
standards we should look at the big picture when searching for causes. We are
now experiencing the fruits of supporting injustice - or at least, for
practical reasons, tolerating it with our hands open for profits.
Just as the United States must make fundamental changes to
its society and the treatment of its African American population, Europe should
start to consider its former subject territories, which for the most part it
gave up only grudgingly (usually under the assumption that its influence would
be preserved). Moralizing is cheap. To act in a moral and ethical manner,
however, is not. To believe that that the cost of that accursed morality could
be delayed for eternity is an illusion, regardless of whether problems break
out in one’s own society or break in from the outside.
