In 2012, the Lord blessed my family and me when we relocated to St. Louis, Missouri. More\u00a0specifically, I accepted the role of minister at the Ferguson Heights church of Christ in suburban\u00a0Ferguson, Missouri. At that time neither friends nor family had any familiarity with this small town\u00a0of 6 square miles and less than twenty-five thousand people. Therefore, we just said we were\u00a0moving to St. Louis because that provided a better frame of reference than mentioning this\u00a0seemingly insignificant town.<\/p>\n
Fast-forward to the horrific events of August 2014 and this previously obscure town now stands\u00a0center-stage at the world\u2019s attention. Ferguson is now infamous for the events involving the\u00a0shooting death of Michael Brown by Officer Darren Wilson. Once a quiet town in north St. Louis\u00a0County, Ferguson is now a topic of conversation that is discussed nationally and internationally.\u00a0Politicians, sociologists, educators, and religious leaders will discuss this history-making event for\u00a0decades to come. Why? Trying to answer that question only validates the need for so many people\u00a0around the world to continue to discuss, debate and dialogue about this drama in human history. I\u00a0am, however, inclined to believe that many distant observers wrongly view Ferguson as an anomaly\u00a0to human affairs as opposed to a representation of systemic problems in America that were\u00a0dramatized by this one event (John 16:33).<\/p>\n
Amazingly, people from far places question the political and social landscape in Ferguson in\u00a0hopes of understanding how one person\u2019s death divided a nation. Their queries seem to infer that\u00a0there must be some situational factors unique to this geographical area that made it a hotbed for\u00a0confusion. Somehow the social unrest must be uniquely defined by the \u201cDNA\u201d of a town that is so\u00a0unlike other cities that it could only happen here. As a result, we have been inundated with phone\u00a0calls, letters, and even financial support offering to help with the crisis. While we appreciate the\u00a0compassionate concern, it should be noted that what happened here could potentially happen\u00a0anywhere. Therefore, the best way to help is really for concerned citizens to look within the\u00a0boundaries of their own communities and address\u00a0the social and political problems that negatively\u00a0impact those communities. Though a map may\u00a0suggest that you live miles away from here, you\u00a0may be closer to Ferguson than you realize. You\u00a0are close because of the interrelatedness all\u00a0humans share (Luke 10:25-37).<\/p>\n
Even though the media immediately referenced\u00a0this shooting as that of a white officer killing an\u00a0unarmed black male, we must not allow ourselves\u00a0to be misinformed about the greater concerns\u00a0before us. I would suggest that we view this as an\u00a0issue of humanity and not simply that of race. Because\u00a0I was not present when Officer Wilson\u00a0engaged Michael Brown, I cannot speculate as to what really happened (Matthew 7:1-5). I never\u00a0interviewed a witness or examined any evidence. Therefore, fairness states that I cannot form a\u00a0definitive conclusion based solely on the media, popular opinion, or my emotions. What I can offer\u00a0is an assessment of actual matters related to the outburst of anger that were displayed in hopes\u00a0of giving a more objective perspective about why things unfolded the way they did. This will\u00a0also help to illustrate the volatility in human relations in places far removed from where I am\u00a0(2 Timothy 3:1-3).<\/p>\n
Anywhere you have groups of people who differ along the lines of any significant socioeconomic\u00a0factors, the probability for problems greatly increases as those differences between subgroups\u00a0become more apparent. Unless those who are perceived to have the advantage exercise\u00a0some reasonable concern for the underprivileged, tensions will simmer (Matthew 22:37-39). As\u00a0long as tensions simmer, people may assume that all is well because the simmer itself may not be\u00a0as readily seen or understood as in the case of something actually boiling over. However, as events\u00a0here have shown the simmer will soon boil over when an unplanned event ignites an atmosphere\u00a0already possessing the explosive combination of anger, bitterness, confusion, frustration, and\u00a0hopelessness.<\/p>\n
Initially, it must be noted that local residents have been greatly discouraged by socio-economic\u00a0factors that have adversely affected residents solely along the lines of zip code. For example,\u00a0economic disparity, inferior schools, lack of access to opportunities, lack of proximity to resources,\u00a0and related matters have brought tensions here long before the shooting in 2014. Many residents\u00a0feel hopeless in light of the fact that St. Louis has some of the best and worst schools in the nation.\u00a0How is it that one school district soars academically and just a few short miles away schools have\u00a0lost their accreditation due to continued failure to maintain acceptable academic standards? Is it\u00a0fair that companies relocated from these areas and now towns and villages raise operational\u00a0revenue by writing an excessive number of traffic tickets, fines, and ordinance violations on its\u00a0residents who are already economically disadvantaged? This last matter has been such an\u00a0egregious act that the state is now investigating and sanctioning municipalities for unfair practices\u00a0with regards to the percentage of municipality revenues from fines, fees, and ordinance violations.<\/p>\n
Are any of these aforementioned concerns unique to Ferguson? Are these concerns exposed here\u00a0just because of recent media attention? If so, how close you are to Ferguson may be a matter of\u00a0how likely some of these types of problems exist in your own communities.\u00a0Furthermore, the crisis here exposes an undeniable\u00a0problem in how we tend to address\u00a0problems in this country. Both citizens and the\u00a0government tend to address things from the\u00a0standpoint of a reaction to something as opposed\u00a0to proactively preventing problems in the first\u00a0place. As an example, the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers\u00a0warned local officials that the levees in\u00a0New Orleans could not withstand a strong\u00a0hurricane prior to Katrina. The government knew\u00a0that the I-35 bridge in Minnesota was \u201cstructurally\u00a0deficient\u201d years before the 2007 bridge collapse\u00a0that claimed precious lives. In like manner, socio-\u00a0economic disparity, racial tensions, and\u00a0hostility between the police and community were\u00a0well evident in Missouri before Ferguson garnered\u00a0the attention of the world. In none of these\u00a0cases were things done to prevent problems. Instead,\u00a0each instance represents an example of\u00a0countless others where preventative measures\u00a0could have been taken to minimize a catastrophe.\u00a0Yet, nothing was done until something absolutely\u00a0had to be done. How far you live from Ferguson\u00a0may simply be a matter of how likely it is\u00a0that real concerns of human existence are\u00a0being suppressed until such a time that\u00a0what once was a warning has given away to\u00a0wreaked havoc.<\/p>\n
In consideration of these problems, it is important\u00a0to know my continued emphasis on humanity\u00a0and socio-economic differences as opposed\u00a0to race. Even though the Ferguson crisis has\u00a0been deemed a race problem, mainly by the\u00a0media and those not close enough to the crisis\u00a0to know differently, it actually is bigger than\u00a0race. What the world did not see is the outrage\u00a0that a considerable number of whites had about\u00a0the socio-economic factors prior to the shooting.\u00a0As well, the aftermath of Michael Brown\u2019s death\u00a0did engage a considerable number of whites in\u00a0protests, marches, and calls for improvement in\u00a0the living conditions of all humans here. Just as\u00a0well, I know a number of blacks who purposefully\u00a0distanced themselves from even appearing to\u00a0agree with the popular racial position about the\u00a0shooting and in no way wanted to appear to join\u00a0with others in protesting, marching, or speaking\u00a0out about this crisis. Thus, the real view here\u00a0has not simply been seen through the lenses of\u00a0race, but rather seen through the lenses of humanity\u00a0and how to address factors that unfairly\u00a0help or hurt sub-groups beyond race.<\/p>\n
Finally, I am aware that readers may not\u00a0have ever visited Ferguson, Missouri. I do not\u00a0believe the media and pop culture have given\u00a0the most accurate view of things here. What\u2019s\u00a0really important is to understand how socioeconomic\u00a0differences within sub-groups make\u00a0any area volatile. The best way to help Ferguson\u00a0is to prevent what happened here from happening\u00a0in your community. Get involved proactively to\u00a0help improve conditions for the human race\u00a0before you have to react to problems that are\u00a0dramatized on the world stage. Challenge and support your religious and civic leaders to ensure\u00a0fairness, justice, and equality for all people\u00a0(Matthew 25:31-46; James 1:27). Remember,\u00a0it only takes one event to make your town\u00a0the next Ferguson.<\/p>\n
By Conley Gibbs, Jr.<\/strong><\/p>\n This article appears in the February 2015 issue of Think magazine. To subscribe or learn more, click on the tab at the top of the page.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In 2012, the Lord blessed my family and me when we relocated to St. Louis, Missouri. More\u00a0specifically, I accepted the role of minister at the Ferguson Heights church of Christ in suburban\u00a0Ferguson, Missouri. At that time neither friends nor family had any familiarity with this small town\u00a0of 6 square miles and less than twenty-five thousand […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":973,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,35,66],"tags":[497,204,128,498,352],"class_list":["post-972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-culture","category-think-excerpts","tag-ferguson","tag-guest","tag-race","tag-society","tag-think","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n