See the recent post regarding the Grand Jury decision, and the AEU call for change.
The killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, is not just a tragedy for his family, his town, and the state but it is a wake up call to everyone who claims to care about racial equality, and justice. Blacks know particularly well that this tragedy is not isolated, but is symptomatic of a nationwide problem that cries out for solutions. The Ethical Humanist Society of the Triangle is a member organization of the American Ethical Union. On September 5th, the AEU issued the following statement. I have included it here to draw attention to the excellent statement, and to let our members, friends and visitors know that ethical humanism is concerned with this issue. We are not silent, and we do not consent to this brutality and injustice. The AEU statement follows…
The American Ethical Union stands with the people of Ferguson, Missouri, and with people around the world who have been stirred to peaceful, yet insistent action following the shooting death of Michael Brown by a police officer. This death is, sadly, one of many in recent times that involved an armed police officer and an unarmed civilian. And this incident is one of many more incidents in which the injured is a person of color and the officer is white. We decry the excessive use of force that has been used by police officers in our towns and cities and call upon our elected officials, law enforcement leaders, community organizations and private citizens to press for significant reforms to curtail the use of lethal force by those who are sworn to protect the public. Further, we demand that attention be paid to the ugly and profoundly disturbing evidence of racism that permeates and poisons our society.
We understand that police officers are public servants and carry with them a heavy weight of responsibility. We understand, too, that the public has relied upon police to remove dangerous individuals from the streets and ensure safety for the community. But that protection has been applied unevenly and too often the rights of citizens-especially African Americans and other people of color-have been ignored in the service of eliminating perceived dangers.
Scenes of armored trucks, snipers with automatic weapons aimed at crowds and officers wearing tactical gear remind us that our police forces have become weaponized and are prepared to use extreme force to subdue the public. For too many of our citizens, the police are seen as the greatest threat to their health and safety. Common tactics such as “Stop and frisk,” traffic stops for minimal violations and the unevenly adjudicated “War on Drugs” all conspire to portray the citizenry-again, especially people of color-with suspicion. And acting on that suspicion has been helped along by a relaxation of due process safeguards and a justice system that protects the police from prosecution in even extremely egregious cases.
The events of Ferguson have brought to light for the broader populace what has been so painfully evident for people on the receiving end of law enforcement: the line between protection and brutality is easily crossed when fear of the public is allowed to reign. We are better than that-or at least we have the potential to be better. But it is on us who stand for a just and caring society and the millions more like us who seek a peaceable world to bring the changes we seek to light in our own lives and to encourage others to do so, too.
We believe systemic change will only come about through the concerted effort of many people. As the media spotlight moves to other matters we pledge to keep our attention fixed on the long-term goal of creating a more equal, peaceful, and just society, and a more ethical culture.
…end of statement.
Comments are welcome. This statement was also posted on the AEU website.
Tory says
I agree with Joe Chuman that atheists and non-believers are veiewd as less than desirable. Followers of non-Judeo-Christian traditions are considered children of a lesser god. I am an atheist and aggressively so. I am fond of proclaiming that I am an natheist in my benovolent moments!One thing that non-believers seem to react to is the claim of believers that we are going to hell (or some place like that). If one does not believe in these theist concepts, then to react adversely to these rants is silly. Going to hell is frightening only to those who believe in its terrible depiction. To me going to Chesterfield’ for eternity is chilling. Hell (or heaven) is meaningless.When I began attending Sunday platforms at the Ethical Society in late 02-early 03, the constant chant of ethics as the society’s religion was off-putting. Only after I came to know many of the members and realised that non-believers in religion were not pilloried at the alter of Adler, that I considered joining the society. I am still uncomfortable with the notion of ethics as anybodies religion. To me that has a cult-like feel to it. Neverthe less, I do agree with the tenets of ethical humanism and have found the soiety to be a wonderful place. Who else would suffer through my comments and not proclaim off with his head.
Chris Kaman says
Thanks for your comments, Tory. I have also found that many people find the “ethics is my religion” to be confusing rather than helpful in describing ethical humanism. Perhaps the use of the term religion is better left to lawyers and philosophers (no offense to either). Daniel Dennett defined religion as belief in one or more gods. In that sense we are not a religion. Our desire to be ethical, to make society more just, and to pass that on to our children may well make us a “religion” but that is as far as it goes. INHO.
Jim Wyman says
The full name of Stacy McCoy’s startup did not transcribe through the blob’s reply system.
The website is (http://devtech.co/), with the name ” tech academy”, or…left bracket, “dev”, right bracket, “tech academy”.
Jim Wyman says
People can address some of the issues brought to crisis point in Ferguson earlier in the causal chain, and locally, by supporting tech academy, and its founder, Stacy McCoy (Stacy McCoy ).
tech academy is just starting up with the goal of providing tech-based job training program for
low-income youth, through web and mobile “development bootcamps” and apprenticeships at local tech companies.
A fundraising campaign has begun, with a benefit dinner in October planned. The pilot will run in 2015 as fast as funding will allow.
Stacy pitched her startup on a recent Wednesday morning at Launch-Chapel Hill, on Rosemary Street in Chapel Hill (http://www.launchchapelhill.com/), a local startup business accelerator, in a program called “1 Million Cups”, (http://www.1millioncups.com/). Launch hosts presentations by startups every other week. The program is open to the public, and there’s free coffee.
Individual supporters have the most leverage and the highest impact early in a company’s life. Fully half of the startups presenting at 1 Million Cups and at Launch are not trying to be another Facebook, but are socially oriented, and many are local. A successful tech academy can be reproduced in other places.
Jeff Brubaker says
While it is good that the AEU released a statement on the Michael Brown tragedy, let’s not forget that it occurred within a broader context of the St. Louis metropolitan area’s racial and economic segregation over the last 50 years, in part due to white flight, redlining, infamous urban renewal failures, the destruction or bisection of neighborhoods to build elevated freeways, and the general lack of thoughtful investment in opportunities for lower-income people. That has helped lead to a situation in inner-ring suburbs like Ferguson where the majority of the population is black and the majority of the police and city council are white. Certainly one of many, many factors that influenced the fractured police-community relationship in Ferguson and so many other neighborhoods and cities today, but an important one.