Ferguson, MO

     The United States has a long history of racial divide, as does much of the world. In February of 2012, an African American teenager, Treyvon Martin, was shot to death by a police officer. The officer, George Zimmerman, claimed to have been attacked by Martin, and had no choice but to defend himself. American citizens, especially those of the African American race, were outraged, deeming the act by the officer as racially motivated. Similarly, on August 9, 2014, Michael Brown, a young African American man, was shot to death by a police officer after robbing a convenience store. The Ferguson Police Department also claimed that Brown resisted and attacked the officer who used lethal force to defend himself from Brown. On a much larger scale, the African American community responded to Brown's death by protesting, looting, and raiding the city of Ferguson, of which many reporters described it as a "war zone" for more than a week.
     In both of these incidents, I feel as though the media egged on the sentiments of citizens who adamantly believed that the victims were wronged, sensationalizing the situations in order to get more viewers. This was especially harmful in the Ferguson riots, I believe. These programs would have biased citizens and "experts" come on the air and talk about how wrong the law enforcers were to use deadly force to defend themselves. In the trial of State of Florida v. George Zimmerman, the jury found Zimmerman not guilty on all counts, so his defense must have been justified. While a verdict has not yet been reached on the killing of Brown, time will only tell as more facts and witness reports arise.
     Another problem with these incidents, related to media, is the image being drawn of African Americans vs. Law Enforcement. Talking heads like Rev. Al Sharpton, during the Ferguson riots, rallied the community together against the police department. Instead of encouraging the African American community to obey the law and be good citizens, he demands "justice to be served" for the man who committed a crime and, allegedly, attacked an officer. People like this are sending the wrong messages to our youth, as they are only increasing the racial divide that has seem to reappear. Americans, as a whole, would be much better off by simply obeying laws, doing good deeds for your fellow man, and not cause conflict without justification. Then, hopefully, the media would cease to continue to hurt the progress our nation has made.