Aug. 25 was a solemn day for the citizens of Ferguson, Missouri, as the Brown family buried their son, Michael. The burial took place amid civil unrest and protest of police brutality following policeman Darren Wilson’s fatal shooting of Brown.
Aug. 25 was also the day The New York Times published a front-page story stating that “Michael Brown was no angel.”
The article, written by John Eligon, included one paragraph describing the rough community Brown grew up in, how he “dabbled in drugs and alcohol” and claimed Brown’s venture in writing music was contemplative but vulgar.
Critics of the article claimed it unfairly defamed Brown’s character. Many took to social media, admitting to having committed these same “crimes” as Brown — some confessing to worse.
Growing up in southern Louisiana, I’ve always been told the day I die will be judgment day. But I didn’t realize in Sunday school that the judgment doesn’t come at the pearly gates, it takes place on Earth.
Our world view forms on the basis of good and bad, reward and punishment. Parents teach us that bad children refuse vegetables and don’t get Christmas presents, and good children clean their plates and collect their reward on Christmas morning.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found in its 2013 survey of high school students 41 percent of those surveyed acknowledged using marijuana at least once in their lifetime. Two-thirds of responses acknowledged consuming alcohol underage.
But I’m willing to bet most, if not all, of those students still recieve presents on Christmas morning.
Of course, this could be the slight of St. Nicholas getting old and not being able to clearly read his “Naughty or Nice” list. Or we could admit that we are all capable of both good and evil and will commit acts of terror and kindness throughout our lives.
In the early days of the Ferguson unrest, a Twitter campaign developed under the hashtag #IfTheyGunnedMeDown. Twitter users posted pictures of themselves doing something socially acceptable alongside a picture of them doing something socially unacceptable.
The juxtaposition of the two photos attempted to criticize the media slant that allows victims of violent, sometimes deadly, attacks to be painted in an unfavorable light. Most clearly, it showed the people posting them were capable of being both angels on their graduation day, smiling with family, and unsavory delinquents, drinking with their underage friends.
This isn’t just another issue to be tossed atop the mountain of ways the events in Ferguson are problematic. It’s an issue we face every time the public discusses a death.
It’s important to think critically about the problems of the world that the victim grew up in, not individual actions prior to their death.
My Southern Baptist Sunday school class had another popular saying I think everyone could learn from:
“Leave the judgment to the big man upstairs, because no one is an angel.”
Jana King is a 20-year-old communication studies junior from Ponchatoula, Louisiana. You can reach her on Twitter @Jking_TDR.