It was a sad night, because this story has no happy ending. In other words, a young man is dead, and a good police officer will probably never wear the uniform again.
The sadness was compounded by the reckless looting of minority-owned businesses:
KMOV-TV reports that the majority of stores that were damaged or completely destroyed during Monday night's violent riots in Ferguson were minority owned. Fire Departments around the St. Louis County Area put out 25 structural fires caused by vandals and looters following the announcement from the grand jury that Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson would not be indicted in the death of Mike Brown.
Most of the damaged businesses were on West Florissant Avenue and included: Walgreens, Little Caesers Pizza, Autozone, Beauty Town, Title Max, Family Dollar Store, and O'Reilly Auto Parts. Small-business owner Natalie Dubose was in tears when she realized her cake store was attacked by vandals.
Dubose, a mother of two, previously told CNN, "If I can't open my doors every morning, I can't feed my kids in the evening. Just don't burn my shop down, don't destroy it."
As I said before, there is no pretty ending to this story. At the same time, I have some serious questions:Who is going to replace these jobs or hire all of the people who work there?
First, where is the black leadership in the U.S.? It would have been helpful to have had more messages calling for peace and tranquility.
Second, why wasn't Ferguson flooded with well-armed soldiers protecting property and lives? Where was the National Guard? Why didn't President Obama take charge and coordinate a stronger presence with Gov. Nixon of Missouri?
It's easy to second-guess, but it's very hard to see businesses burning and destroyed for no reason at all.
We all remember that fellow running out with liquor bottles and laughing all the way to wherever he was headed. What a sad way to remember a young man's tragic death.
P.S. You can hear CANTO TALK here & follow me on Twitter @ scantojr.
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