Readers Write (Nov. 26): Ferguson reaction, Pat Reusse's Turkey of the Year

When watching the news from Ferguson, Mo., I can't help but wonder what we have become as a society. Dan Barreiro from KFAN Radio has a term for it. We are turning into "pitchfork nation." The justice system is no longer good enough. The court of public opinion is now the law of the land! All too many now feel the need to line up on a side and throw proverbial stones at the other side, no matter the judicial verdict. The previous flavor of the week to polarize society was what to do regarding spanking following the Adrian Peterson mess. Sadly, most of society truly does not care about those caught up in the latest national melodrama such as Michael Brown's family, officer Darren Wilson or the citizens of Ferguson. What all too many really care about is if their particular view is advanced.

None of us will ever know for certain whether the grand jury decision in the Michael Brown case was a just one. But we can be certain that the decision made by a violent few to destroy and steal the livelihood of Ferguson community members was truly unjust. You have hurt your neighbors — black and white — in a manner that may never be healed.

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The grand jury deliberated for three months and weighed all of the evidence and determined there was not enough to charge the police officer. It's not a perfect world in which the process took place. Let it go. There are much more important things to address, such as immigration, ISIL and infrastructure.

Perhaps Michael Brown did a suicide by cop! Who would intentionally fight with a cop for a gun or charge a cop with a gun pointed at you? If Brown would have just moved to the sidewalk after being told to, he would be alive now.

Jerome Sturgeleski, Minneapolis

What if we all asked ourselves what our reaction would be if an unarmed white boy were shot 12 times by the police with no apparent consequences? If it's different from what we're feeling now, a whole lot of soul-searching needs to happen.

I have heard a number of people questioning the reaction to the outcome. Many are questioning why looting and rioting are happening, generally with the dismissive statement about "How does this honor the deceased?" or saying "Justice happened and we should move forward." The law happened. A legal verdict was reached, and that is not necessarily the same as justice. In this case, many do not think it was justice.

And it is easy to look at the people rioting and looting in the street and write them off simply as criminals. But they are not simply criminals nor are they simply acting because of honoring Brown — they are angry. And to not understand this — to simply dismiss it as criminal behavior or justified protest — is to not truly understand the racial division in this country.

We have, in America, a long history of both blatant and institutionalized racism so prolific that it has become indistinguishable from political rhetoric, and we refuse to examine it honestly and openly. The riots and the unrest are a direct result of this. I don't think people should be rioting, and I won't absolve rioters of their actions or the subsequent consequences. But to view it solely in the vacuum of this verdict, especially to condemn it without qualification, is to not understand the true issue of race here, and to be complicit, in some regards, in the very cause that allows it to proliferate.

Now that Ferguson has been burned up, this is the time to look back on one big mistake made by officials who released the findings of the grand jury.

There could not have been a worse time: 8 p.m.!

If it turns out like other similar destruction in the past, one building should be remaining through it all: the U.S. Post Office.

We can put out a glimmer of hope, though. Through all of this, there is not much left to destroy.

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Did it strike anybody else as odd that President Obama in his reaction to the grand jury decision (in which he was obviously disappointed) should, after ignoring the Constitution of this country and cherry-picking which laws he will or will not enforce, chose to begin his statement by saying: "We are a nation built on the rule of law"? Just asking.

Once again, we've arrived at that time of year when we celebrate traditions. Many of us gather with friends and family to celebrate the bounties of the harvest and to be thankful for their contributions to making our lives fulfilled.

This year, I propose we declare Patrick Reusse our Turkey of the Year, for decades of using Thanksgiving Day as a time to highlight the faults of our athletes and sports execs, instead of being forgiving. Heck, even the president pardons a turkey every year!

I also wish this season brings us hope. As in, I hope Pat takes this as the good-natured ribbing it was intended to be. Well, mostly.

Happy Thanksgiving to all our turkeys!

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Well aware that there is a penalty in football for encroachment, I still am going to try to beat venerable Strib columnist Pat Reusse at his own game: Without knowing his annual selections for Turkey of the Year, I will name mine.

I was considering a number of media people, but that would have taken up the entire Readers Write space. You can add to my list with a letter to the editor of this newspaper via opinion@startribune.com. Please note that my last name ends in "a," not "o."