Blog | Don’t understand Ferguson reaction? Think about how you felt about the O.J. Simpson verdict

Update:

If nothing else comes out of this, hopefully this will convince people that it is time to seriously deal with the race divide too many want to ignore. It is definitely a lesson Myrtle each area officials should pay attention to in the lead-up to Bikefest next May. And as I’ve I’ve written before, President Obama should make this a priority, first going to poor white communities where distrust of him is high, then to Ferguson, and beyond. Only an out-of-the-box response by Obama can break through this type of national distrust.

Hopefully when the sun rises on Tuesday morning, we can start down a better road.

Update:

It’s going to be hard, for quite some time, for people to understand the reaction to the Ferguson decision of those who don’t hold the same views.

But think about this: Remember where you were and what you felt when the O.J. Simpson verdict came down.

Update:

Why Darren Wilson wasn’t charge for killing Michael Brown

Update: Grand jury decides not to indict on any charges.

Now that multiple news outlets are reporting the grand jury in the highly-charged officer-involved shooting in Ferguson has reached a decision that could be announced today, a few thoughts:

-- We should accept the decision, no matter if it leads to charges or not.

-- Accepting the decision doesn’t have to mean liking or agreeing with it, or even the process.

-- Accepting the decision doesn’t mean abandoning the underlying issues that turned this into a national case. That discussion and examination must continue.

-- Those calling for calm should be followed while those who are aiming for something else need to be confronted in a constructive manner.

-- For Myrtle Beach area residents, this provides another opportunity to learn from the struggles of others. Ferguson has to deal with a highly-emotional police-involved shooting that exposed deeper divides while Myrtle Beach is preparing for the 2015 version of the always-divisive Atlantic Beach Memorial Day Bikefest.

(While a traffic and security plan is vital, that can’t be all there is.)

-- Let’s hope the folks in Ferguson and throughout Missouri have spent the past several weeks building trust among various factors of the public - something Myrtle Beach officials should be doing now through May.

-- At some point the debate over which view is right - the officer was at fault or justified; Bikefest is simply awful or complicated fun - needs to make way for more constructive dialogue about how to bring people together, despite very different points-of-view.

By now, it should be obvious that the issues animating the Ferguson protests and the heated Bikefest discussion in Myrtle Beach are much deeper than a singular event.

There is real distrust for a variety of reasons, some sound, some not so sound.

Those in charge should make it a priority to help all of us understand each other better - and the complications at play - instead of pursuing more fruitless debates that will only further fuel the divide.

The time to do that healing in Ferguson has mostly passed, though even that community must continue these efforts well beyond the jury’s decision.

The time for Myrtle Beach to do that healing is now.

This story was originally published November 24, 2014 at 3:03 PM with the headline "Blog | Don’t understand Ferguson reaction? Think about how you felt about the O.J. Simpson verdict."