DARREN WILSON
RECENTLY HAD AN INTERVIEW WITH
THE NEW YORKER.
IT WAS THE FIRST EXTENSIVE INTERVIEW AFTER
THE MICHAEL BROWN SHOOTING CASE.
JAKE HALPERN DID AN EXCELLENT
JOB OF INTERVIEWING WILSON, AND KIND OF GETTING A SENSE OF HIS
HYPOCRISY WHEN IT COMES TO CULTURAL ISSUES, SPECIFICALLY
WHITE CULTURE VERSUS BLACK CULTURE.
FOR ANYONE WHO THINKS
THAT DARREN WILSON DOESN'T HAVE A RACIST BONE IN HIS BODY, YOU
SHOULD ABSOLUTELY READ THIS PIECE, BECAUSE IT CLARIFIES WHO
WILSON IS, BASED ON WHAT HE SAYS ON HIS OWN.
THIS IS NOT A
SUMMARY OF WHAT HE SAYS, THIS IS NOT PARAPHRASING, THESE
ARE QUOTES, WHICH HE PROVIDED TO THE NEW YORKER.
I DO WANT TO
HIGHLIGHT SOME OF ñ
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>> THE MORE IMPORTANT PORTIONS OF IT.
ACCORDING TO THE NEW YORKER, HE TALKS A LITTLE BIT ABOUT
BLACK CULTURE ñ
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>> "THEY RAN ALL OVER THE MOM.
THEY DIDN'T RESPECT HER, SO WHY WOULD THEY RESPECT ME?
THERE SO WRAPPED UP IN A DIFFERENT CULTURE THAN ñ
WHAT I'M TRYING TO SAY IS, THE RIGHT CULTURE, THE BETTER
ONE TO PICK FROM."
SO LET'S JUST DELVE INTO THAT A LITTLE BIT, AND THEN I'LL GIVE
YOU MORE FROM THE INTERVIEW.
>> YOU WANT TO GO?
I GIGGLE AT IT.
>> YEAH, NO ñ
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>> VERY UNINTELLIGENT GRASP OF ANY SORT OF, LIKE RACIAL ISSUES IN
AMERICA, AND EVEN THOUGH THIS MAN IS A POLICE OFFICER, I THINK THAT IS
WHAT IS BOTHERSOME.
IS THAT HE
DOES NOT HAVE ñ
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>> IT JUST, YOU UNDERSTAND THE ROOT OF SO MUCH OF ALL THIS
POLICE BRUTALITY.
YOU UNDERSTAND THE SYSTEMIC
FOUNDATION.
IN THIS ARTICLE, I KNOW IT SEEMS LIKE THESE ARE
JUST SIMPLE QUOTES ñ
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>> WHEN IT COMES TO BLACK FAMILIES, AND MAYBE SOME OF
THE STRIFE THAT THEY HAVE TO DEAL WITH, HE HAS THIS VERY
ëUS VERSUS THEMí MENTALITY.
WHITE PEOPLE WOULDN'T DO THIS, BUT WITH BLACK PEOPLE IT IS TO BE
EXPECTED, AND THAT IS WHAT WAS IMPLIED THROUGHOUT THE PIECE.
>> IT IS SO SIMPLIFIED, AND THAT IS WHY IT IS SO SCARY.
>> HE FRAMES AN ENTIRE CULTURE AS ONE THING.
THUGS, LESS THANÖ
SO I AM NOT SHOCKED BY THIS.
THERE IS A GREATER ISSUE HERE,
WE LIVE IN AMERICA, THIS IS THE MOST RACIST, HOMOPHOBIC, SEXIST
COUNTRY, AND THIS IS NOT
EXCLUDED TO US.
THE SYSTEMIC PROBLEMS WE HAVE HAVE NEVER BEEN ADDRESSED.
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>> THIS MAN'S A RACIST.
OBVIOUSLY, WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE
CONTEXT OF WHAT HAPPENED WITH MICHAEL BROWN, IT IS SO FRAUGHT
WITH EMOTIONS AND, EVEN JUST THE MORAL COMPLICATIONS OF THE
FEDERAL REPORT OF WHAT GOES ON IN FERGUSON SAYS THIS, BUT THAT
HE WAS NOT CHARGED WITH MURDER.
THERE'S NO CLEAN-CUT WAY TO LOOK
AT THIS, AND I THINK THAT CALLING HIM, ESPECIALLY CALLING
HIM A RACIST, ALSO SIMPLIFIES WHAT IS GOING ON.
>> IT IS NOT JUST ABOUT DARREN WILSON, IT IS ABOUT THE POLICE
DEPARTMENT THAT HE'S FROM.
THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT DID ITS OWN
INVESTIGATION, NOT ONLY INTO DARREN WILSON,
BUT INTO THE ENTIRE DEPARTMENT THAT HE WORKED FOR.
THEY SAW
THAT RACISM WAS A PROBLEM, THAT THIS COMMISSION WAS A PROBLEM.
THEY SAW THAT THEY WERE TARGETING PEOPLE OF COLOR WHEN
IT CAME TO ANY POLICING.
JUST TO BUTTRESS OFF YOUR POINT ABOUT
BEING IN A BUBBLE, THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT DARREN WILSON WAS LIVING IN.
THIS BUBBLE, WHERE IT WAS REITERATED OVER AND OVER AGAIN
THAT BLACK PEOPLE ARE THE ENEMIES, AND THOSE ARE THE
PEOPLE THAT DESERVE THE POLICING.
TO DELVE INTO HIS
UPBRINGING, AND HOW INCREDIBLE IT IS THAT HE IS JUDGMENTAL
ABOUT BLACK FAMILIES BUT ISN'T ABOUT HIS OWN, HE SAYS, "DO I
THINK I HAD THE BEST UPBRINGING?
NOPE.
NOT AT ALL.î HE ADMITS TO
NOT HAVING A GOOD UP BRINGING.
IN THAT WILSON'S MOTHER, TONYA
DEAN, FREQUENTLY WROTE BAD CHECKS AND STOLE MONEY TO PAY
BACK DEBTS.
HE WORRIED THAT SHE WOULD STEAL WHAT LITTLE MONEY HE HAD
FROM WORKING SUMMER JOBS, SO HE OPENED TWO BANK ACCOUNTS.
THE
FIRST, WHICH HE HAD ALMOST NO MONEY IN, WAS A DECOY.
HE
PLACED HIS REAL EARNINGS IN THE SECOND, SECRET ACCOUNT.
HE SAID
HIMSELF, YOU DO REALIZE THAT HIS PARENTS ARE SUING ME?
SO I HAVE
TO THINK ABOUT HIM.
DO I THINK ABOUT WHO HE WAS AS A PERSON?
NOT REALLY, BECAUSE IT DOESN'T
MATTER AT THIS POINT."
LET'S GET TO THE SECOND PART OF THIS IN
JUST A SECOND.
LET'S TALK ABOUT HIS UPBRINGING WITH HIS MOM,
WHERE HE HAD TO LIE ABOUT HIS BANK ACCOUNTS.
HOW WOULD DARREN WILSON RESPOND TO A STORY ABOUT A BLACK
FAMILY WHERE THE MOTHER WAS ACTING THE SAME WAY.
>> HE WOULD RESPOND THE SAME WAY.
THERE ARE DIFFERENT LEVELS
OF RACISM.
STRUCTURAL, INTERNALIZED, SYSTEMIC.
HE
CLEARLY ñ
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>> AND UNFORTUNATELY THAT BUBBLE SPREADS ACROSS AMERICA.
YOU END
DISASSOCIATING YOUR EXPERIENCES
FROM THEIR EXPERIENCE.
IF THAT WAS THE STORY OF THE
AFRICAN-AMERICAN THAT HE SHOT,
I AM TELLING YOU HE WOULD BE LIKE, THIS IS A PRIME EXAMPLE.
THAT HE HIMSELF IS TRIUMPHANT, AND CUNNING, BECAUSE HE WAS
ABLE TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO MAKE IT.
BUT HE SEES SOMEBODY ELSE WHO HAD THE SAME STORY AS, LOOK
AT THAT, THERE'S THESE, THEY ARE LESS THAN.
>> IT'S TO BE EXPECTED.
THAT ATTITUDE IS WHAT REALLY RUBBED
ME THE WRONG WAY IN HIS RESPONSES TO THE QUESTIONS.
I THINK HALPERN DID A REALLY GOOD JOB AT VERY SUBTLY POINTING TO
HIS HYPOCRISY THERE.
HALPERN DID A GREAT JOB BECAUSE HE DID
NOT INCLUDE HIS OWN OPINIONS, OR HIS OWN SLANT, WHICH WAS VERY
SMART, AND ALSO VERY WELL DONE.
I THINK IT IS DIFFICULT TO NOT HAVE YOUR OPINION IN THE
PIECE, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO SOMETHING AS
CONTROVERSIAL AS THIS.
>> I DO APPRECIATE THAT WE GOT TO SEE A FULLER, MORE RICH
VERSION OF A HUMAN.
YOU START TO UNDERSTAND THIS MAN, AND YOU
WATCH HOW HE ISN'T EMPATHIZING WITH THE VICTIM OF HIS OWN
SHOOTING, AND IT'S SO INTERESTING, BECAUSE I STARTED
TO UNDERSTAND ñ THERE WERE PARTS IN THE ARTICLE WHERE YOU
REALIZED HE COULD HAVE TAKEN ON THIS MENTOR AT ONE POINT, THIS
MAN WHO'S REALLY INTEGRATED INTO THE BLACK COMMUNITY THEY SERVE,
THIS OLDER, MORE VETERAN POLICE OFFICER, WHO HAD MORE NUANCED
VIEWS ABOUT RACE AND WAS TRYING TO HELP WILSON ALONG, AND THEY
HAD THAT PARTING OF WAYS.
IF THAT
MAN HAD HAD A BIGGER INFLUENCE, HAD BEEN OUT TO STEER HIM IN
THE RIGHT DIRECTION, HAD BEEN
ABLE TO GET HIM BETTER TRAININGÖ A RECENT SURVEY REVEALED THAT
CADETS USUALLY RECEIVE FIFTY-EIGHT HOURS OF TRAINING IN
FIREARMS, FORTY-NINE IN DEFENSIVE TACTICS, TEN IN
COMMUNICATION SKILLS, AND EIGHT IN DE-ESCALATION TACTICS.
THOSE
NUMBERS SAY IT ALL.
DARREN WILSON WAS ALSO FAILED BY THIS
POLICE FORCE.
BY TRAINING.
HOW HE WAS EQUIPPED AS AN OFFICER.
I AM NOT MAKING EXCUSES FOR HIM, I AM JUST TRYING TO LOOK AT THE
BROADER COMPLEXITY OF IT.
>> THAT IS A GREAT POINT.
I WANT TO LEAVE THIS STORY WITH ONE FINAL QUOTE FROM DARREN
WILSON, TO SUM UP WHAT HIS MENTALITY IS.
HE TALKS ABOUT HOW DIFFICULT IT IS FOR HIM TO FIND A PLACE
TO EAT, AND HE SAYS, "WE TRY TO GO SOMEWHERE
HOW DO I SAY THIS DIRECTLY?
ñ WITH LIKE-MINDED INDIVIDUALS.
WHERE IT'S NOT A MIXING POT."
>> THAT'S PRETTY INSUFFERABLE.
>> WELCOME TO AMERICA.