Ferguson, replace rhetoric with action

Ferguson, replace rhetoric with action

As I have watched events unfold in Ferguson in the wake of the grand jury's decision not to indict officer Wilson for the death of Michael Brown, I am puzzled by a couple of issues.

There has been an outcry about the lack of racial diversity in the Ferguson Police Department. The police force is overwhelmingly white in a community that is 71 percent African-American. The mayor and five of the six city council members are white. On the surface one might assume that these white leaders have conspired to create a police force that doesn't represent the ethnic makeup of the community.

I found that fewer that 15 percent of eligible voters cast their votes in the last three local elections. If African-Americans in Ferguson wanted a police force with a greater percentage of officers more representative of the ethnic majority, why did they not put forth worthy candidates? Had they done so and if voters had turned out in greater numbers, the problem of ethnic diversity would have been solved.

A collateral issue is yet another call for a national dialogue on race relations. Eric Holder said we are "a nation of cowards" for not having this discussion. I don't agree, but I do agree we need to have this discussion. However, I have seen no attempt by Holder or other African-American leaders to convene a summit or a series of meetings to address race relations. Why is that? The cynic in me says these leaders are more interested in a national monologue where charges of racism continue dominate the "discussion."

So, I say to the citizens of Ferguson and the nation's African-American leaders, replace the rhetoric with action. It is well within your power to do so.

David Carrell

Campton Hills