Injustice laid bare by system

Anna Wallis PHOTO/FILE

There it is in black and white.

"The only way I can describe it, it looks like a demon, that's how angry he looked."

The demonisation of teenager Michael Brown by Missouri policeman Darren Wilson, straight from the transcript of the grand jury hearing that found no cause to indict the officer. The death of the 18-year-old and the grand jury decision have again lit the touch paper of racism and injustice.

Michael Brown, who was unarmed, was shot dead during an arrest for suspicion of robbery.

It seems black and white communities are so divorced from each other that the humanity is gone from relationships between police and public. The police in incidents like this never seem to mirror the community they are policing. Such a gulf must lead to such fatal encounters.

The lethal meeting between Darren Wilson and Michael Brown began with the officer in his car and, after Michael Brown walked away, the officer leaving the car to arrest him. Perhaps it's a layperson's question: But why was the situation escalated, rather than defused?

Black communities were also angered at the prosecutor who put the information before the grand jury. Suddenly the prosecutor seems to have become transparent, bringing all evidence before court when usually it's just the detail that will bring a successful prosecution. As opponents of the decision argue: Why change the procedures for this case?

There also seems to be a reluctance of the grand jury to interrogate the officer - just one question was put to him during the hearing.

There is an awful repetitiveness to this death, and the unwillingness of the American system to force police to look at how they operate and interact with the black community.

Rather than criticising black people for their reaction to this latest death, their patience and fortitude faced with such deadly racism should be applauded.