TOW #15 (Article): "Hands Up Don't Shoot"

    With the recent events that have taken place in Ferguson, there have been many protests where people raise their hands and say "don't shoot" in front of police officers. The background behind this saying has to do with the shooting of Mike Brown. According to CNN, the forensic pathologist on Mike Brown's case found a bullet that passed through Brown's forearm, shattering parts of his bones and leaving a gaping exit wound. People hoped this would explain the question: "Were his arms raised in surrender when Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson shot him, as some witnesses said? Or would the evidence corroborate Wilson's version of events: that Brown charged him with his left hand balled in a fist and his right in the waistband of his shorts, even as the officer ordered him to stop?" (CNN). After the grand jury found Wilson not guilty, this phrase started to mean something. It symbolizes the unjust and corruptness found in today's system. In fact, when a group of police officers were walking into a Mexican restaurant, an employee raised his hands in an apparent protest of the police; the officers soon left. Jane Rhodes, head of African American Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago stated, "It's a universal symbol of surrender. It's also a very simple gesture, and that's part of what makes something resonate" (CNN). The article posted by CNN informs the public of how protesting is still going on, and how symbolic and nonviolent the saying is. As noted by several news sources, right after the conviction was heard, a lot of violence was going on, which threatened the lives of many officers. However, this saying allows people to stand up for what they believe in without any violence involved. It shows just how moving this movement is turning out to be due to its symbolic meaning of equal rights for all races.