On Dec. 3, Phi Rho Eta Fraternity Inc. hosted an open forum with a panel of academic, community and legal experts titled “Walking While Black,” to discuss the non-indictment of officer Darren Wilson in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown and other race inequality problems.

The panel consisted of MU Police Department Captain Brian Weimer, English professor Clenora Hudson-Weems and lawyer Lindsey D. G. Dates of Barnes & Thornburg, LLP.

Junior Breon Woods, a member of the Phi Rho Eta Fraternity Inc., served as a moderator for the discussion. He began by asking Gates to explain the proceedings in a grand jury.

“Grand juries decide whether to issue a charge or not,” Gates said. “A judge (in Missouri) will get a panel of 12 jury members to meet over an extended period of time.”

In the case of Michael Brown, the jury had been chosen well before he died, Gates said.

There are several ways a grand jury can charge someone with a crime. One way is for a prosecutor to bring the charge to a judge to have it signed off on, Gates said.

“Usually in a more serious case, the prosecutor decides to use a grand jury to do that,” he said. “The grand jury’s burden isn’t to decide who is right or wrong, guilty or innocent.”

The prosecutor then presents his or her selected evidence to the jurors. Using the presented evidence, the jurors must decide if there is more than reasonable suspicion that there was a crime committed; there does not have be evidence beyond reasonable doubt, Gates said.

Woods responded by asking Weimer why he thought there was mistrust between the black community and police force.

“It’s with the public in general with the police, misunderstanding between each other,” Weimer said. “Typically when we get called to situations it’s because something bad is happening. The law is getting broken. Typically when we’re showing up, it’s not for the most pleasant thing. Mistrust can come from a lot of things. I believe it comes from perceptions, and we reflect it towards all law enforcement rather than a bad individual or experience.”

In response, Hudson-Weems said police officers should be there to support people.

“In an ideal world, where there is no r-a-c-i-s-m (and mistrust in police) would not happen,” Hudson-Weems said. “Unfortunately, sometimes we have officers who bring baggage; racism predicated on a lot of misconceptions about blacks, stereotypes for blacks and just plain hatred for blacks. Unleashed and unchecked white power is not only toxic, not only malignant, but is deadly.”

Hudson-Weems described white power as a “monster.”

“We saw it happen in 1990, a white man in Boston killed his pregnant wife and baby so that he could collect insurance money,” Hudson-Weems said. “He did it because he thought he had the perfect scapegoat of a black man. That monster turned on him and his poor wife and unborn baby.”

Woods then opened up questions to the audience; he asked for opinions on media portrayal of the Michael Brown case.

“For 108 days, the police department in St. Louis said Michael Brown was 35 feet from the vehicle when he was shot and killed,” Director of Peoples’ Visioning Monta Welch said. “It was only through some (determination) to reveal the truth after going to the site themselves, that it was over 150 feet. This information that is untrue, it makes people doubt the information presented to the grand jury as even accurate. It makes people doubt the police department and media when they have been asked by other media to take this information forward to the public.”

The moderator then asked for possible solutions to all of these problems.

Welch promoted Peoples’ Visioning as a group against racial, social, cultural, economic and environmental injustices. She said they are looking for different and better ways to police in the community.

“Our organization is the only people in City Hall testifying against a military vehicle for the city police force,” Welch said.

MU Panhellenic Association President Kayley Weinberg made a presentation as well. She began her presentation of solutions by acknowledging her white privilege, and then discussing the comments made on MU’s Facebook [postings of pictures of a Dec. 2 protest](https://www.facebook.com/Mizzou) in the MU Student Center.

“A lot of individuals (commenting) were white alumni or white Greek males,” Weinberg said. “The white Greek community and the white alumni are two of the highest paying communities. (People should be) celebrating all of our stripes, no matter how much revenue they bring in.”

Other solutions presented from the audience were removing people from leadership positions if they made racist comments and pairing black and white sororities during homecoming.

Hudson-Weems said that the way to begin to fix a problem is to acknowledge that there is one.

“We have to understand that it starts with admitting,” Hudson-Weems said. “Then you have to be remorseful for it, then you have to try to atone for it. That is the only way you can get redemption, by doing good. We have to admit that there are some wrongs that need to be corrected. That’s the beginning of the healing and correction that needs to take place. At some point, you understand that other race (is) as human as you.”

The discussion finished with closing statements from the experts panel.

“I really enjoyed listening and thinking about what you all have said,” Dates said. “I’m really inspired by watching how brilliant you all are; it really makes me happy.”

Dates said he had one suggestion for furthering actions toward a solution.

“I challenge you to go back in small groups and come up with actionable things that the university can do, and really be thoughtful about it. Come up with that list, and you submit that list to the leadership,” he said.

Dates said there are similar issues in Illinois, but their chancellor would not have attended this event. Every time someone suggested an actionable plan, he said, he saw Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin was taking notes.

Weimer said he offered himself as a resource for change.

“If I could come talk to a large group, small group, do something for you guys, I invite you to ask me,” he said. “Please don’t see all police as being the same. I promise we’ll work with you. You are smart young men and women; let’s work together.”

Hudson-Weems closed by saying she believed change started with individuals.

“What you need to do is to start with you,” she said. “As an individual, to search yourself out and make sure that you are responding in a positive way, so that you can be on that higher frequency and soar with the eagles, as opposed to crawling on the ground with the snakes. It’s about you, and what you feel you can do or contribute to this society that makes it better and better every day.”