By Nancy Cruse
for WJBC-AM Forum
The situation in Ferguson, Missouri, really bothers me. I’m trying to wrap my head around it from many angles:
- As a mother who will never, ever see her son again. I know this pain personally and I feel very badly for Michael Brown’s mother. On a certain level, it really doesn’t matter how he died. The point is that Lesley McSpadden will never share another birthday, Thanksgiving, or Christmas with her son. When something major like that happens to you, you have to decide how you will move forward with your own life. My personal feeling is that you should try to figure out a way to bring something positive out of the situation so that you can help the next person who finds themselves in a similar circumstance.
- As a former small business owner. My late husband and I owned our own businesses for 27 years here in Bloomington/Normal. We experienced being broken into and robbed twice, having an employee steal company checks and try to cash them, having a plate glass window broken by vandals and having our business burn due to an electrical fire. After my husband died I experienced having an employee murdered while trying to stop a robbery. It’s not the same as having your business looted and burned due to racial tensions obviously. I can however speak to feeling violated by the actions of other human beings and the pain it causes, as well as to how it feels to watch your livelihood go up in flames. There is no way any one can convince me that looting and destroying other people’s property or causing someone physical harm helps to solve racial tensions.
- As a human being. Not all police officers are bad. I cannot understand how when we are trying to overcome stereotypical thinking it suddenly becomes ok to classify anyone who is part of a particular profession as a horrible human being. Isn’t this what we are supposed to be overcoming?
I am very sad that a young man lost his life and I empathize with his mother. I have great respect for those who have given their lives to protect and serve their communities. I would like to think if there are those in their ranks who hold biased beliefs and treat people unfairly that it will be addressed and dealt with constructively. I applaud those who express their concerns and beliefs peacefully.
I am very grateful that I was raised by a man who taught me more through actions than words that all people are created equal and deserve respect. By looking through my father’s eyes I saw that every person has worth, value, and something to contribute. I believe the greatest change begins at an individual level. Examine your thoughts and your actions. What changes can you make – in yourself, in your parenting, and in your community?
Nancy Cruse has been part of the Bloomington/Normal community for the past almost 30 years. A widow, with five children, along with her late husband was a small business owner in downtown Bloomington. Now employed by State Farm, Nancy is active in the community, writing the Clare House newsletter and maintaining their Facebook page, hosting an annual Fourth of July Food Drive, a team leader and fundraiser for the Pat Nohl Lupus Walk, and a member of Toastmasters International, as well as volunteering in various capacities at Holy Trinity Church and schools. In her spare time, Nancy likes to run, bike, hike, read, sew, and be a vegetarian who occasionally indulges in a Schooners Tenderloin.