Are the facts really black and white?

There’s rioting in Ferguson,
Seattle, New Orleans
Chicago, New York, Oakland and LA.
And while so many people
think the facts are black and white,
I am inclined to think they’re mostly gray.

An officer when cornered
can resort to deadly force
to confront someone who’s threatening his life.
But must he shoot to kill
instead of aiming at ones knees?
Especially when they have no gun nor knife?

And must we rush to judgment
thinking white cops are to blame
whenever someone black flees from arrest?
The growing tension’s troubling.
It’s tearing us apart.
And where it leads is anybody’s guess.