Darren Wilson's testimony on his encounter with Michael Brown raises the red flag on what behavioral and security experts call White cops' mindset about Black people when responding to crime in a Black-dominated neighborhood.

The issue is not one that can simplistically be considered 'racist', but rather a set of perceptions about blacks likely programmed in the American mind over time, even dating back to the age of slavery.

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Mindsets or built-in perceptions leave no room for further thought during an altercation. They often translate to gut responses, and can prod a responding white police officer to use brutal force on a Black suspect.

"Perhaps people assume that Blacks possess extra strength, which enables them to endure violance more easily than other humans," said the authors of a Northwestern University study that looked into Whites' biased perception of Blacks.

In his testimony before the Ferguson Grand Jury, Wilson described Brown as a "rage-filled demon" who was about to lunge at him. He also described Cantile Drive, the scene of the encounter with Brown, as a place known to be "hostile" to police. 

This part of the Ferguson testimony was likely interpreted by the Grand Jury as justication for Wilson to act in defense of his own life and safety, a situation that the courts favorably consider when weighing a defendant's culpability. 

The Grand Jury late Monday decided not to indict Wilson over the death of Brown following months of sifting through evidence and testimonies on the August 9 fatal encounter.

Brown's death has sparked violent protests for months, picking up steam again just minutes after the Grand Jury released its verdict late Monday.

This time, the protests were not confined in Ferguson, Missouri but had spilled to other places such as New York, Chicago, Boston, and California.

Many of the protesters who rallied behind Michael Brown from anywhere in the country viewed the Ferguson case as "something personal".

For New Yorkers, it was as much a sympathy for Brown as it was for police chokehold victim Eric Garner who was manhandled by NYPD officers July this year.

The California protests were reminiscent of the 1992 riots over the death of Rodney King, a victim of police brutality in Los Angeles whose aggressors were likewise acquitted.

Just this week, protest initiatives were gaining ground over the fatal shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice by Cleveland cops, all because he carried a toy gun and was perceived as a potential threat.

While President Obama and other level-headed pundits invariably caution against seeing color in the Ferguson incident, there is no denying that it has opened the floodgates of old racial wounds that have plagued the country for centuries despite countless libertarian discourse on equality.

Experts warn that a lingering biased perception of Blacks and Black neighborhoods is a legitimate cause for concern when it creeps into White law enforcers' instantaneous decisions on whether or not to use brutal force on crime suspects.

Tagsmichael brown, Darren Wilson, Ferguson