Watch: Dem implies whites not able to understand black reaction to Ferguson

Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) implied Wednesday that white people may not have the capacity to understand the way blacks and other minorities are reacting to the events in Ferguson, and said non-minorities need to "take a deep breath" before reaching any final conclusions.

"One of the most important things that I think people need to do who are not African American, who are not Latino, is… just take a deep breath for one minute, and say, 'maybe I don't understand, maybe there's something going on here that I need to look at,' " Bass said on CNN Wednesday morning.

"All of the polling shows the sharp divide," she said. "Latinos, African Americans see the world one way, non-Latino/African Americans see the world another way."

Bass spoke after a second night of demonstrations and rioting in Ferguson, after a grand jury declined to indict a police officer for shooting a black teenager. Many who supported that finding did so because it was based on testimony from eyewitnesses — including some black witnesses — who said Michael Brown punched the police officer, wrestled for control of his gun, and then charged that officer on foot, which prompted the officer to fire the fatal shots.

But many who were critical of the decision called it a miscarriage of justice. Bass was one of several members of the Congressional Black Caucus who blasted the decision, and said it "continues a trend of injustice."

"From the onset, Ferguson law officials have been negligent in their handling of this tragic death," she said. "Ferguson officials botched this case from the beginning when they left Michael Brown's body on the street for over four hours after he was killed."