- Apr 7, 2013
- 6,131
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I've noted in a couple threads that there seems to be something 'different' about the uprising in Ferguson, that unlike most uprisings in the 21st century, this one is sustained (in most, cops kill a black man, folk riot, loot, it's over). This article suggests that the riot "may" be turning into a Movement:
This is particularly interesting:
“When does a moment become a movement?” asked Fredrick Harris in WashingtonPost.com. That’s the question facing black Americans in the wake of the killing of unarmed black teen Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. Now that the protests have faded, the St. Louis suburb could enter history as merely “the scene of just another tragic slaying” or as a pivot point—the birthplace of a national movement to change how police departments treat young black and brown men. But for real reform to occur, activists must channel the widespread anger unleashed by this tragic event to form local, regional, and national organizations devoted to fighting racial profiling, police misconduct, stand-your-ground laws, and the militarization of the police.
For many of us, Brown’s death was a tipping point, said Bob Herbert in Prospect.org. We’re sick and tired not only of police shooting young black men but also of “the myriad hateful ways” we’re discriminated against by the criminal justice system and the police. We’ve also had enough of the “humiliating, debilitating racist encounters, large and small, that nearly all black people face at one time or another.”
This is particularly interesting:
This opinion will warm the cockels of James and Kemestry's hearts (lol) :“I feel confident stating that neither Brown nor Wilson is an angel—because no one is,” said Touré in WashingtonPost.com. But in nearly every case of this kind, young black men are “thuggified” for wearing their hats sideways, smoking marijuana, or other mild rebellions that white teens can engage in without being gunned down by cops. Brown’s death was a reminder that black lives don’t matter in America, said Sally Kohn in TheDailyBeast.com. FBI statistics show that “nearly two times a week, every week,” a black person is killed by a white officer. This is why 80 percent of black people say the shooting of Brown “raises important issues about race.” Sadly, only 37 percent of whites see it that way. “What the hell is black America supposed to do to get white America’s attention?”
Vote, for starters, said DeWayne Wickham in USAToday.com. Protesters complained that Ferguson is 67 percent black, yet only three of Ferguson’s police officers are black, while its mayor and police chief are white. But the blame for that imbalance lies mostly with “black indifference.” In the 2013 local election, just 6 percent of blacks in Ferguson turned out. If black people want more control over the police and local governments, they have to do more than protest when a teen is shot—they have to get out to the polls in every election. “The change they want won’t be given to them.”
http://theweek.com/article/ppArticle/684/27705