America continues to quiver in the aftermath of the police shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri earlier in August. The non-stop media coverage of the ongoing protests in the small St. Louis suburb only serves to perpetuate the same race-centric debate black versus white that has been waxing and waning in the public dialogue for over 200 years in this country.
When the conversation devolves into one of black versus white, attention is only being paid to the symptoms while the underlying problems are not being addressed. Viewing the situation in its political context can shed light on the bigger picture: a white police officer may have shot Michael Brown, but the black community of Ferguson is responsible for his death.
The Balance of Power
Ferguson's population, as of the 2010 census, was 67 percent black and only 29 percent white. Despite the town's clear black majority, they are tragically underrepresented in the local government and positions of power. Ferguson's city council, save for one member, is entirely composed of white individuals. The Chief of Police, and the overwhelming majority of his department, is white, and the town has always elected a white mayor.
Despite the conspiracy theories cooked up in smoke-hazed dark rooms across the country, the "system" particularly on a local level is built to place the balance of power in the hands of the majority. That mechanism works, but only if people participate. In Ferguson's last local election, a mere twelve percent of registered voters turned out to cast their ballots.
It is worth mentioning that the nearby town of Country Club Hills, Missouri has a similar demographic makeup as Ferguson. Their local elections, though have had much different outcomes. Country Club Hills has a black mayor, a black police chief, and many black councilmembers. Perhaps the people of Ferguson should look to Country Club Hills as an example of what can be done, with a bit of political effort.
Creating Distrust
There is nothing inherently wrong with elected officials being of a different race than a larger part of their constituencies. The problem highlighted in the Michael Brown case is that many Ferguson residents don't seem to identify or agree with their own elected officials, like County Prosecuting Attorney Robert P. McCulloch. The source of distrust from the black community is McCulloch's history of siding with the police, even in other racially charged issues. Many have called for McCulloch to recuse himself from the Brown case. However, the people calling for his recusal are the same people that failed to stop his election, or to put forth a challenger that better represented their points of view.
Weeks of protests won't fix Ferguson, riots won't fix Ferguson, and twitter hashtags certainly won't fix Ferguson. If black people want a local government that holds their views, they need to get off of their backsides and vote. You can't have a government "of the people, by the people, and for the people" if the "people" won't be bothered to make themselves heard.
The words of Malcolm X ring true even now in the case of Michael Brown:
"It's time now for you and me to become more politically mature and realize what the ballot is for; what we're supposed to get when we cast a ballot; and that if we don't cast a ballot, it's going to end up in a situation where we're going to have to cast a bullet. It's either a ballot or a bullet."
Sources:
Newsweek, the New York Times
48 comments
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Rj
Who is to blame? Let's start with a prerequisite of only college graduates with a Balclors degree an qualify as being a police officer on this town. Let's look at the minority who live here and don't qualify. Let's look at the inability of those living here and can't get jobs. Let's look at the amount of families that don't have fathers. Let's look at how many unwed mothers. Let's look at the amount of uneducated residence in the area. Let's look at the years of welfare in the area. Let's look-
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Carina Artalejo
comment is easy but thing about the effect to be a police officer same time is not easy I not said is good our bat. The precision for be a good leader.
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Natasha
Well said Stella. I would add only... You, with out sin cast the first stone, it is sad to read the self righteous drivel of people who have forgotten youthful mistakes and adventures that we laugh at now and excuse with a wave of the hand and a smile, while remembering the bravado of youth before we learned we would not live forever and were vincible... As many have reminded us death by firing squad, lethal injection execution and hanging are reserved for capital crimes such as murder... As spiritual leaders lets not forget our mandate to make the world better. Better we live as St. Frances of Assisi stated in his pray to love someone more dearly everyday, then justify the death of a college bound young man who made youthful indiscretions, with hate filled rhetoric that has never enlightened a single soul or gave hope to the outcast. To all who have written, please reread your words and think how it would feel if those words were directed at you. I doubt you would feel so self righteous and smug as you did when you hit post comment. Love, peace forgiveness and hope to all, for we are better than this. Much love to my fellow servants of the light and all the deities we call on to touch the Creator our God. Your sister, mother, daughter, niece, auntie, stranger on the road...
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Natalie
AMEN "Childofgod"!!!
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Stella
Misinformed and misguided observation - to put it nicely. I actually would accuse whoever wrote this of being a racist, in my view. Blaming the victim instead of the perpetrator. Not voting = the death penalty? Why would African Americans vote when nothing ever changes regardless of who is elected? The system is broken and only works in favor of the privileged, wealthy, and white. I'm white by the way. Comparing Ferguson to Country Club Hills is like comparing a 1989 Honda to a 2014 Ferrari. Get real. There are many disparities between these communities and there is no comparison. The black community is not responsible for Michael Brown's death. A white racist cop is and he should be charged with murder and sent to prison for life. Anything less will not be justice and will only continue the racism evident in that community and throughout the US.
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Pastor Bob
I appreciate child of god's comment about the evident racism that still exists in this country but you hit the nail on the head when you ask for true justice. Most gawds promote racism when we're all actually just one race of many colors. When we as one race seek the truth and justice our constitution promises us and the only true living God Ramen asks us to do then maybe when we see our evening news we will hear more stories of progress,love etc. instead of war, decaying societies, children dying of hunger and disease and of course corrupt government officials. The same people that wrote the constitution would be appalled to see how gawds have been brought into the system they did not want polluted with the same corruption they faced from whatever country they came here from. Did these people not vow life and property for these very same beliefs which we should all hold dear for those that payed that price? WAKE UP mankind! There is even christians who want they're 10 commandments posted on my courthouse steps from some make belive gawd when they don't follow one of the most important of there so called laws. Saturday is the sabbath not sunday as the corrupt government of Rome commanded you to observe. The same gawd that brought slavery to this nation. Love Ramen and have a saucy day!
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writeous
As a Divinely Ascending Spiritual Master, ordained minister, and black man, I AM demonstrating an answer/solution through action here and now in real time: Firstly, I AM confessing my mistakes - my knee-jerk reaction of anger and name-calling (as in "fucking inbred, coward fake goof!") In confessing I AM also forgiving myself, totally, unconditionally.
Secondly, I AM forgiving you/ALL who overtly or covertly have/enable/deny/support any intentions or agendas in thought/feelings/deeds of hate/racism/fear/ignorance towards Blacks, Browns, Reds, Yellows, Indigos, Whites, Grays, Greens, Blues, any living being, past/present/future.
Thirdly, I AM Infinitely Blessings and Praising ALL within our Eternal Divine Oneness.
Namaste! Blessings! Ase!
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REV Duke
Michael Brown hit officer Wilson so hard , that officer Wilson's eye socket shattered. This and other brutal attacks against law enforcement must stop!
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Childofgod
Media is a major part of the problem, as those who constantly refer to race, color, religion ethnic background. We are all the Human Race, Bleed Red and feel Pain. Morgan Freeman said it the best, "I do not need Black history month or need to celebrate it, nor be called Black or African American, simply refer to me by my name, and I will refer to you by your name, not White or Jewish, we are all the human race".
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BARJONA
Morgan Freeman would still be a slave if not for some of those he now refuses to celebrate.
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Sakura
Thombar, you are so right. They have every chance to enter the Police force or the local gov and yet they don't do it. Brown attacked a Police officer after he pulled a robbery of a local store. The truth is he didn't want to go to jail so he attacked the Officer. He had a youth offender sheet a mile long including Second Degree murder. How was Brown ever innocent? The media and the mob took the word of his fellow criminal over the word of a Police officer because the Officer is white. That is the real racism at work here.
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Susan mussaw
While I agree that there is still racism in this country, and that it happens on all sides, I have been married to an African American man for over 30 years and I am white. I have seen it all.
I would have to say that as other minorities come to this country, and I live in an area where over 90% are Hispanic, I have to say that our attitude toward the black people in this country has carried over to the minorities and they even think the black population as inferior. It makes no sense to me.
The point of Ferguson was that police and "private security guards" are extensively trained on non lethal force, but choose not to use it. The gun is the first thing they reach for. There is something seriously wrong with this. As in Trevon Martin, this was totally uncalled for. At minimum, the officers should be fired. They can't handle the job.
The only way the establishment seems to listen is by massive protest. Otherwise they will continue business as usual, and this will happen again. Thanks for listening.
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Debbie
I think our Police need to stop acting and looking Militarized and do the Job they used to do-defuse situations -not enhance them ,as an excuse to shoot and ask questions later.
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Zarihss Syrahh
Brown shoudnt have attacked the cop
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Judy
When will everyone realize the real culprit behind this and all other political/ racial/religious differences is satan himself? While he can be in the midst causing chaos everywhere, how can we be about God's business!
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Pastor Bob
Oh sure let's blame another fabled creature out of a man's imagination like jesus and some crazy holy ghost. religions have done more evil than man alone could do.These ancient lies used by corrupt governments to control people who are uneducated and misinformed teach hate, prejudice, and cruelty to those who actually believe such nonsense. Should you really want to listen to a Real God seek out Ramen and the love he has for all. Not one war will ever be fought over his noodly goodness but instead one day when his words are taught to children instead of the lies taught by ancient fables then the world will be truly changed. Have a saucy day
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kathyg
sadly, I feel the news reporters are at fault for judging this case & relaying what they saw as facts before all the information was in and available. yes, sadly, there will always be racism & chauvinism in the world - we just need to understand & keep trying to educate. But, the answer will NEVER be to loot neighborhood stores - I think the Vikings were guilty of that so many years ago. Surely we have learned a better way to express our anger.
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don ricardo
"Racism in this country will never end until/unless BLACK PEOPLE..." Did Reverend Thombar really blame "Black People" for racism?
Discuss.
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kay
" but the black community of Ferguson is responsible for his death." What aracist thing to say...... a white police officer shoots and kills an unarmed black teenager and somehow it's NOT THE OFFICERS FAULT but the fault of black people. WOW.....aren't blacks ALWAYS THE VILLANS
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Ken
Perfectly stated, but lost in the media "coverage" of this situation! Of course, common sense is usually the first casualty in these kinds of things. At the local level in this country we actually have some semblance of democracy. The author's admonition to Ferguson's 67% black population to "get off of their backsides and vote" makes too much sense. Of course, there must be institutional or systemic barriers to their actually doing that - racially-motivated barriers to casting a ballot...
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Natalie
Why do we still even see one another as races? I believe we all came from the same race and are once again mixing back in to that singular race. Those who still would separate us into black or white clubs, organizations, anything are missing the point. Ignore the extremists on all sides, join together and BE the unified majority. Don't allow us to be dominated by those who seek to divide us so that they can control us. Unite! Unify! Be the change. Refuse to have a "race" discussion, we are all one! Look to Quantum Physics which can prove this. As we love and support ourselves we love and support others. Open your eyes and refuse to believe the race thoughts. Be one! Love and peace to ALL!
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Tom
The media does not help one bit. They set the tone and narrative for every story and it is almost always against law enforcement. Ratings above the greater good.
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Dr. K.
Why is it that the media is always there to report on the "injustice" or perceived "racism" or "prejudice" that is sensational and likely to sell? Part of the problem is that journalists are no longer reporters, but are now political activists,. Had we waited to learn of Michael's very sordid past, we would be more likely to "see" the wounds inflicted on the sole police officer who is reported to have been attacked by this imposing character high on drugs. Would we have immediately formed the opinion of "white cop slays innocent black man" or would we more likely have thought, "how tragic that life is lost due to drugs and a lacking cultural milieu that supports non-useful behaviors among this segment of the population".
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al
The solution to this nation will not be found in its rigged elections. America has turned away from God and continues to slide down the slope of sin. America has always had corrupt politicians from the White House to the court house, but we did not see the level of crime in this country when its people proclaimed to follow Christ. The solution is not ballot boxes alone but Christ and prayers. If the nation would turn to Christ, all of these problems would correct themselves.
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Pastor Bob
Your jesus christ is just more of the lies taught to children. Teach the truth and maybe kids will learn they can change corrupt politicians,police and big business and when they grow up the world will be better. Teach them lies and they start life mistrusting their fellow man. Why not teach gawd classes in school RIGHT! gawds are the problem not the solution. Remember 9-11? Belief in false deities are the real problem. If you want to believe in a true God you need to find out about the only true living God and his name is Ramen. Have a saucy day!
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Robert B
"Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves and the only way they could do this is by not voting."
Franklin D. Roosevelt
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ray lawrence
Racism will never end until people understand the there are no blacks or whites, there are only God's children
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Warren Taylor
Being a white man, I can't say that I know what the writer says is true. It sounds true enough, but it's hard to say. People get discouraged and give up. I know that's true. I don't know Ferguson from Country Club Hills. I don't know if there's more education and wealth in Country Club Hills. I do know (I looked it up) that Country Club Hills had 1274 residents in 2010 and Ferguson 21,203. In Country Club Hills 44.2% of households had no man present. In Ferguson it was 31.5%. Bill Cosby has argued that black men have not been present for their wives and children. He blames a lot of the community's problems on that. He also has argued that the black community has abandoned education and then wonder why their children end up in jail. I suppose the same could be said for the political process. It's a difficult problem, and I don't know if the writer is blaming the victim or not. I think education and being active in the political process go hand in hand. But try to convince the average black teenager, especially in our cities. Who's prospering there? From what I can gather, pimps and drug dealers. To me blaming black people in this is a lot like blaming those who were given liar's loans before the crash. The lenders knew what they were doing. They're not the victims but the perpetrators.
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Jean Porgal
No state or county within the USA needs the heavy armament and war equipment currently being provided to local police departments. It appears to me that the addition of these types of equipment only serve to ramp up the brutality of such departments. Where we once had negotiators and, at most, a swat team, who took care of most situations. Now, with the tanks, MRAPS and militarization of the police departments force is the predominant first choice - not what we want our city/county departments known for - and not one which we, the citizens and tax payers want. Every law enforcement department across the country has had its share of unfit officers who are unable and unwilling to perform their official duties and prefer to go straight to force and brutality. And, to make matters worse, their fellow officers will lie and back them up when they know the truth of what has occurred - making them, in my book, just as bad as those who committed the crime. You tell the public "if you see something, say something" - well, the same applies to you or you must accept the charge of abetting the crime committed. Quite obviously the departments are not doing proper psychological testing on officer candidates - or proper background checks either. Without those and now with the added "macho" militarization of these forces, the line of first choice is force - not negotiation. When tasers first came out the reason put forth to assuage the public's negative view was that tasers would lead to less shootings and brutality and that force and weaponry would be last resort. That has not happened - and as each new "toy" comes out the forces start campaigning to have those in their arsenal. The time has come for our police/sheriff forces leaders/commanders to step back and start from square one in the "how to" manual of running a department. NO MORE MILITARIZATION AND NO MORE WEAPONRY FROM THE WAR DEPARTMENT! Let's make sure our departments - depending upon where and what the make-up of the population if and then make sure they are not out-gunned by those who they go up against. but NOTHING like the tanks and MRAPS used by the military. I realize that we will never go back to the Andy Griffith version of policing but nor should we have our local police and sheriff's departments outfitted and appearing like SEAL Team 6 or Special Forces when responding to any call. Take it down several notches and rid our communities of these war weapons NOW!!
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Pastor Bob
You are right on!
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virginia feldman
This blames the victims! Once the balance of power is SOO bad, the people under the thumb--particularly of prosecutors, all have to superstars to overcome it. And when you are poor--which means lousy health, lousy transportation to public meetings, less access to Internet & other community resources to get mobilized........Let us in powerful, well-off situations, live a couple of days in the shoes of the typical Ferguson resident before we say it's their fault.
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Thomas Keach
Racism in this country will never end until/unless the black people quit blaming "whitey" for all their troubles. Yes, there are racist in this country but they come from both sides and all races. Fortunately for us all they are not in the majority but they sure as heck are the most vocal and tend to inflame every white/black/brown confrontation. There is actually more black on black crime than black on white - why is that? Why aren't the black leaders pushing harder for education and family values? This could go on forever and probably will until we all grow up and learn to accept each other as human beings and more importantly as Spiritual beings. Just my .02.
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Rhoda
Michael Brown was a criminal. Was does the color of his skin have to do with the fact that he had just robbed a store and gotten physical with the owner. The unemployment rate in Ferguson should be a concern. Why are these people living in an environment of poverty and crime? Why don't they look to their leaders in Washington who are forcing illegal diseased filled aliens down our throats. Unemployment, which is highest for black malesis the root cause not skin color. Progressive agitators seek not solutions but ways to divide the races for the coming civil war.
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Stephen Dekoning
Well said, very well said! Everyone should read and realize these views/facts.
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Justin Hill
I see it differently since the President of the United States is a person of color. Because of this, I find the issue confusing when some point to racism. Perhaps' racism was reasoning but on the other hand perhaps not. It's difficult to be judge and jury. Has someone asked the officer if he is a racist? It would probably clear the air to know he is not. However, if he is a racist then I could understand the public outrage from the black community. I feel to consider this a political attack on persons of color difficult to understand due to the fact that Obama is serving a second term in office. If the officer had reasonable grounds to use his firearm then I would see this as more of a trial and should be investigated by the SIU. If the grounds were to find that he should not have used his firearm than appropriate charges should be filed as a homicide. If he is also found to be racist than as I understand the law that this would be considered a hate crime. With the little knowledge I have regarding the case I choose to not see things in a racial motivated way. However, if he is an admitted racist and used his firearm than this would be a judicial case that could be solved thru the channels of the law. If it is proven he is not racist thru; perhaps friends, co-workers and thru his police record than I could understand that this would not be a racial issue. It could be that he used his firearm for a varied amount of reasons. I feel the officer may need to clear the air and prove he is not racist since this does seem a case about police motivated misuse of power due to anti-racial views towards the black community. I would prefer to see this as an isolated case. To due this I would check statistics to see how many black persons have been shot by officers and how many racial complaints have been filed within the last 10-15 years. This would give the public the knowledge to know the facts and hopefully can bring a peaceful resolution to the situation. Rather than making assumptions; checking stats and getting a written statement from the police officer involved may help ease the tension. - Justin Hill
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Connected1
I do agree with the point that a larger percentage of residents need to turn out to vote. However, last I checked, running for office has a very, very high price tag, even for the local positions.
That results in, not only a predominantly Anglo European government, but an upper class government as well.
Although it's tempting to try and come up with a simple answer for a very, very complex issue, that doesn't mean one can be found.
This is a complicated issue and a complicated, multi-fold, complex solution is the only hope.More voter turn out is a small piece of a large puzzle, but it is a piece.
An anti-biased education would be a larger piece, from my research on similar topics. The education offered in the US is totally racially biased, and not just towards people of African decent. Ask anyone who's father or grandfather was incarcerated in the US internment camps, or had relatives born on a Native American reservation, which are still called "Indian" reservations, how they feel about the His-story taught in the public school system. If we want to include gender biases, we may have to throw out every History book in the US. If all children from all races are raised with one race's view point, from only the upper, upper class' perspective represented, in their entire educational experience, we can not expect that there will be anything but more chaos and disharmony in our society.
There are many pieces of the puzzle. Voting is very important and should be promoted to our ethnic populations, and our youngest voters in the country of every demographic. It's a small first step in a much larger issue though not the total solution.
This is an absolutely unacceptable statement and the author should retract it immediately for it's insincerity, it's ignorant inaccuracy, and it being absolutely inappropriate... "but the black community of Ferguson is responsible for his death."
Beyond any racial issues what of the topic of police brutality and how much force is necessary force! Is that the fault of the "black community of Ferguson"? The "black" community doesn't elect the police department nor have any say on their training methods nor functions. There's a facebook post with a picture and captions that refer to a mentally ill man with a kitchen knife being shot 12 times by US police, but drunken man with a machete and a sword being shot once in the leg by German police and successfully apprehended. The pre-screening, protocols, and training of our police need to come into urgent questioning and revolutionary reforming of our law enforcement needs to occur. The "black" community, nor any citizens, have no say in this.
That statement is disgusting and needs to be retracted. This from a spiritual organization's publications? What's going on ULC?
Thombar, I'm not sure what you have missed or how, but "black" leaders are "...pushing harder for education and family values?" Ethnic minorities as a whole are disadvantaged in the US today. However, communities of primarily African-Americans are disadvantaged in deliberate ways as well. I'll include Hispanic communities as well. It's not racists that are disadvantaging them, it's many conditions of the systems in place. Ethnic minorities are targeted and specifically being held down.
Ethnic minorities are not sitting on the porch using the excuse that "whitey is root of all their troubles. Look at the total weekly labor hours of the average African American mother. The Hispanic population does statistically the hardest and most undesirable labor in this country, for the lowest wages. Yet some of the earliest ESL programs were specifically designed to disadvantage their children, by translating other subjects into Spanish, instead of focusing more on teaching them English. The excuse was they'd fall too far below their grade level in Math, Science, etc. However, the original government advocates of the programs, had documentation showing that it would continue the likelihood that the children in ESL wouldn't learn proper English, wouldn't be able to teach their parents, and this ensured a future population of under-educated Hispanic laborers. This being revealed finally allowed the programs, the teachers had been advocating for to be implemented, in which the first goal is to teach proper English to students as young as possible, and then catch up in the other academic subjects, but teaching them only in English.
If you want to learn more about how our ethnic populations are being deliberately held down, you can do an internet search. Researching educational trends and reading studies done by psychologists and educators on children living in primarily ethnic communities, will explain a lot.
The internet is a miraculous tool that can completely heal ignorance.
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Rev. Richard
Problems exist because we as a society want them to. Living in a world without conflict is boring. Boring is seen by some as being worse than death. Racism is just a tool used by some to promote negative change and to distract from real issues. Was the cop racist? Yes. Most are. But when he shot and killed an unarmed black kid he created a conflict and has kept many entertained and distracted. Creating peace in the community would have been easily done by arresting the officer and holding him to the same standard as everyone else. Even formally conviening a grand jury to see if sufficient grounds exist to charge him would have done a lot to quiet and soothe the masses. But riots racism and tension keep everyone focused on bs and entertained on. Tv at night.
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JJ
The officials who are currently holding a public office were elected to that position by the people who voted. If a person doesn't vote, then don't cry foul if you don't like the person who is in office. If demographics indicate 67% of the population is black in said town, and all were registered voters, and all voted for the same candidate they supported, wouldn't the outcome be in their favor? Voting is extremely important, it makes your voice heard. If you don't like the present officials, then vote them out. Rally for the candidate that will represent you. Your vote counts.
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Bob
As a retired Asst. Chief of Police, my views will naturally be biased. But so are everyone else's views whether they want to admit it or not. The statistics speak for themselves. Who is to blame if 67% of the population can't manage to elect government officials that clearly represent the majority of the electorate?
I'm sorry to have to say this, but if someone wants to refrain from participating in the electoral process, and prefers to sit around wallowing in self pity for past wrongs against their race, they have nobody to blame but themselves for their plight. It is a lot easier to complain than it is to work towards finding a peaceful and lasting solution to any problem. And the solution to unjust violence will never be more violence. Violence breeds violence. Look what's happening between Israel and Palestine right now.
Let's stop telling people how bad their lot in life happens to be, and work diligently to help them improve their quality of life and bring fair treatment to themselves. Let's help them empower themselves through the electoral process, not with Molotov cocktails and baseball bats.
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Pastor Bob
You may have been a good officer when you served and if indeed you were thank you. Unfortunately there are many corrupt pigs like the ones here where I live in Indiana. The worst thing about pigs like them is there is no one policing them the way they should be. Don't tell me to call the FBI cause they're as useless it gets. Also when they do wrong the penalties metered out to them is something any minority wishes they would get but of course never receive. Is it any wonder they lash out with violence. Quote: ( the most dangerous thing a society can create is a man with nothing to lose. James Baldwin) Voting is of course important but education is more urgent and of course we don't have money for that since we have to pay for cops to have military type equipment to police who? that's right citizens. OH in case you think I'm a minority you're wrong!
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BARJONA
So, the penalty for not voting is "death"?
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Tony Villari
We tend to forget history, Malcolm X and Dr. King, by virtue that history is no longer paramount in the education of our young people. We would hope that a meaningful spiritual morality might take the place of this ignorance, but we are left with the worthless role models of "Reverends" Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. For these two men to refer to themselves as "Reverends" is to do a disservice to those men of true peace trying to change the world for the better, not make it more divisive. Minorities need to stop giving men like these two attention. That race baiters like Sharpton and Jackson dare to use the name of Dr. King in their statements is insulting to all races. I think your article is right on target. Good editorializing.
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mxcmag
Whoever wrote this article has got some guts. Horribly misinformed, victim blaming guts
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videoscenes
All the evidence points to brown being a troubled youth. At the core seems to be the sense of entitlement and the lack of respect for authority that we have ignorantly passed on to our youth. Brown could have been white, Hispanic, Asian...doesn't matter. I dare say that if an Asian youth had been shot there would not have been riots or visits by government officials, or visits by the likes of black reverends whose agenda seems to be to stir up the controversy. Getting into the news seems to be these individuals first priority. At last occurrence only 4 of the many arrested where Ferguson residents. The media wants to ignite a fire where there is tinder. Especially if that tinder is black.
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Not JC
Regardless of their race elected officials and government employees must meet certain standards. That blacks in Ferguson are not well-represented in the local government structure -- and that blacks in Ferguson frequently fail to vote -- does not mean the standards for elected officials and government employees such as the police are somehow reduced.
As you say, "there is nothing inherently wrong with elected officials being of a different race than a larger part of their constituencies." To blame the death of Michael Brown on the lack of black voters misses the greater point, which is that public officials of all races are obligated to serve the public fully and fairly.
In my white-majority community we have a black county executive and most people could care less. What most of us care about are taxes and services and the electorate here has repeatedly approved someone on the basis of their performance. That's a good standard for Ferguson and elsewhere.
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Greg Maloney
Brilliant observation. We people of responsibility, need to guide younger folks in the civic duties that they can perform THEMSELVES, that will prevent situations like this from developing.
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Natures Child
Not sure the answer is that easy. A city in the northeast had a shooting --a young black male shot and killed a white police officer, the city has a black mayor but a white chief of police. Why should color have anything to do with moral responsibility?
I feel that the largest minority in this country is the American Indian Male, not the blacks, as they want to believe so. The whole thing has been blown up out of control for this country and it's members, I think that things should settle back down and all be forgiven, as that God keeps doing that for us.