Riot erupting in St. Louis after police shooting of Ferguson youth

[alphanguy74]

Pundits around here are saying that most likely the boy was shot MULTIPLE times, which would be very damning for the police officer.. and the concensus is that is the reason the autopsy report has not been released, it will set off another wave of even worse rioting. If the boy was shot once or twice, they would have said so by now, but if he was shot more than 3 times, it's going to be really bad.

[Wales2004]

What's so good about it?

The author is basically doing the same thing of which he accuses Al Sharpton. Seizing the occasion of one young man's death to push his own agenda. It's a pity that so many lack the ability to focus on the specific issue of what happened to result in Michael Brown's death.

He assumes that the police are in the right because he needs that to substantiate the sad direction into which he veered.

While there may be truth in what he says, there is more than one side to the truth and the problem I see when it comes to America's racial issues is that everyone comes with his or her truth and either a refusal or inability to accept anyone else's. Everything has to stay black and white with no room to accept any grey areas.

No matter how many people walk around claiming color blindness or objectivity, bias against black people is strong and comes from people across the spectrum. When you've been painted a picture of black people being less than, it's easy to believe this and without being consciously aware that you think this way.

Black people are not a problem that needs to be fixed. Black people are individuals just like anyone else.

Democrats generally treat black people like charity cases that need protection and pity. Reptublicans love to gleefully point out when someone black says that black people need to take responsibility as though all black people suffer from some affliction.

One size does not fit all, yet when it comes to black people that seems to be the premise.

[Max]

There's obviously racism that still exists, but whatever happened to the premise of innocent until proven guilty? The author was reporting that the police stated that Brown was killed while resisting arrest. There hasn't even been a trial yet, but many want to riot simply because it is assumed that "racist" police always act this way. The author is also pointing out that some so-called "civil rights leaders" don't want to acknowledge that far more black youth are killed on the streets of Chicago (and as the result of other black-on-black crime) than by racist cops. Instead--for reasons largely having to do with money and power--they want to promote the narrative that institutionalized racism is the biggest danger facing African-Americans today.

The quote by King is excellent because he had the courage to call out bad behavior among blacks. Today, there's only one black person who regularly seems to do this and it isn't Sharpton, President Obama, or Attorney General Holder (the three most influential African-American leaders of the current era, whose condemnation might actually go a long way towards reducing black-on-black crime). Instead, it is Bill Cosby, who faces quite a bit of criticism every time he speaks out.

Even though I strongly disagree with some of your points, I appreciate your thoughtful response. You make some other very good points that I actually agree with, and in contrast to many others here, you are someone with whom I could find common ground.

[Vee]

Well, they just threw a couple reporters (one from the Washington Post) in jail.

These motherfuckers in St. Louis apparently think they're in Chile under Pinochet.

[alphanguy74]

That is just total crazy sh!t.

[Wales2004]

Once upon a time Jesse Jackson used to talk about "black on black" crime and then he stopped. I have no idea why gang violence falls lower on the list than police brutality but the fact that it does is not a reason to set aside brutality as an issue. Perhaps it's an easier reach because the media seems to love reporting on it. I think the author should offer some solutions instead of falling into the trap of criticizing those individuals because he does not come off as any better than he accuses them of being.

I don't think he picked the right situation on which to make his point. And it really is hard to make an "innocent until proven guilty" argument in favor of this officer when it appears that he did not extend the same courtesy to the victim. I understand how people can become emotional and arrive at the conclusion they did. If you take the racial element out of it then you are still left with a story of a guy being told to get on the sidewalk by a policeman and ending up dead though he was unarmed. How can that not be disturbing to the average citizen? When you mix in witness claims that Michael Brown was shot multiple times it becomes worse.

I'm not a fan of the characterization of black people behaving badly as though it's some special condition to which black people and no other human beings

are subject. Part of what I see as the problem is the insistence of separating black people (specifically black Americans) from the rest of society and racializing everything they do or don't do. Progress is always going to be stunted when one group of people is lumped together and their individual issues are categorized as on racial issue. If black kids cannot read then it's because they are black and that's how black people are. Yet we see black students from African nations come to America and excel in college. They're probably labeled as exceptional for somehow having overcome their "blackness" because everyone knows that black people are naturally unintelligent. So the black kid who might be dyslexic never has his problem addressed because it's assumed that being black is why he can't read.

Most of the criticism I've read about Bill Cosby is regarding his speaking out publicly (which I think is quite silly). Other criticism seems to stem from people believing he is trying to apply a one-size fits all solution. I think what he says is applicable to some situations. There are other situations to which it's not applicable. A common misperception is that everybody in "the hood" lacks ambition and wants to be there. That's absurd.

Poverty and lack of opportunity is a nation-wide problem. Our society spins this perfect tale of success being available to everyone who wants it. There are those who do want it but cannot overcome some of the roadblocks that society perfectly places for them.

As crazy as this may seem, this is an abbreviated response so I hope it makes some sense to you.

[marceline]

Anonymous has released the name and photo of the cop they said killed Michael Brown. They say if the police don't respond they will release his home address and "full documents" whatever that means. I hate that we have to rely on hackers for any hope of accountability. It's surreal.

[Vee]

I have my severe doubts about them period, not to mention their information. I'll wait for something more legit.

President Obama is now live addressing Iraq and Ferguson.

[Graham]

This is what happens when the majority of policemen in this country are former jocks who barely graduated with their Criminal Justice degrees from state colleges and think everyone still worships them like when they were 17.

[marceline]

Yeah, I'm not a big fan of Anonymous but they did good work bringing the Stuebenville rapists to justice. All this stuff just has such a Hunger Games feel to it.

[quartermainefan]

Unless he lives 20 miles from his nearest neighbor and he lives alone that sounds like a bad idea begging to be made worse.

[marceline]

Twitter suspended the Anonymous account a few minutes before they could give his address.

[alphanguy74]

They excel because they are coming from a third world country into a first world country, and they truly appreciate the opporotunity, and make the very best of it. One keeps talking of social roadblocks, but every person I know, black and white...that is unemployed, is that way for a reason. On the flip side, at my former place of employment, there were 15-20 African immigrants who worked there, and EVERY SINGLE ONE held down not one, but two jobs.. where's their social roadblocks? It's a self fulfilling prophecy, if you project a victim mentality, nobody will hire you.

[Wales2004]

I agree with you when it comes to immigrants, in general, working hard and taking advantage of the opportunities they get. It does take more than just hard work to excel in school (especially in specifically challenging subjects).

I'm not sure of the correlation between a victim mentality and getting hired, unless you're saying that it leads to lack of self-confidence. Most of the perpetual victims I know don't even try because they are certain they are doomed from the start, so "why bother?"

While it's easy to knock those who project it though, it would be unfair to say that all arrived at that state on their own. Some people get plenty of help in developing that attitude. Parents tell them they will never amount to anything. Teachers make them feel useless and stupid and so on. That's not the case for every individual in that boat but it's fair to separate thouse who've been programmed from thiose who have no desire to accomplish anything. Not everyone is wired to be motivated...some need a push.

Now they've released the name of the police officer along with a sketchy explaination about a robbery in the area around that time. I'm suspicious of that because I don't see why, if that's the reason the officer went after him then they should have stated that days ago. Yet, they still have not said how many times he was shot. I have no idea what really happened but the police department continues to mishandle this.

[marceline]

It's two steps forward, one step back with these folks. They finally had one good night where it looked like the cops learned from their mistake. They put away the riot gear and finally started treating the people of Ferguson like...people. They finally have a press conference to release the name and then proceed to muddy up all that good work by mentioning this robbery as if that excuses shooting an unarmed person multiple times. Still no incident report and no autopsy report issued.