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

[Juliajms]

I think this idea of boycotting black Friday is a good one.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/26/opinion/obrien-arce-blackoutblackfriday/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

I can't really contribute because I've never participated in black Friday to start with. All those crowds are my idea of hell. Still, I hope momentum isn't lost with the holidays coming. I think there is an opportunity hear to get the public as a whole to listen and for some actual change in the way police are hired and trained to take place.

I saw an article about this, but I don't understand how it's possible. How could they even evaluate the situation, draw, aim and fire that quickly?

[DeeeDee]

Really?!

[katie_9918]

Did anyone see the picture out of Portland with the officer and the kid giving out free hugs? Absolutely heartwarming.

[alphanguy74]

Police considering charges against Michael Brown's stepdad. GOOD.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/12/02/police-consider-charging-michael-brown-stepfather/19777847/

[Eric83]

Hope they don't press charges against him while they let killers run free.

[NothinButAttitude]

They are just pressing charges against Michael Brown's step daddy to deflect from the real issue at hand; however, people aren't allowing them too. And they have no leg to stand on when pressing charges against him. Regardless, people were going to tear Ferguson up if they didn't like they verdict and they didn't.

[marceline]

If they do that, the city's going to burn and it deserves to.

[JaneAusten]

I read this and it brought tears to my eyes.

https://twitter.com/Livelyivy/status/540299416133844992/photo/1

[marceline]

At least that kid is still alive. Here in Cleveland, our cops kill kids that young.

[alphanguy74]

And why would it deserve to? Did the business owners kill that boy? Did they render that verdict? I'd understand if they wanted to burn down the police station, but why target people and businesses that had nothing to do with any of it? Way to go, Marceline, your attitude and people like you is ensuring that blacks will be looked upon as savages and animals for at least 2 more generations to come. Congratulations, Dr. King would be so proud of you undoing everything he died for.

[marceline]

There's nothing that can keep people like you from thinking blacks are savages and animals because people like you still need to be "convinced" that black people are human. I'm supposed to twist myself up in knots to try and get you to see me as something other than a savage or an animal? Because your opinion means that much? No thanks. I'm not interested in getting the approval of people of people like you and the idea that you are invoking Dr. King is utterly laughable. The real savages are the cops who kill and the apologists who demand that we let them get away with it.

[alphanguy74]

Can you show me one word, one passage in a speech where Dr. King supported burning down a city, like you just suggested? So fine, live in your cesspool that you've created for yourself, you deserve it, and know that you will always be regarded by the rest of decent society as the trash that you are. You are the source of the problem. When you advocate the burning of a city, then you ARE a savage and an animal. You are perpetuating a negative stereotype. I wonder if you'd show the same support if the rioters were going through the city raping women instead of burning buildings?

[Eric83]

Preach! Funny how folks think people can take these same things happening over and over to them and not get violent when they have the privileges they have as a direct result of murder and violence. Being tired of oppression is "perpetuating a stereotype."

[marceline]

So I'm responsible for your racism. How convenient. Move along, Cletus. Maybe somebody else will indulge your hypocrisy but I'm not interested in wasting my time.

As for King, a simple Google search will show that he understood riots and what led to them. He didn't like them but he understood them.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mlk-a-riot-is-the-language-of-the-unheard/

"KING: There's no doubt about that. I will agree that there is a group in the Negro community advocating violence now. I happen to feel that this group represents a numerical minority. Surveys have revealed this. The vast majority of Negroes still feel that the best way to deal with the dilemma that we face in this country is through non-violent resistance, and I don't think this vocal group will be able to make a real dent in the Negro community in terms of swaying 22 million Negroes to this particular point of view. And I contend that the cry of "black power" is, at bottom, a reaction to the reluctance of white power to make the kind of changes necessary to make justice a reality for the Negro. I think that we've got to see that a riot is the language of the unheard. And, what is it that America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the economic plight of the Negro poor has worsened over the last few years.

WALLACE: How many summers like this do you imagine that we can expect?

KING: Well, I would say this: we don't have long. The mood of the Negro community now is one of urgency, one of saying that we aren't going to wait. That we've got to have our freedom. We've waited too long. So that I would say that every summer we're going to have this kind of vigorous protest. My hope is that it will be non-violent. I would hope that we can avoid riots because riots are self-defeating and socially destructive. I would hope that we can avoid riots, but that we would be as militant and as determined next summer and through the winter as we have been this summer. And I think the answer about how long it will take will depend on the federal government, on the city halls of our various cities, and on White America to a large extent. This is where we are at this point, and I think White America will determine how long it will be and which way we go in the future.

Guess what? The future is now.

You are trying to use Dr. King as a weapon to control people you hate but back in his day people just like you called him a savage, an animal, a criminal, a thug, a communist, etc.. so if you want to call me those names too that's fine with me. I just consider the source.

[JaneAusten]

Thank you Marceline.

Let's be honest I have not heard one community leader, one black community leader condoning the riotous behavior that went on in Fergusen. But they have also called for understanding. Isn't that what the president said the night the verdict in Fergusen was announced as well? So rather than understanding, they are now arresting Michael Brown's stepfather?

This "task force" that the president is forming really needs to look into hiring practices for law enforcement officials. That officer's history, the officer in Cleveland, indicated that even his superiors felt he had no place being a police officer, even putting it on his record I believe, yet nothing was done.

My classes in high school are primarily hispanic and black students and like all other schools, EVEN THOSE FILLED WITH WHITE STUDENTS, there is good and bad. But for the most part the kids are decent and want to learn. Guess what, just like white kids. But it dishusts me that the parents of these kids have to worry about their kids being targeted by police simply due to their ethnicity, something white parents don't have to worry about, and having to go out of their way to educate their kids on how to deal with this. I wonder if those who are so intent on labeling minorities as 'animals' even want to understand the significance of this?