The ongoing
events in Ferguson, Missouri are a relentless reminder of the racial divisions
in the nation. The entire episode has
become as familiar, tragic and repetitive as the annual over crowded ferry boat
sinkings in Bangladesh. The immediate
sequence of events has become predictable; the rush to judgment, the hyperbolic
accusations, and the general acceptance and exploitation by the media, of the
claims. This is quickly followed by the
arrival of the professional race mongers like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson who
swoop in from afar like buzzards on road kill ,to lead the chants, repeat the
exaggerations and give the civil disorder in the minds of the disorderly some
perverse sense of legitimacy. But the
underlying frustration of the non-involved across the nation lies in the
knowledge that there is no remedy, either in law or public policy that will end
the inevitability of future similar incidents.
There is
much pontificating about alleged “causes” of racial turmoil over interactions
with the nation’s police forces. Some bring
up the never ending reference to the “legacy of slavery” and decades of
discrimination prior to the civil rights era and the passing of the Civil
Rights bill in 1964. Others cite high
unemployment and high levels of poverty among urban blacks. Still others blame a “history” of police
brutality and racial discrimination by law enforcement organizations. In the case of Ferguson, the media suggested
that the lack of local black politicians and police officers created an
atmosphere of distrust by the black majority population in this small town of 21,000
people.
Thus the
black citizens of Ferguson were presented with a multiple choice set of
justifications including “all of the above”, for making snap decisions on the
circumstances of the fatal interaction between Michael Brown and police officer
DarrenWilson and then taking to the streets to proclaim “No justice. No peace.”
and in some cases to loot and destroy their own community’s businesses. Based on the demands for “vengeance”, the
inflammatory words of the Governor of Missouri, and the pandering of the U.S.
Attorney General, Eric Holder, who tried to make himself part of the aggrieved
crowds, the definition of “justice” seems to be nothing less than a murder
conviction for the police officer involved, no matter what facts the
investigations disclose.
The nation
cannot go back in history and change the curse of slavery which was brought to
our shores by British colonists. Nor can
we go back and change the decades of racial hostility and discrimination
following the Civil War. It took a long
time but the nation has tried hard to change the culture with wide ranging
legislation like the aforementioned Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights
Act of 1965, numerous programs of affirmative action and billions in public
transfers of wealth to minorities.
Again, to non-involved observers it appears that most of the protestors and looters are too young to have felt the sting of the overt racial discrimination of the 1950s through the 1960s. Thus, largely immune to the social dysfunction of the past, the 20-40 age cohort currently in the streets seem logically to be motivated by something else. Is their anger of the shooting of a young black man really increased because of the frustration of high unemployment in their community, especially among black teenagers (currently at 36%) Perhaps, but that particular frustration’s contribution to their anger is difficult to measure, it is even more difficult for government to change. High unemployment is related to low educational levels, especially in an era of diminishing low skill manufacturing jobs and the shift to technology which requires higher skills.
Again, to non-involved observers it appears that most of the protestors and looters are too young to have felt the sting of the overt racial discrimination of the 1950s through the 1960s. Thus, largely immune to the social dysfunction of the past, the 20-40 age cohort currently in the streets seem logically to be motivated by something else. Is their anger of the shooting of a young black man really increased because of the frustration of high unemployment in their community, especially among black teenagers (currently at 36%) Perhaps, but that particular frustration’s contribution to their anger is difficult to measure, it is even more difficult for government to change. High unemployment is related to low educational levels, especially in an era of diminishing low skill manufacturing jobs and the shift to technology which requires higher skills.
The basic
requirement for entry level jobs in the nation is a high school diploma. The nation wide level for blacks is 69%. This number includes students of both sexes. This is important because across all races, females have a 7% higher
graduation rate than males. Applying
this figure to blacks would indicate that young black males have a graduation
rate of close to 64%.
Stated
differently, close to one in three (33%) young black males drops out of high
school before obtaining a diploma. The
devastating impact on black male employment is obvious as is the inability of
government at any level to find easy solutions for the problem.
What we are
seeing here is an effort to take an incident involving a specific black citizen
and a specific police officer, who happens to be white, in a specific set of
circumstances and generalize it as a part of a historical and nation-wide set
of social and economic conditions which are more relevant to the protests than
the shooting itself.
It is
genuinely possible that the Brown/Wilson confrontation had nothing to do with
race. Law enforcement in black majority
Ferguson, MO would make interaction between white officers and young black men
commonplace. The issues known about the
incident so far, walking in the middle of the street, a fight and gun shot in
the police car, and the possibility of a threat of further attack on the
officer, don’t have obvious racial content.
But as in so many of incidents between blacks and non-blacks, there seems
to be an emotional need on the part of various black communities to exploit the
incident as an almost cathartic response to wider perceived grievances. This of course provides grist for the mill of
racial demagogues like Jackon, Sharpton,
and various radical activists like the New Black Panthers.
Police
concentrate on locations where crime occurs. Crime occurs disproportionately in
poor black urban areas. Police
departments will remain mostly white or at least non-black simply because of
demographics. The black population in the nation remains at 12-13 percent and
recruitment of blacks to become police officers is very difficult. Thus violent interactions between black men
and non-black police will continue.
Given the mindset of much of the urban black population regarding a
sense of racial victimization, these interactions will continue to stimulate
outrage, protests and occasional urban violence. The presence of those who depend on such
confrontations and outrage for personal status, money, celebrity and influence
will contribute to their inevitability.
The only
possible solution to this dynamic is a significant change in the black urban
sub-culture. Reform of existing racial animus and overreaction on the part of
individual police officers and some police departments will help. But mistrust of police agencies, and the self
perpetuating culture of lack of respect for authority generated by the
breakdown of two parent families, and the exaggerated machismo of the hip hop
and gang culture that affects so many
young black men is generally beyond the scope of government solutions.
Michael
Brown was an exception in some ways but was part of the culture in others. He had a high school diploma; had a father in
the area but with whom he didn’t live, and wasn’t a member of a gang. Still he felt entitled enough to rob a
convenience store, big enough to man handle the black store clerk, defiant
enough to walk down the middle of the street and reject the commands of a police officer to
move to the side walk and then tough enough to engage the officer physically in
the police car.
The
investigations will show whether the officer over reacted and violated
department guidelines or whether he was
justified in feeling that he was seriously physically threatened by the six
foot four, 290 pound teenager who had punched him in the face minutes
before. In either case, there is still
room to believe that had Michael Brown been white the events would have played
out in the same way.
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