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News, commentary, opinion on politics, government, books, social trends, American life, travel, cycling, books, other stuff
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News, commentary, opinion on politics, government, books, social trends, American life, travel, cycling, books, other stuff
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The situation in Ferguson right now should be labeled CONFUSED. It is clear that reporters and photographers are having difficulty getting a handle on what is happening. It appears there are at least two levels, perhaps many more, of what is going on.
First, there are the public demonstrations and protests, which can erupt with minor violence when the police move in for arrests. (The idea that you will be arrested if you stand in one place too long is an effort to "crackdown", which, in turn, provokes further disturbances. Clearly, the police don't know what to do.) The other level is being created by those who would like to see an outright battle with the police, even with guns, to make a point that police violence against unarmed black men can't continue in the United States. It is the second level reporters don't seem to understand and can't get a handle on, in part because of the dangers.
It appears to be in the interest of citizens of Ferguson to dial back, shutdown, the public demonstrations for now. Let those who want violence stand on their own. My suggestion would be to call a major, public event, perhaps in a football stadium or similar venue, for the coming weekend where thousands can gather peacefully without the police standing ten ft. away looking for an excuse to arrest people. Both the police and protesters need to get themselves organized and make clear plans.
There is no good leadership on either side, neither on the part of the protesters nor the police. If the protesters would get better organization, and develop a plan, that would give the police a chance to stop focusing so much on cracking down and, instead, simply try to keep order. As things stand now, there are two potentials for this situation: erupt into major, outright violence or simply fade away as a momentary summer time disruption on the American scene. Jesse Jackson is in Ferguson (isn’t he everywhere?), but his time of providing leadership to the civil rights movement has passed. The goal of the demonstrations is to stop police shootings of unarmed black men, or at least insist that the issue get more attention. Those protesting now on the streets would probably not respond to Jesse any more.
Doug Terry, 10:42 am, 8.19.14
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In The New Yorker Magazine:
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News Desk
An impromptu vigil has become a sustained protest.
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An important story appearing the Sunday’s NY Times (8.17.14) (with a free link below) dealing with the origins of resentment and anger in Ferguson, Missouri and the surrounding area.
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The origins of the area’s complex social and racial history date to the 19th century when the city of St. Louis and St. Louis County went their separate ways, leading to the formation of dozens of smaller communities outside St. Louis. Missouri itself has always been a state with roots in both the Midwest and the South, and racial issues intensified in the 20th century as St. Louis became a stopping point for the northern migration of Southern blacks seeking factory jobs in Detroit and Chicago.
As African-Americans moved into the city and whites moved out, real estate agents and city leaders, in a pattern familiar elsewhere in the country, conspired to keep blacks out of the suburbs through the use of zoning ordinances and restrictive covenants. But by the 1970s, some of those barriers had started to fall, and whites moved even farther away from the city. These days, Ferguson is like many of the suburbs around St. Louis, inner-ring towns that accommodated white flight decades ago but that are now largely black. And yet they retain a white power structure.
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The Times story echos one in BusinessWeek (see link on the home page)
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Our police forces are turning themselves into an occupying army with excessive equipment, heavy duty riot gear, pepper gas fogging machines, tank like vehicles (and some actual tanks), left over military gear from the most recent two wars and strong arm tactics that require a greater and greater response once the slightest "disorder" occurs.
I write as a reporter who has covered dozens and dozens of demonstrations and police actions here and in Europe. There was a time, also, when I was not working as a reporter and participated in anti-war demonstrations (this gave me the opportunity to see developing situations from both sides).
Most, repeat, most, of the violent or disorderly situations I have watched develop occur as the police attempt to assert authority. By trying to crackdown, the police, first, cause a reaction to the way they come into a crowd. Next, the police escalate their actions, which in turn provides an opportunity for those who seek disorder to respond further.
If a police officer attempts to arrest someone by bending an arm backward in a painful way, it is natural for the person to try to turn the arm back into a normal position. This causes the officer to react to "resisting arrest", which in turn brings on more officers, more disruption.
In addition to militarization, American police forces appear to have a new array of chemicals, of various types, they can spray on protesters. Many of these chemicals could pose permanent harm. The problem arises is that when police have chemical and other weapons available, they want to use them. The various departments have hundreds of thousands of dollars invested and “civil disorder” seems like a perfect time to try them out.
Military style units with semi-automatic, high powered rifles at the ready present the same opportunity/problem. Who points high powered weapons at peaceful citizens exercising First Amendment rights? Anyone who has too many guns at the ready, if the Ferguson situation is any example.
The escalation of police “readiness” goes all the way back to the late 1960s when SWAT teams were started by LA police chief Gates (who also inspired the ridiculous anti-drug program DARE, one of the biggest wastes of time and money at drug “education” ever created). If you have a SWAT team, you look for reasons to use it. Now, it is widely recognized that waiting for the SWAT team to amour-up and get to the scene costs many lives in mass shooting situations. Many, if not most of the times, a SWAT team is an overreaction.
The Ferguson riots of 2014 will go down in history as an example of vast excessiveness by police forces in America. Lawsuits will be filed and the city will likely have to pay out a few million dollars. As long as the lid goes back on in the next day or two, it will all be soon forgotten, except by those taken to jail without good reason.
Both President Obama and the governor of Missouri, Jay Nixon, have recognized that police overreaction was making the situation worse. In the Governor’s case, it is very safe to say that this would not have happened if he were a Republican. Obama will be widely criticized all over the nation on right wing talk radio, but he did the right thing to call attention to the problem and urge calm.
Prediction: no more rioting once the police, now being led by the State Police of Missouri, calm down. ** (see below)
8/14/14
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**This prediction has proven to be incorrect, at least in part, as of 8/18/14. Yet, there is no way to know if the additional violence would have occurred at all had the original police action have not been so heavy handed. The fact that the violence has continued indicates that the level of anger and frustration is deep and, apparently, based on long time friction in the community. since, while rioting and other events can have an aspect of sport about them, very few people risk their lives and the potential of long incarceration just to raise hell.
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