Obama and Ferguson

[Jenny A]

Can I once again mention that the Ferguson Police escalated the situation way past the issue of Michael Brown?

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Even if it turned out that Michael Brown had pulled out an uzi and threatened to gun down the officer and the entire street, the police escalated the situation to a much larger issue.

The police were confronted with largely peaceful protesters. They responded like the former Soviet army cracking down on Polish strikers. They showed up with armored transports and machine guns. They not only dispersed a crowd that was exercising their first amendment rights, they swept through restaurants and cleared them out, arresting reporters. They fired on media camera crews. They swept through neighborhoods firing tear gas into people's back yards and homes.

Frankly, police behavior went beyond mere jack booted thuggery. At least the former Soviets had a bit more finesse in their oppression tactics. The Ferguson police seemed completely out of control.

The strongest defense conservatives could offer for their behavior was to allege there was some looting in addition to the peaceful protesters. This does not justify firing upon camera crews or sweeping through restaurants to arrest people for sitting at tables and typing into their laptops.

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The Yosemite Sam style response to the Ferguson protests stands in stark contrast to the Bundy Ranch protests. When a bunch of white conservative people express outrage about the government, it seems they're not only allowed to protest but also to carry firearms and point them at Federal agents.

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Conservative flip flopping on the issue is also palpable. The Bundy Ranch protesters are patriots while the the protests in Ferguson are rioters and thugs.

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So the larger issue here, which really needs to be discussed is this:

Is the right to protest a white privilege in America?

Discuss.

BINGO, but no, it was also about Brown too. What you posted is part of it. Humans with dark skin in America are not allowed to make the same mistakes light skin humans are.

Even if I had illegal pot on me, walking down the street, or even if I had just shoplifted and shoved someone, I am less likely to get punished as severely ON AVERAGE than someone with darker skin.

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My friend John also agrees with me about whom is hurt more in America by the economy and being punished harsher by crime. John however is not a fan of the term "white privilege". John has a southern draw, grew up in a poor family and can point out family members who voted for Clinton but hate blacks.

There are bigots in both parties. But even with that, even with other dark tone humans living in America that saying "we should not tear up our own shit". None of that changes the numbers or our social conditioning, for the reasons you posted above.

It should be about a political system and one party that has consistently pitted us against each other.

Some of this climate is intentional because some people are bigots and don't care. Some of it is unintentional and otherwise agreeable people dont understand so it is easier for them to blame than to understand.

It should be about economics. I think we still have old school politics and while the one bright light is that younger people are not buying into the divisions of their parents, the issue is still there.

If Obama's election was a good argument for a post racial society, we would not have seen the sudden uptick in paranoia and rise in hate groups. No other president in our history has seen this level of negative reaction.

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The real issue should be about economics. The real issue of why our divide is repeating is evolutionary. Humans fear change. When humans have control or a majority in any given society, and they see that power shifting or the population changing, it causes fear.

Please explain why we should shift the topic from racial discrimination to economics. There is indeed racial discrimination, and I'm sure Brown's color played a part in this death, I don't see that his economic situation did.