Obama and Ferguson

[Jenny A]

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.

Just a question: would Brown have been killed if he'd been well-to-do?

I'm not sure of the answer but I suspect that he'd have gotten better treatment if he'd been part of a wealthier family. Maybe not, but I think there are different forms of privilege in America:

- White privilege
- Male privilege
- Wealth privilege

I also think there's such a thing as "Republican privilege", noting the difference between the way Tea Bagger protests were treated both by the media and police vs. the way Occupy protests were treated.

The moment he decided to have a tussle over the officer's gun by reaching into the car, any privilege Brown might have had as a hypothetically wealthy black man would have dropped away. Wealth privilege does exist though. Certainly the wealthy are less likely to be either shot or treated as suspects when they dial 911. But so are white people, just by virtue of being white. Be wealthy and white and it gets better.

Speaking as a woman, I don't see so much male privilege these days. I do still see white privilege primarily with regard to law enforcement and trying to get a taxi. When dealing with the police being a white middle class woman over fifty is probably the most privileged and I know it. I look respectable. I'm too old for rape bait. I don't look potentially dangerous. And I look way too much like their mothers for comfort. All I need to do is start looking like their grandmas and I'll almost invulnerable.

I don't think the Tea Party versus Occupy Movement treatment differences a story of wealth. Both the Occupy protesters and the Tea Party are a pretty privileged crowds. Over a third of the Occupiers lived in a household with an annual income of over $100,000. Though in fairness nearly a third had lost a job and another third had credit card or student loan debt of over $1000. http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/0...udy-finds/
The Tea Party doesn't quite have a third over $100,000 in annual family income. http://documents.nytimes.com/new-york-ti...f=politics

Both groups complaints are economic. OM blames Wall Street. TP blames the government spending, though they don't want to give up Medicare, Medicaid, and SS.

My guess is that the Tea Party fared better because of two things. First, they are older as a general rule. Almost half of them are between 45 and 62 and another 29 percent are over 64. And second they have a pretty clear agenda. They know what they want. http://documents.nytimes.com/new-york-ti...f=politics

In contrast 64 percent of the Occupy Movement protesters were under the age of 45. Twenty -six percent of them were students. http://theweek.com/article/index/220529/...he-numbers And while the Occupy Movement knew it didn't like Wall Street, it didn't have a very clear idea what to do about that.

Agism had much to do with it. Or perhaps, as a result of agism, an air of solid citizen respectability as opposed to an air of wanna be hippies.

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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.

How do you justify this claim Jenny? What fact exist that suggest that if Brown were white and all other elements of the situation were exactly the the same that he still doesn't get killed?

If I am the cop and the situation goes down as the cop describes....I shoot this kid regardless of his skin color.....and its not even a close decision for me.

I think Brown might very well be dead if he were a white frat boy and all the other elements were the same. But being black sure didn't help. Fear had much to do with when Wilson fired. And according to Wilson's testimony, he was afraid before pulled along side Brown.

But the real reason I think it's a racial issue is that generally speaking blacks are arrested more often for less than whites, and they more likely to get shot by police. It's that perception, which is often correct, that caused the unrest in Ferguson. If Brown had been white, there probably would have been no protests. In Ferguson, it's all about race right now.