Ferguson Revisit

For my last post I’ve decided to revisit an earlier story on Ferguson. During the Thanksgiving break Ferguson or at least part of it went up in flames. This came after a grand jury didn’t indict Darren Willison. In an extra ordinary move the prosecutor decided to release the transcripts from the grand jury. This was meant to build trust with the community, yet it has brought many critics. There are two separate issues going on. 1. A move by People of Color to attack structural racism 2. While the status quo insists that it doesn’t exist. Due to the mounds of evidence and washy witness testimony it becomes harder to understand. Yet, Pundits help us.  Fox News shapes one story, while MSNBC  shapes another.


Yet, there is another discussion dominating social media. #BlackLivesMatter vs. #AllLivesMatter. Ferguson seems to have drawn a very thin line. On one side we have largely White Americans who insist that #BlackLivesMatter is inherently racist because it ignores the struggles of others. Yet, it would seem the world wide movement of #BlackLivesMatter has rejected the #AllLivesMatter because it ignores race. This is one of the major problems. One side is saying that the higher rate of state sanctioned violence against black folks is about race. Yet, the #AllLivesMatter camp is saying that everyone experiences the same state sanctioned violence. And may white victims never experience justice.

This is something that is massively outside of normative media culture. It has received so much attention largely because of the riots after the shooting and fights with the police. This has continued through the second riot earlier this week. Race is hardly ever talked about, at least as long as it has been. During the Travon Martin incident there were just a few days of protest, yet this outcry is entirely different. While folks might not want to talk about race, the conflict makes good TV.