Raw City - Ferguson

Found this today. Very interesting article that is very very long.

Ferguson Raw City

Some excerpts:

At midnight on Tuesday on South Florissant, a teenage employee at the 24-hour Walgreens has locked the door. She peers out the window at the police cars zooming past the store and hesitates to speak to me when I knock on the glass.

“We’re closed,” the young black girl says, her eyes shifting from side to side.

“But I thought this was a 24-hour store?” I ask.

“Not when the police can’t protect us,” she responds.

It’s not just white-owned businesses. Jeniece Andrews and her husband Eddie, both of whom are black, have an antiques shop just a few blocks from the police station. Andrews said a “well-dressed black man in his 30s” came into her shop a few weeks ago and said her business was on a list. The man identified himself as “the messenger.”

She sent texts to nearly 400 customers, telling them she was still open for business. But a week later, only a few people trickled in and out of the store as Andrews and I talked on a Tuesday afternoon.

“When you see hard times, you see the ugliness come out,” she told me as I sat across from her at a wooden table in the back of her store. I looked down at a framed charcoal drawing sitting by our feet. It was of a black man with tears streaming down his face.

“Do you think they are boycotting you because you’re black and not protesting?” I asked.

Andrews, who has no staff other than her husband, said she’d never thought of it that way, but it doesn’t matter because she has to survive.

“I feel for the family and I hope that justice does prevail, but as far as protesting it’s more important that business carry on,” Andrews said. “I can’t afford to close my doors to go protest.”

When I asked her how Ferguson could recover from this, Andrews paused and shook her head.

“Some people say ‘I am Mike Brown.’ Some people say ‘I am Darren Wilson,’” she said. “What about ‘I am a human being?’”

he cracks aren’t only showing on the middle-income side of Ferguson. The black community of the Canfield Apartments is feeling strained as well.

Police used to patrol this area nearly 24 hours a day. Now, there’s not a cop in sight. Currently under federal investigation and facing a slew of lawsuits tied to racial profiling and violation of civil rights, the Ferguson police have stayed away from the Canfield Apartments. And that is putting a strain on the crime-ridden neighborhood.

“The police aren’t coming out here unless it is basically a life-or-death emergency,” said Blair, who had her car broken into just days before we talked.

“Before Mike Brown, there was never a time when I could go outside and not see a police car,” she said. “Now, I don’t see them at all. And if they do come, it’s five cars deep, guns drawn.”

Blair said she asked an officer if the police could patrol the area more often. “He looked at me like was crazy,” she told me.

Wearing a cop uniform makes you a target in Canfield in the days after Brown. The people standing around are here because they’re waiting for something to happen so that they can report officers for violating their rights. You can feel the watchful eyes drilling holes into your back even during the day.

“I feel sorry for the officers,” said Blair. “Just because one of your officers did something, you are automatically targeted because you wear a uniform. It sucks to just classify all of them like that.”

For the residents of Canfield, there’s no true escape. They are stranded in this low-income pocket of Ferguson that has become a hangout for hundreds of people who just want to be near the spot Brown died.

The management company isn’t helping either. With higher crime and no police, the office on site closes early, and the employees there go home before sundown. The company told residents they could move to another property, but that would cost $400 -- an amount that most people living here can’t afford.

“I am basically stuck,” said Blair.

However, with the cops gone, some of Canfield’s own residents got exactly what they wanted.

How are these protests helping the African American community?

a reply to: feldercarb

How are these protests helping the African American community?

I think the violence during the protest whether it's done by residents or outside parties is making them lose outside support. I think it would have been better if they approached it by setting up a spokesperson for the community and having the ACLU address their concerns. Maybe the neighborhood could have pitched in or raised money for a private attorney who could fight for their case in a court of law.

I really think they had a case for the over use of deadly force by the police officer, but with all the violence, looting, burning the flag, and ignoring the fact that some protesters in their community are firing guns at police officers, is really just mudding the waters. The cops already have the law on their side, why make it easier for them by behaving violently and claiming police don't have a right to shoot at someone who is holding a gun and firing back.

a reply to: WeRpeons

A question for you. Are the protester now becoming the oppressors of the African American community in Ferguson and St Louis? It sure seems that they are now the ones intimidating their own race.

Americans fighting for the right to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Look if you dare:

BassemMasri

As for the one who was recently shot it was justified. But now for Brown in which most of this stems from is quite different. Brown was unarmed and shot 17 times? being CCW if you shot someone more than twice its murder. you are to put as many rounds in the subject till the subject is no longer a threat and if you put 2 in the chest you aint gunna be walking to far. especially a 45 cal.
These people are more about getting an indictment for berowns case the one in st louis is just a bs story that dont even need to be told to public. they just want to cause strifesa reply to: WeRpeons

This is getting so ridiculous. At this point the protesting isn't doing anything, other than making life harder for the people who live there or even pass through there. These people need to get a grip. I hope that justice is served, but this is really getting out of hand.

I feel for the people living there, I really do.

I'm afraid at this point that we are looking at another Rodney King outburst if the Grand Jury doesn't indict.

At this point, I don't know what really happened with Brown, and if you are honest with yourself, none of you do either. All we know is what has been reported to us from sources that are all unreliable in one way or another.

At this point in time, no matter what happens with the Brown Grand Jury, it's not going to be believed that justice was done, and this all comes back to the behavior of the people surrounding the incident who don't know nearly as much about it as they want to believe they do.

Lived and worked around there for three years...worst three years of my life. St. Louis(and all of the smaller towns surrounding) is a dirty river town.
The racial divide was absurd. I got along with everyone because I was white enough and tribe enough to pass...

I saw this coming ten years ago. Yeah, they ARE racist. Prove me wrong. "But there are good black people and there are n--gers". You hear that from EVERYONE around St. Louis.


I hope it all burns...

AS was said above, this Brown incident started years ago, decades ago. No matter what the comes of this, nobody will trust the police department or that justice has been done because of the way this whole situation has been handled.

As I stated in another thread, there is a lot of open racism in that area, yet people want to deny. I'll show a video that shows a white guy giving the nazi salute to some protesters and the reply is there is good and bad on both sides. LOL

The solution is simple. Treat everyone as your equal. Individual people that are instigators or criminals or bad people, need to be singled out. No generalizations. But above it all, you are no better than anyone else.

You're no better than that gay guy down the street or that black guy on the corner or the Hispanic guy driving up the road. They are all equal to you. Oh yeah and that woman down the block, working the same job as you? She's your equal. We're all equal and in it together.

a reply to: feldercarb

I commented in another thread when this all started and am not surprised a bit that it continues. Gangs rule large portions if St Louis and this is what happens when they manage to take to police presence off of the street. With another person shot by an officer this week this will continue to grow in the area (that area anyway I live in a small town on the IL side). I have heard there are major protests planned for the weekend which is disappointing...people have the right to protest peacefully yes but this is getting out of hand and will continue to in my opinion. More looting of innocent businesses last night after the new shooting. Pointless violence against innocent businesses will only increase police presence, which will increase tension, which increases the antagonizers...bad situation all around. The gangs are behind much of it...they would rather the cops disappear until something major happens as it increases business.

a reply to: amazing

No, I'm not going to treat everyone as my equal. Like it or not some are going to be better than me and some worse. I'll treat everyone as a new individual, and they sink or swim with me depending on how they behave and carry themselves. You want a fair shake with me? Treat me like you want to be treated. And I think that's all anyone has a right to ask.

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: amazing

No, I'm not going to treat everyone as my equal. Like it or not some are going to be better than me and some worse. I'll treat everyone as a new individual, and they sink or swim with me depending on how they behave and carry themselves. You want a fair shake with me? Treat me like you want to be treated. And I think that's all anyone has a right to ask.

Beautiful post.



That's the problem, isn't it.

They want us all equal. Equal starts, equal outcomes, equal pay, equal abilities, equality in the classroom/bedroom/boardroom.

Treating people as individuals, treating issues on an individual basis doesn't work with the simplistic world-view of many.

a reply to: feldercarb

A question for you. Are the protester now becoming the oppressors of the African American community in Ferguson and St Louis? It sure seems that they are now the ones intimidating their own race.

I'm afraid so. Their anger over how an unarmed black teen was shot numerous times and how they feel the police are brutally treating black citizens in St. Louis, is clouding their rational thinking by approaching it with violent protests and pointing the finger at police even when a black teen pulls a gun. They should have the rational sense to evaluate every police shooting instead of claiming bloody murder every time a black person is shot. It only makes them look irrational using every police incident as a racial attack on blacks.

a reply to: beezzer

I would say that we are all equal but that does not mean we are all the same. Each person is unique and different. We all have different abilities and frailties. All of our abilities and frailties end up being a net sum zero. We have the ability to do great good and great harm. We can do great good and great harm at the same time; we must choose how and when to act and react.

Example:

Today I was driving along the road when I saw a man on the ground. This man uses a motorized wheelchair to get around. I pulled over and went to the house. Another man also did a U turn and stopped to help. There was also an EMT person there to help. We all got together and helped him up and then up the step to a normal wheelchair. We then got the man and his wheelchair into his house. The man said he weighed about 300 lbs. While helping the man out, we could have done great harm. You cannot pull someone up by their arms nor were we trained at knowing about any hidden health problems that might occur due to his fall. Thus, we could have ended up hurting the man even though we were trying to help. That does not mean that you should not help another person but that you always need to take care in HOW you administer your help.

Like I said we are all net sum zero but it is actions that define us as to who we are.

a reply to: beezzer

Awesome TED talk that illustrates what both of you touch on.

Shawn Achor - Cult of the Average

When you back a person into a corner and give them no way out they will react in many different ways. Some will shut down and not respond no matter how violent or gently you approach them. Some will lash out with anger and rage, not stopping until they are dead or all perceived enemies are gone. Some will even join the side of the oppressors choosing to go with self preservation over their own morals, no matter how strong.

Who is to say what the "right" response is. Whether right or wrong, can you really blame a people for lashing out when backed into a corner?

Perhaps passing judgement based on how people react to oppression is not the right way to approach this. Perhaps stopping the oppression that is clearly going on would make more sense and actually get us a little bit closer to preventing what happened in Ferguson from repeating itself all over the country and world.

a reply to: xDeadcowx

The right response?

The right response never happened.

What happened was a comedy of errors.

This is all aftermath.

The bomb has already gone off, now we're complaining about shrapnel. And we continue to ignore why the bomb was ticking in the first place.

a reply to: xDeadcowx

Part of the problem is that you just can't stop the oppression, you need to be able to understand why the oppression started in the first place. There are always two sides to every coin. What one person would sees as oppression would to another be a challenge to overcome. Why are the oppressors doing what they are doing. Are they scared? Are they on a power trip? Are they sadistic? These are all hard to determine. But unless you can evaluate the root cause you will never do more than treat the symptom. We have tried many times to treat the symptom but fail to ever find the cure. And yes, I have no answers either!

Sometimes I wonder why the huge out cry over this incident. I agree that it is wrong when someone's rights are violated. But, what is the count of a white officer shooting a black man versus black men shooting each other. Where is the out cry and demonstrations about that situation? Much more death involved there.

It makes it seem like blacks killing blacks is just fine.