So you don’t believe this is an issue the black community needs to address?
@ohai…most riots across the globe have been riots for change…hopefully for the better. Just because the media likes to focus on the looters does not mean that most people are not looking for a peaceful solution. Stonewall riots here in NY for gay rights comes to mind. It took time, but things changed for the better. Homosexuals are not gettng beat up on the streets every Friday and Saturday night. It took a riot to bring about that change. If there is a power struggle issue in Ferguson I am quite sure they will think long and hard to avoid a situation like this going forward.
@sweeptheleg…you mean the looting?
Some riots (or at least protests) have a productive purpose in mind. However, I have a hard time seeing the purpose of the Ferguson riots, other than people misguidedly blaming various social issues on race. Are they rioting because a police officer defended himself from a now known criminal? Are they rioting because the police officer was processed legally based on the US constitution? No, the riots are just propagating hate and anger, and are making an undesirable situation worse. We cannot say some rioters are not to blame because they are not the ones who are looting. Everyone who took to the streets in Ferguson knew that this would be the outcome. Race is not a justification for bad and harmful behavior.
The comparison to protests in defense of beaten homosexuals is not fully appropriate. Officer Wilson was not prowling around looking for black guys to shoot. He was accosted by a robbery suspect who reached into the police car to try to take his gun. It is unfortunate that Brown ended up getting shot, but based on the evidence, I cannot really say he is a victim in this scenario.
Yeah…This happened…
Actually it does happen, now. According to the FBI’s crime stats website, someone is assaulted every 43.5 seconds. That works out to about 660 assaults nationwide over an 8-hour period. Over Fridays and Saturdays, you’re talking about 1300 assaults (assuming that they occur at average rates, although probably more frequently during these times). Since roughly 1%-2% of the population is gay, that would mean about 13-26 homosexuals are assaulted every week on Friday or Saturday night (assuming that they are equally likely to be assaulted, and I’m told they’re equal and therefore this must be the case).
Of course, these 13-26 assaults are far more important than the other 1,300 people assaulted during the same time period because…uhhhhh…I guess heterosexuals aren’t worth as much as homosexuals.
Yes, the looting.
@inkybinky…where are you from? That was a pointless post…do something about then…I will give you a few ideas…propose a bill that would raise taxes and put more police on the street. Would that help? Or, take the number of drunks walking the street after 2 a.m. off the street (the easy targets of assault) by reducing bar hours? Give me something…
can we just drop a bomb on ferguson and call it a day
here’s a easy test to see if the whole race argument is totally moot. swap the race of the cop and robber. no one will give a crap anymore. enough said.
What on earth are you babbling on about? My post was profound. Yours are trite and nonsensical.
A black 12-year old on a playground was shot last week in NY because he had a plastic toy gun.
But the race baiters didn’t care. The cop was also black. So whatever, I guess.
@ohai…from a colleague in NY, who works with someone from Ferguson. Ferguson is mostly a white power structure and a mostly black community. He expressed that there has been an on going problem with police unduly harassing residents. Ferguson is 67% black…with only 3 black police officers and 50 white police officers. There is needs to be a solution to that.
^Do you think that’s because the “white power structure” is keeping black people out of the police force, or is it simply because there aren’t any black applicants?
@inkybinky…how do you propose we solve hetrosexual assaults then? You still haven’t answered that…act like a grown up and speak intelligently, and stop spewing stats…think on your feet.
@sweeptheleg…I can’t honestly answer that question…why are most positions in Finance filled with white males? Do you feel there is some discrimination there? I would think there is some back scrubbing going on in Ferguson.
I didn’t propose that we solve heterosexual assaults. You can’t. You’re just an idiot for complaining that there used to be homosexual assaults every Friday and Saturday night*, which is absurd when you consider the fact that there are thousands of assults on heterosexuals every week. What makes the former so much more special than the latter?
*Not giving two shits about “gay rights” nonsense, I read your Wikipedia link about supposed nightly “beating” (which only happened in your imagination). Apparently the riot that you justified occurred because some gays were allegedly (but it was only rumor) beaten by cops when cops raided a mafia owned gay club where drugs were being sold and prostitution was assumed. Yeah, that’s a real riot that we should all “get behind”.
Why are most pro basketball jobs held by blacks? Racism, perhaps?
Hey guys, I found Marcus Phoenix.
I live 10 miles from Ferguson and drive by it twice a day, five days a week. My wife grew up in Ferguson and her mother still lives there (i’ll be there tomorrow evening for thanksgiving dinner). As far as I know, at least the last two mayors have been white. The police department has had trouble hiring blacks from the Ferguson community because either a) they don’t apply, or b) they aren’t qualified. Many of the officers have been hired on from other nearby communities for these reasons. An African American female has been one of the highest ranked officers in the department for quite some time now. My wife has been friends with her since she was in high school when she worked for the city of ferguson.
In a study headed by a Professor at University of Missouri-St. Louis from May of 2014, before any unrest, when the City of Ferguson wanted to know what residents thought about annexing an area north of 270.
Researchers asked registered voters and 61% of them said they believed Ferguson was “moving in the right direction.” Then citizens ranked city services, putting police third after the fire department and trash service (above six other departments like “code enforcement” and “streets,” at the bottom).
When you break it down by ward, even the area surrounding Canfield where Michael Brown died, 69% of those residents rated Ferguson Police good or excellent. Only 4% scored Ferguson police as poor.
EDIT: I’m not trying to speak on this as an authoritative source. I’m just telling you what I know. Also, as a side note, FWIW, I’m in a fantasy football league with two St. Louis County cops and a Ferguson cop…