Ferguson Riot Essay

As I witnessed the videos and sound recordings of the police killings of these Black youth: Trayvon Martin, Aiyana Stanley-Jones, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice and Darnisha Harris, I, too, lost hope for racial equality and developed a fear of law enforcement that still exists to this day. These emotions are quite common amongst Black youth, yet the presence of such is

Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a loosely‐coordinated, nationwide movement dedicated to ending police brutality that rose to prominence in late 2014. It takes its name from a hashtag started by three Black feminist activists Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi but the movement and the hashtag are not identical (Freelon, McIlwain, & Clark, 2016). BLM has achieved national reputation through their online and offline organizing, obtaining extensive news media coverage and glowing references in music and entertainment television. Based on a horrendous incident that sparked a concern for a lot of Black people across the world, the sudden need for a social movement was born called BLM. Black Lives Matter is a national organization working for the validity of Black life and also working to rebuild the Black liberation movement. Black Lives Matter broadens the conversation and highlight the incidents around state violence to include the ways in which Black people are intentionally left powerless at the hands of the state. This referring to the ways in which Black lives are deprived of basic human rights and dignity. According to the article The Murder of Walter Scott, which talks about race and class, “African Americans are less than 13% of the U.S. population yet they are nearly 50% of those killed by the police. North Charleston has a population of 104,000, 47% Black and the police force is 80% white (Miah, 2015)”.

Racial injustice against people of colour is an immense, ongoing issue that has not only targeted lives but has also taken many innocent lives. In America, these racial divisions date back to the days of slavery, where black people were denied of their basic human rights because of discrimination. In present day, some individuals view America as a post-racial environment, due to such victories as electing a black president; but the brutal, fatal and unjust events in Ferguson, Missouri prove that these divisions are still present. On August 9th, 2014, an unarmed, 18 year old black teen was shot and killed by Darren Wilson, a white police officer. The events that led to the death of Michael Brown occurred on an early morning where Mr. Wilson stopped Michael Brown and a friend after leaving a convenience store. An altercation occurred which prompted Mr. Brown to flee and officer Wilson to begin shooting. The death of Mr. Brown caused the city to stand up against police brutality through peaceful protest, looting, and even violence, to gain justice for Mr. Brown and his family. As the protests grew, the police used military tactics such as, tear gas, to “maintain order” during the unrest of the city. In recent, news the grand jury decided that Officer Darren Wilson was not responsible for the death of Michael Brown, which led to a larger public outrage not only in America, but also across the

Race riots are one of the major news items we hear about via the media when a social crisis occurs. The riots in Baltimore, however, were not so much about race, but more about economic and social class separations. The riots began as a peaceful protest amongst the citizens of Baltimore over the death of one of their own, Freddie Gray. Gray was a young, African-American, from a financially lower class area of Baltimore. Unfortunately, he died while in custody of the Baltimore Police. While this is a tragic loss, he was unlawfully detained by the police (Sarlin, 2015) during this ordeal. On the surface, the riots may appear as a cut-and-dry race provoked, once they are looked into further, that is not necessarily the case.

All across the nation, in the news the black community has been making their voice heard, in regards to white police brutality, and murder against the unarmed black community. Many of these brutal attacks and flat out murders of unarmed black people haven’t been largely prosecuted, some officers have even been acquitted of any wrong doing or murder. This has led to outrage in the African American community at large. The shooting of an unarmed black teen named Michael Brown caused the racial strain in this country to break.

Despite the important racial progresss our society has made since Emmett Till’s death, from the civil rights era, to present increase of police brutality has still left the Black/African American community in shadows of segregation. The second most recent shooting of teenager Michael Brown has left citizens in ongoing battles with law enforcement officers of Ferguson, Missouri. New Statement (2014) reports, Missouri police similarly attempted to retain control of the narrative, claiming Brown had stolen cigars, and then paying for them, and then claiming he was a bad child and attacked the officer who shot him” (New Statement, 21). Brown autopsy reveals he was gun less and shot six times. Police brutality is not solely about Ferguson, Emmett Till, or the civil rights movement, but it is simply about the history of capitalism and police brutality in America and having many forms of it.

The shooting of sparked a nation-wide movement not only demanding justice for Mike Brown, but also protesting the racial discrimination deeply embedded in the criminal justice system as well as various institutions in the larger American society. Furthermore, jfdkjfjdakljk something about international recognition. Similar protests and riots have been springing up in other cities since 1960s, and police killings of unarmed black men happen once every 28 hours (Kahle, 2014). However, Michael Brown’s killing has led to the most sustained uprising against police violence in at least two decades, centered among the African American residents of Ferguson, and has rallied significant nationwide support as well as international attention (Kahle, 2014; Taylor, 2014). The killing of Michael Brown is by no means an isolated event, and presence of racial tensions, especially in the St. Louis area, was already present long before. The large-scale pushback that the killing of Michael Brown has set in motion, then, seems to have been the last straw, prompting the eruption of decades of pent up frustration at a racist and oppressive system. That being said, what are the previous straws that have slowly pushed the black community in Ferguson to the breaking point? What are the factors that have caused these tensions to boil over and erupt into such a large-scale upheaval? This paper will explore some of the

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. >> When a white Ferguson policeman fatally shot a black 18-year-old nearly a year ago, the St. Louis suburb erupted in violent protests and the nation took notice. Since then, legislators in almost every state have proposed changes to the way police interact with the public.

There has been many incidents of discrimination and cruelty in my community. Ultimately because of equality a lot of citizens don't believe in equal rights. I have had experience with this through my local news channels of broadcasting the Baltimore riots or learning in school on the history of Jews being kept captive in camps and treated poorly by nazi's. Equality is something we need to work on. It is ensuring that everyone is able to have equal opportunities and frowned upon just because their race, gender, disability or beliefs.

Since the 1970s the black population of Ferguson, Missouri has been met with prejudice, racism, and injustice. The area has been defined by zoning that made up ghetto boundaries, segregated public housing, and government subsidized development for whites only. This has been going on for 40 years and the tension between the black population and the law enforcement has never been higher. Nicole Bolden who was arrested for several warrants, however these warrants were nothing significant they were failing to appear in court. Nicole did not show up to court for a speeding ticket because she could not afford to pay it.(Placeholder cite) She is a hard working woman trying to raise her kids, work, and go to school. This is a common issue that has

There are very few situations in which violence is the proper response. However, even before this country was established Americans have been using violence to communicate their ideas when they feel that they are not being heard. A very good example of this is the race riot, which has been a very frequent occurrence in American history, especially in the past century. Whenever a riot occurs, those involved often come under heavy scrutiny, and are heavily criticized as savage or unintelligent. In Particular the Baltimore riots of 2015 were heavily scrutinized and those that were involved were often referred to a senseless thugs. However I believe that the Baltimore Riots were a necessary evil that helped the country to move closer to equality.

As crime statistics rise in cities across the United States, people are left with the question: Why? While there are numerous theories, one of the most debated ideas has coined its name from the city of Ferguson, Missouri. The death of an unarmed black eighteen-year-old man named Michael Brown outraged the citizens of Ferguson; which is a predominantly black society on the north side of St. Louis. Other blacks involved in altercations with the police (that subsequently ended in their deaths) sparked even more unrest, generating rifts between local law enforcement agencies and citizens around the country. As a result of these rifts, violent protestors have bombarded Ferguson, attacking the city with an un-relentless

In August of 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri, an 18-year-old African American boy by the name of Michael Brown, was shot and killed by an on-duty police officer during the investigation of an alleged, strong-arm robbery (Clarke & Lefte, 2014). The incident ignited protests and violent riots that continued for several weeks throughout the United States. Similar high profile deaths of Eric Garner in New York City, Tamir Rice in Cleveland, and Freddy Gray in Baltimore, have resulted in mass protests against law enforcement. For many, a deep divide was forged in the relations between law enforcement and the public; trust was lost on both sides. “Normally, official accounts of police fatally shooting black teenagers rest largely on the words of

On August 9th, 2014, 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by a Ferguson County Police Officer, Darren Wilson, in Ferguson, Missouri. Due to a paucity of information surrounding the shooting, the town of Ferguson has since experienced riotous unrest. The nation’s eyes were fixed on the clashes that ensued between protestors and police. The shooting was brought to people’s attention within minutes when a local singer who goes by the stage name “Thee Pharaoh” shared a couple of photos on Twitter which featured Michael Brown lying face down on the concrete in a pool of blood while a police officer stood over the lifeless body. Those photographs were then circulated hundreds of times over within the first few hours on Twitter and other

During 2013 the police force attempted to fight through the hatred of the ‘Black Lives Matter’ group. While not every person in this movement hated police and the ‘oppressive white man’, just as not all whites hated blacks during Reconstruction, many of them sought after their right to ‘peacefully’ protest against police forces around the US by physically assaulting police of all colors and acting out against the safety laws, put in place for everyone’s protection, by walking around with solid black BB guns and pointing them at the men and women who are trying to uphold the law and safety of all citizens. This event lead to many deaths on both the polices and black persons’ sides and an uproar of fights within families and friendships over ‘who’s side is right.’ In the end, this movement fell to the back burner of national news as the talk of president Trump’s immigration policies and ‘wall’ came to focus and has been the ‘race talk’ to recent days.