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The Fury Of Ferguson Research Paper

Decent Essays

Anu Korukonda Period: 3
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Source: "The Fury of Ferguson." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 29 Nov. 2014. Web. 29 Nov. 2014. <http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21635012-race-americas-deepest-problem-multiple-small-changes-can-mitigate-it-fury-ferguson>.
Headline: The Fury of Ferguson
Who: African-American population
What: Prejudice faced by African-American population in Ferguson
When: November 20th 2014
Where: Ferguson, Missouri
Why: In light of the grand jury’s acquittal of Darren Wilson, a white police officer who was charged with shooting Michael Brown, …show more content…

However, the political institutions in Ferguson are dominated by whites. For instance, out of the 56 police officers, only 3 are African Americans. This leads to the belief that law enforcement is racist. Local policies are also to be blamed for the prevailing perception that white law enforcement does not represent everyone in the town. About 20% of revenues in Ferguson are collected through fines and assets confiscation. This disproportionately impacts African American population as the majority belong to the poor segment of the population. Furthermore, the Mayor is a white Republican and his election does not inspire any confidence as he was elected when the voter turnout was less than 15%. The local elections need to engage all eligible voters of the town and importantly, should have a true representation of the population at the ground level. Additionally, the local government must consider the rules expounding the law enforcement in terms of in what situation police officers can use arms. The local government needs to find ways to improve the economic growth and also ensure that the local African American population is benefitting from that growth. That said, the local government must find ways for both whites and blacks to work together to improve collaboration and …show more content…

For peaceful protestors, their message could be misinterpreted and taken the wrong way. The media need to consider the possibility that there might be people who might partake in the protests for no reason. Furthermore, the family of Michael Brown and President Obama appealed for everyone to act calm; however, this was not given as much footage as the violent incidents, stoking an already delicate situation further. In this particular case, the grand jury was given sufficient time, evidence and almost all the information. Although the evidence pointed around the facts that the people involved were an unarmed African-American teenager and a policeman and whether the police man was acting rightfully, the media sensationalized this news to such an extent that they made this story about race. Instead of concentrating on the actions and the ethics of the policeman and focusing on the jury’s decision, the media has therefore imprinted a false perception of the whole story. The media needs to think about a better way to portray the news as to prevent a division within the

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