I have a dumb question about Ferguson Mo.

[napi21]

I'm listening to Al Sharpton on TV and he said although 70% of Ferguson is Black, NONE of the School Board members are. Aren't the school board members elected, as they were in most of the places I've lived? If they are, does that mean no blacks have run for the positions? or that the majority have voted for the white guys?
I sure understand the complaints about most of the cops are white in a predominantly blace community, but I don't understand the school board.

[CBGLuthier]

1. This article may help you understand the situation

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/13/opinion/racial-history-behind-the-ferguson-protests.html?_r=0


As black families moved into Ferguson, the whites fled. In 1980, the town was 85 percent white and 14 percent black; by 2010, it was 29 percent white and 69 percent black. But blacks did not gain political power as their numbers grew. The mayor and the police chief are white, as are five of the six City Council members. The school board consists of six white members and one Hispanic. As Mr. Gordon explains, many black residents, lacking the wealth to buy property, move from apartment to apartment and have not put down political roots.



Just because you are a majority does not guarantee equity. Otherwise Mississippi would be run entirely by black governors, senators etc. and that is not the case. The entrenched system is hard to get rid of.

[JustAnotherGen]

2. I wish I could rec a response

This is also an issue with single women. We move a lot to move up the ladder. I had four moves in 3 years at one point.

[trof]

3. NPR said 75% black pop., 5 of 53 police black.

[Sherman A1]

4. Living in the next community to Ferguson

I can tell you our city council (save one), mayor & police chief are all white. We do have one person of hispanic decent on the city council. I know of no members of the African American Community that have run for city office (there may have been some, but I don't recall). The St. Louis County Executive, Charlie Dooley does happen to be black (however, he just lost the Democratic Primary so will be replaced by someone who is white depending upon who wins in November. As to the specific question of the school board (Ferguson-Florissant School District) I don't know the mix of the school board or who has run in the past. There may or may not have been black candidates.

I can tell you that from the ward meetings in my city that I have attended over the years, I recall attendance being mostly white and mostly older folks, but that is just my observation. I was very briefly on one of the advisory boards a few years ago in my city and all members were white.

[napi21]

5. It just didn't make sense to me why there wouldn't be ANY black politicians there.

I understand a lot of lower income people moving from apt. to ap.t but that doesn't mean they can't register and VOTE! I don't know the population of Ferguson, but I just can't believe there aren't ANY blacks who would run for office AND WIN!

The fact that there are only 3 black cops on the entire force is telling for sure, but I'd like to know if any blacks have applied to the academy? Is it possible that no blacks WANT to be in that business?

I'm white and live in Ga. I've voted many times for the black candidates if they were the best choice, and most of the time they are because they are also the only Dems too.

Do you think there's a way to convince some of the black residents of Ferguson to run for office, and/or apply to be a cop? That seems like it could at least HALP the distrust situation there.

[Sherman A1]

6. I wish I could answer that

As I said based upon what I have noted, there seemed to be little enthusiasm to participate, but that is simply my observation. There could be a multitude of answers and I suspect most likely are, as I find that very, very few things in life are just one answer situations but are very nuanced.