Thoughts on Ferguson

[Cyrano]

Last edited Tue Nov 25, 2014, 06:34 PM - Edit history (3)

There are concepts which most of us can’t verbalize. But we do recognize them when someone else speaks them aloud. They are a verbalization of our hopes and dreams. They are words like “I’ve been to the mountain,” or, “Thank God Almighty, I’m free at last.”

Very few people are as articulate as Martin Luther King. For many hundreds of years, white people have oppressed, enslaved, abused, degraded, raped, tortured, murdered and done everything possible to tear the very soul out of people of color. But it hasn’t succeeded. The instinct for fairness, justness, and the sense of a shared humanity, cannot be suppressed through threats, bribery, pain, or “the rule of law.”

And now we have Ferguson, Missouri. Nothing is new here. Nothing is surprising. Nothing is any fairer than it has ever been. And nothing is as infuriating as the current inability to sweep away the injustice.

So let’s say it plainly. Ferguson, Missouri is nothing more than ongoing American racism. It sucks as much as it ever has. And only a fool would believe that this will be the end of it.

Okay, call me a fool, but I believe that the younger generation places little stock in the racism, religiosity, regionalism, nationalism, or any other remnants of ignorance out of the past. But that doesn’t mean that those who harbor hatred are going to go away tomorrow. It will take a while longer. But the future is upon us, (if we can survive the current rape of planet Earth and somehow fix it).

And I also believe that the future holds much for humanity. We are just coming out of our adolescence. That which is to come, we can only imagine. But one thing we can be sure of. The future does not belong to the bigots, the haters, and the unimaginative. It belongs to those who know of reason, humanity, tolerance and even the love of one's fellow human beings.

We must believe that the victims who have paid the price with their very lives have not done so in vain. The alternative is far too unthinkable.

So decide for yourself. Are we on the threshhold of a world about to drown in the muck of intolerance? Or are we about to enter a world made brighter by the sacrifice of so, so many.

My hope is that we are emeging from the darkness and ignorance of the past

[noiretextatique]

1. well said, Cyrano

i think there is a huge racial divide when it comes to incidents like this. many black people, like myself, see these incidents (the killings and the failures to indict) as a continuation of racism. and many white people see these incidents as either isolated incidents, or in extreme cases, just the right thing to do. the latter group are racists, but the former...???? not sure what's going on there. in either case, i think it is fair to say the black people have far less faith in the justice system than white people. one thing for sure...there is a problem, at least i think so, when the justice system consistently fails to provide justice to victims, because of the color of their skin.

[Cyrano]

5. Looking at the lack of posts, three hours later,

I believe that many don't give a damn about Ferguson, Missouri. I'ts just one more passing story in the news and it doesn't affect the world as it exists in this moment.

Well, pehaps that's unfair. Maybe people have different priorities. Most humans don't grasp the concept that the entire world is interconnected through the fact of being a single fabric/entity/consciousness. People don't conceive of the possibiltiy that we are interconnected through our common humanity.

Wow. Guess that sounded like some sci-fi crap. Well, let me put it another way. We human beings are all trapped on the same planet. Like it or not, we will either find a way to live together, move on, or destroy each other.

[noiretextatique]

6. LOL...not sci fi crap to me

we are interconnected through our common humanity, and racism is a disease that allows some to see "demon" instead of person. or at least lie about it, WITH the expectation that the diseased will believe it. there are a bunch of Ferguson threads, so people might be busy. i will gladly kick this.

[gordianot]

2. In the old days they did not serve you lunch.

Maybe some one would blow up your church, burn down your house, lynch your cousin, keep you from voting.

Now days police just shoot your kids and they still do not want you to vote.

[shallwechat]

3. nevada

may i remind you all the when the whites rioted over clavy (?) Bundy ranch in Nevada.
when the whites riot there is always some big national cause that is worthy of the us constitution (so they think). we all hear about a "constitutional crisis" from whites, there is some extenuation cause. did not those people shoot at police and brandish 50 cal. rifles...what did the police do,.....they pulled back, and they cited that action was to preserve their lives and the lives of those protesters. or its a bunch of college teens getting out of control in a drunken college frat party, deserving a second chance. when blacks riot, its always viewed animals out of control. or somehow they are the cause of conditions that causes a riot.

[Cyrano]

4. I've read your post three times and

I can't make any sense out of what you're saying.

I know the words are in English, but the concepts that are in your mind are not being commumicated.

There are points at which I am totally at a loss to tell whether you believe in the cause of the people of Ferguson, or side with those who are oppressing them.

I'm sorry if this sounds insulting, but I'm just being truthful.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

7. I understood what shallwechat is saying 100%. I'm baffled as to why you don't.

Two scenarios:

In Nevada, white supporters of Cliven Bundy, a man who was illegally grazing his cattle on federal lands, pointed guns at federal officers, even shooting guns at police officers; warning them that they will kill these officers of the law. None of them were killed. The media treated these protestors like they were fighting for some noble "constitutional" cause. The narrative was that they had the right to bear their AK-47 rifles, point them at government officials--even though what Mr. Bundy was doing was clearly illegal! He was essentially stealing federal land! He hadn't paid taxes on that land for over 20 years! Then, he had the audacity to drive around in poor neighborhoods and castigate the black and Hispanic people there for being poor and on government. Again, this man was *ILLEGALLY* grazing on *FEDERAL* lands--not paying taxes on that land.

The other scenario is Ferguson. Unarmed black and brown people gather in peaceful demonstration and they are treated like animals by the police.

See the difference??

[noiretextatique]

8. s/he's saying whites can riot, but it not called a riot

it's called "freedom" or some other bullshit. and as with cliven bundy, the racist idiot tax-evader, the cops didn't storm them or kill a bunch of people. in contrast, remember when they dropped a BOMB on MOVE in Philadelphia? Mr. Scorpio posted a thread with pictures on this very topic.