KHH1

Responding to the decision by a grand jury in Ferguson, Missouri not to indict police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of un-armed African-American teenager Michael Brown, President Obama spoke to both the anger and frustration that has manifested in Ferguson and around the country, as well as a larger American context, saying, "there are still problems and communities of color aren't just making these problems up."

Despite the conservative media narrative that r****m against minorities is a thing of the past, race, r****m, and inherent biases on all sides are a part of what's happening in Ferguson and communities across America -- as are systemic and institutional factors spanning several generations, from the Watts r**ts in 1965 to the r**ts in various cities in 1967 and '68, to Los Angeles in 1992. While an inciting incident -- usually involving the police and communities of color -- sparked the violence, a tinderbox of underlying frustrations awaited that spark.

After each of these incidents, reports issued by government commissions seeking answers cited hauntingly identical findings. Police brutality, poor relations between the police and the community, a sense of hopelessness fueled by a lack of jobs, economic ine******y, inadequate schools, discriminatory housing practices, an unresponsive political system many felt shut out of, along with policies that created segregated neighborhoods which further isolate communities of color were highlighted again and again. Again and again the recommendations included expanding community policing strategies and social programs, making them more consistent with the extent of the problems.

Not surprisingly, similar frustrations have been expressed in Ferguson and from activists in other cities. One Ferguson man told the New York Times that the k*****g of Brown "broke the camel's back," He added that "the people in North County [the northern part of St. Louis County] -- not just African Americans, some of the white people too -- they are tired of the police harassment." While violence is an unacceptable response to the underlying frustrations, understanding the deeper issues play a role in preventing it in the future and moving forward.

Washington Post columnist Colbert I. King eloquently put these issues into context, providing insight into why the shooting of an unarmed young black man by a white police officer can be such a potent catalyst.


It reminds many of the way in which authority is exercised, especially in communities where the central relationship between b****s and w****s is the police.

In places like Ferguson, police represent white authority. Authority empowered to enter the community backed by the extralegal support of white sentiment. Authority whose word is taken against the word of an accused African American. Authority that not only arrests, but punishes, too.

Too much of the media coverage hasn't examined these larger issues about the sources of anger, frustration, and why history continues to repeat.

Conservative media has been working overtime to deny their very existence, dismissing their relevance by accusing anyone who raises them as making trouble, "race-baiting", or being a "race hustler". As usual, a core message in the narrative is that it's all Obama's fault.

Accusing Obama of labeling the initial shooting in Ferguson as a "race-bait incident" or "deeply racial," editor-at-large for Breitbart News Ben Shapiro suggested that the administration has, "a vested agenda in the continuation of the belief that is so prominent in the black community, unfortunately, that law enforcement and the justice system are wildly biased against black folks."

According to Rush Limbaugh, the media is also to blame for "perpetuat[ing] myths" in Ferguson because what happened is "not common, it does not happen all the time, and yet this story is being covered and treated by everybody involved as though it goes on so much that we've had our fill of it... the only problem is it isn't happening; it is irregular when this happens. It does not happen."

All of which is directly contradicted by the facts. An FBI report found that between 2005 and 2012, a white officer used deadly force against a black person almost two times every week. Of those who were k**led, nearly one in five were under the age of 21, as compared to 8.7 percent of white people under 21 who were k**led. An examination of FBI data from 2010 and 2012 found that black males between the ages of 15 and 19 are 21 times more likely to be shot dead by police than w****s of the same age.

The "black on black" crime meme, and the erroneous accusation that Obama and other black leaders are ignoring that problem, is equally d******e. An attempt to distract from conversations about relations between the police and communities of color, the meme creates a false choice between these issues, insidiously re-framing them as "black" issues, not American issues.

To bolster their argument, surrogates like former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani use various statistics out of context, saying on NBC's Meet the Press, "Ninety-three percent of b****s in America are k**led by other b****s. We're talking about the exception here."

But there is more to the story -- the percent of white victims k**led by w***e A******ns is similarly high, 84 percent. That's because those statistics are largely driven by two realities: most murders are committed by someone who knows the victim, and American society remains racially segregated.

As Obama noted at the end of his remarks about the Ferguson decision, "these are real issues. And we have to lift them up and not deny them or try to tamp them down. What we need to do is understand them and figure out how do we make more progress. And that can be done."

Amen.

Hartbreaker

They are not denying it. They are admitting that a large part of the problem is the continual liberal media agenda of trying to inflame black passions against police officers. When young black men encounter police officers, their reactions are far more likely to be distrustful and aggressive than when a white person encounters them.

This is largely caused by black leaders passing down hatred from their experiences with officers. The issues of the past are being brought forward by black leaders which causes young b****s to react with hatred, anger and fear with a police officer which anyone can tell you, those emotions never lead to a positive conclusion.

Just watch the news and you will hear interviews of black people who think that a black man k*****g a police officer is a good thing. And you expect police officers to not defend themselves against such attitudes.

Super Dave Loc: Realville, USA

Brown was a thief and a thug. He stole and then attacked a police officer. Unless Brown committed these crimes due to the shop owner or cop's race, r****m had noting to do with it.

Why do you think Brown was not responsible for his actions?

Do you think having black skin made him steal cigars with violent force and attack a police officer? Do you think b****s are too stupid and immoral to be held the same standards as w****s?

Really.. What is it about black people that you think makes them less capable of controlling their violence?

Super Dave Loc: Realville, USA

If you teach a race of people that they're too stupid to compete without affirmative action, and too primal to control their rage as well as another race....

And if they believe it...

How can you expect that race to believe they're equal?

J Anthony Loc: Connecticut

It is disturbing. These are the people always going on about personal responsibility, but refuse to take any themselves. They tell themselves that since we have a half-black president that there could not be r****m in the US anymore. When they can bring themselves to acknowledge that r****m is still a problem,, they say it's human nature and there's nothing we can do about it. They tell themselves anything that will absolve them of any blame or accountability, or to keep from looking at themselves in a critical way
In this age of crisis-capitalism, there are, unfortunately, people on both sides of the issue who see these incidents as oppurtunities-not for resolve or bridging the divides, but for self-aggrandizement. This is beneath contempt
We cannot legislate-away bigotry and prejudice, obviously, but the cultural conditioning that perpetuates it can be improved upon. This is what the media should be examining, the roots of the problem, and the reality of institutionalized marginalization-of minorities, the poor, women, our veterans. But claiming that this is human nature and insoluble is a cop-out. And saying that this is merely a "black question" and not an American one is worse, even N**i-esque in it's presumption that b****s are inherently inferior.
It's time for a little introspection in this country, on everyone's part.

J Anthony Loc: Connecticut

J Anthony Loc: Connecticut

Who's saying b****s are too stupid to take responsibility for themselves? Soundds like you're the one implying it.

just care

KHH1 is a r****t bi-ch. There are problems in many communities, onlu a r****t would seperate the black communities.

Trooper745 Loc: Carolina

Among male black teens of low-rent housing areas and gangs, a large part of their verbal interaction with other teens is bragging about their drug/alcohol use, abuse of female b****s, running from police arrests, thefts from local stores, and even fighting with police officers, among other nefarious actions.

It is no wonder that many contacts by male black teens and young adults with police officers escalate into fights or even shootings. Their otherwise empty brains have been immersed in hearing great tales of other b****s successfully resisting arrest, and/or assaulting officers without getting caught. It is only natural that they believe that they can escape arrest and punishment by resisting arrest.

just care

I'll give an Amen to that!

KHH1

F-k you...that was from a newsletter...and like in here....w****s never talk about the f-ked up white people...listening to these motherf-kers, one would think w****s did not committ crime or get on welfare**

KHH1

and i'm the r****t?.....you piece of s**t you....look what kind of statement you just endorsed....

KHH1

**what inflames people are the white r****ts who deny r****m exists as if it is a figment of black people's imagination and then take a cavalier attitude towards people's misfortunes and tell them to just get over it....I am so glad I have allot to live for...because I would have given out a few lessons in consideration myself...but I have too many great things going on in my life to waste them over a useless piece of s**t/trash**

nwtk2007 Loc: Texas

I think both Brown and the cop were cuplpable in this incident.

This is what happened:

This brutha got into some $hit with this cop as he drove by. The cop probably has some history with this black brutha, as in messing with him or said something smart ass to him. The brutha, decided to get it on with him, even while this cop was sitting in his cop car and even though in his pockets he had a stolen box of smokes.

In the struggle the cop got out his gun and it went off. The brutha, realizing this might be a mistake to take on this white cop with a gun drawn decides to get going but not so fast so as to look uncool.

At this point the cop is committed to an action. (His gun is out and it went off.) So he gets out and yells at the brutha to stop, which he doesn't and so the cop fires at him, possibly hitting him in the arm.

The brutha, turns around and starts to raise his hands and wham, a bullet hits him in the chest, to which he bends down, now using his arms as a shield. Now bent, the next bullet hits him in the head as does the next one.

Game over. And the witnesses can only have conflicting testimony about what they saw. Hands up, down, etc.

But the cop needs something more to justify the reaction and thus the story about the brutha charging him. (That part I am not believing.)

Loki Loc: Georgia

Clean your own litter box. I have yet to see any national outrage over the real criminals who are k*****g b****s; other b****s. More than 94% of all black murder victims are k**led by other b****s, yet there is no outrage except in the comparatively rare cases of a white, or a cop, or even worse, a white cop k*****g a black. B****s have far more to fear from other b****s, but there is no money or publicity in showing outrage over that. During your prattle about the "knockout game," which you, predictably, blamed on white r****m, you forgot to mention that b****s who participate almost always choose the old, weak, young, or infirm as their victims. Unless they have someone outnumbered, they never attack anyone capable of fighting back. That'll show those honkies.
Got any more "Behavioral Science" words of wisdom to lay on us, Doctor Asterisk?