Understanding Ferguson: Electing Obama Isn’t Enough

Like most headline news, the Ferguson story will ultimately face an expiration date for ongoing coverage. Although currently center stage, it’s only a matter of time before this one will fade into the occasional sound bite — or referenced along with a couple of words, like Trayvon Martin.

As Michael Brown’s family along with thousands of online supporters cried out over his funeral this week, we also must prepare to expand beyond the focus on Brown, Officer Darren Wilson and the riots taking place post August 9th, to the ongoing prevalence of institutionalized racial prejudice and distrust within social platforms like public education, and a “glass-ceiling” workforce also perpetuating racial prejudice beyond the impoverished streets of our nation.

It’s time to bridge the dialogue on the killing of Michael Brown with issues more tangible for the public distanced by physical proximity, race, and class from Ferguson, Missouri. We don’t downplay the death of Michael Brown; we explore how we are helping our nation internalize the significance of racial prejudice — white and non-white alike.

18-year-old Michael Brown was black, unarmed and shot six times (twice in the head) by white police officer Darren Wilson on August 9th in Ferguson, Missouri. To date, the prosecutor’s office for St. Louis County has yet to file charges against Wilson. A grand jury is reviewing evidence on the case. President Obama has released a statement discussing an internal Federal Investigation into the shooting, also sending Attorney General Eric Holder to provide community reassurances and assess the situation with aims to keep the peace among angered protesters seeking justice for Michael Brown’s death.

 

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