With the tensions in Ferguson higher than ever and a decision on an indictment on officer Darren Wilson coming in a few moments there has been a massive amount of public discourse on the events on and following August 9th. One of the things I've heard A LOT (unfortunately) is that "this wouldn't be a big deal if Michael Brown was white" or "Would you guys (black people) be out in the streets if it was a white boy was shot?" These people are right, this wouldn't be in the national spotlight if it were a white boy being shot down in the streets: because there isn't a justice system problem in the white community.
The protests in Ferguson and the national attention that civil rights groups all over the nation have given to it are an example of what happens when a group has been absolutely fed up and pushed over the edge. Michael Brown's death was the boiling point, not the entire issue. Don't get me wrong, the circumstances of Michael Brown's death are disgusting, and what's worse is the way he's been painted by both the media and St. Louis County Police Department. However, the larger issue is the war that has been waged on the African-American community, and specifically its men. I'm a lover of statistics, so here's some good ones for you: first off, African-American males age 15-19 are 21 times likelier, 31.7/million vs. 1.54/million, to be killed at the hands of an officer [according to a ProPublica study]. What is more concerning is the overall systemic imprisonment of racial and ethnic minorities in the country. Over 60% of America's prisoners are either Black or Hispanic/Latino while only making up 30% of America's total population. Over a lifetime the chance of a white male ever serving prison time is 1 in 17. For latinos/hispanics the number is 1 in 6, and perhaps most shocking 1 in 3 black males will serve time behind bars. Despite the fact that all races of people in America use drugs at the same rate, minorities make up two thirds of all persons in prison on drug charges [All according to the Sentencing Project] Rudy Guliani, former mayor of New York, said on Meet the Press that the events and protests surrounding the Ferguson event "is not a reflection of race relations in national crime," and that "White police officers wouldn't be there if you guys [speaking to a black political analyst] weren't killing each other 75% of the time." This is the problematic view of race and crime that has lead to one race serving as our country's prisoner class, and another ethnic group well on the way. So what's the answer? Well that's a hard one, but there are some places we could at least think about starting. First the police force is disproportionately white. For example blacks in Ferguson make up 67% of the population, but just 5% of the police force. This is an expansive trend in America as a whole. The police force isn't just a unit that locks up criminals, they are (at least supposed to be) an integral part of the community, responsible for keeping and creating peace and order. This would be easier if the community was represented in the police force. Next, the failed war on drugs must be ended. The law has unfairly targeted minorities, eaten up trillions of tax dollars, and marijuana use has actually increased since Ronald Reagan set the plan in motion. Finally, we have to have some kind of prison/justice system reform. Our penalties are far too harsh and leave lasting impacts on peoples lives. Furthermore our prison system should be a place where people go to heal and grow, instead prisons are where people go to become life long social deviants and outcasts. For a country so unwilling to go to war, its time we stop waging this massive one on our own citizens -515
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Piers Morgan thinks - like many white men have thought for centuries - that he knows what's best for Black people in America.
In an essay he posted today Piers Morgan says that the word nigga must be "Tied to a literary post and whipped into brutal submission" (yes, this IDIOT used a metaphor relating a word tied to slavery to being whipped; how sensitive). In the essay he didn't outright order the Black community to halt all use of the word, but he surely did SUGGEST that we should stop using the word for our own good. Piers Morgan has no idea what the HELL HE IS TALKING ABOUT. I could go on forever but I have a rhetoric paper to edit and I'm sure you have lives to get onto so I'll give you three reasons why you shouldn't listen to people who are arrogant enough to suggest that they know best when it comes to life as a Black American 1) Morgan argues that WE should stop saying nigga because it gives "your average dim-witted foul-mouthed bigot" the right to say it. Sure, because dim-witted foul-mouthed bigots usually seek permission before using racially charged and insulting language. 2) Morgan says that making the word a term of endearment and empowerment for blacks while making it taboo for whites doesn't work. Really? How many white people had no problem saying "nigger" in the 1960's? Now you'll be hard pressed to find any white adult willing to say the word even in the confidence of one other person, let alone in a public setting. At the same time, blacks use it to mean brotherhood, friends, and family. I know I do, and guess what; IT FEELS GOOD. "Yeah man that's my nigga," not only is it a term I only would use for a brother or friend, but it also just rolls off of the tongue so nicely...... 3) Piers Morgan views the word as a "grotesque, odious, and evil stain on the English language." This ignores that language is culturally constructed, symbolic in nature, and fluid. Words may have a certain meaning to one person, and a totally different meaning to another. For example; a whip to one person is an object used to punish, however, to another a whip may be another word for a car. Or maybe consider the word Cornhole, which to many people is something you would tell a neurotic person to shut, but in the midwest it is a game very similar to bean bag toss. Not only is language largely based on culture, but also on context. You know by the context of a conversation when I say the word "ass" if I am talking about a farm animal, or one of the more sexualized parts of the human body. Morgan implies that we can't use the word responsibly in an informal context, without also using it in the context of a racial slur. I hope with all of my being that Piers Morgan reads this. So READ IT, REPOST IT, RETWEET IT, AND TAG PIERS MORGAN. I'd like to end with a little message to Mr. Morgan from my good friend Biggie Smalls: "And if you don't know, now you know nigga" -515 |
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