MO - Grief & protests follow shooting of teen Michael Brown #14

[Linda7NJ]

"It doesn’t help that Missouri’s city council and school board elections are held in April, rather than in November when they would coincide with state or federal contests. That arrangement leads to lower turnout across the board, but especially among racial minorities. Some southern cities have been accused of deliberately moving their municipal elections to the spring or summer in order to reduce black turnout.:

????

How does that work?
It's summer now...people seem to be finding their way to these protests...


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[tlcya]

TY for the link. The article was about Ferguson municipal elections, not county elections.

I get the point, though.

Nevertheless, if the majority of the population of St. Louis County is Caucasian/European American, I think it's probably discouraging to the African American population with regards to electing someone who they feel represents them.



http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/ferguson-lack-diversity-goes-way-beyond-its-cops

and yet this is our electoral and justice system and it is not new. I am not arguing with you sorrell and appreciate the balance you try to bring to this topic as I have also walked in those shoes.

But it really frustrates me that people play the tired old "system is not there to work for me" card. If people don't like the system then work each day to change it if they feel that strongly about it. I do not perceive that is the case with this issue that has blossomed around this shooting. What I feel has happened here is that a lot of people who take no interest or action in bettering what they feel is an unfair unjustly slanted American system have used this shooting in order to act in a lawless manner because they feel it will be excused because an unarmed black child was shoot in the back by abusive white law enforcement officer and that royaly Pizzes me off. What have any of those looting burning and throwing urine filled bottles done to change that fact if that is their perception?

Truth of the matter is IMO not one person who has looted, burned, mobbed or otherwise broken the laws thanks to this shooting has one danged bit of interest in any of the topics or specifics of this case that we have all spent weeks discussing and debating. They simply have an excuse now to act the way the want to and always have acted previously but now get to do it in front of CNN and Foxnews cameras with some sort of cloak of justification. It is frightening and disheartening to see how many buy into this carp. Again JMO

 

[sorrell skye]

In Ferguson, it starts with having a black leader who will run for office, then having that leader getting out there to meet the voters. Hard to blame lack of options on the system if you don't participate in it.

I don't know what it starts with, as I'm not African American nor am I a resident of Ferguson. I won't presume to tell them what it "starts with". That decision is up to them. It seems to me that whole lotta white folks and a whole lotta so-called "leaders" (Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, et. al) are trying to tell the citizens of Ferguson what's best for them.

I think the citizens of Ferguson are the ones to decide that for themselves.

My only concern is that they have all the information necessary in order to make informed choices and that they register to vote and participate in local elections (municipal, county, as well as state).

 

[katydid23]

That does nothing to quell my fears that the prosecutor can just LIE TO the grand jury, by telling them a version of the story that's not remotely true.

How could that be true? It is not just the prosecutor ALONE in a room with the jurors. There are others involved. And the jurors DO read the news and watch cable tv. They are not ordered to stay in a hotel room with no media input. They are not clueless morons. They are allowed to ask questions of all of the witnesses.

I am not sure how the prosecutor could ,or would, present a case that ' is not even remotely true.' Everything he presents will have to be supported by some type of evidence. He cannot say ' the officer had a broken eye socket' without adding some type of corroboration.

:moo:

 

[Linda7NJ]

I don't know what it starts with, as I'm not African American nor am I a resident of Ferguson. I won't presume to tell them what it "starts with".That decision is up to them. It seems to me that whole lotta white folks and a whole lotta so-called "leaders" (Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, et. al) are trying to tell the citizens of Ferguson what's best for them.

I think the citizens of Ferguson are the ones to decide that for themselves.

My only concern is that they have all the information necessary in order to make informed choices and that they register to vote and participate in local elections (municipal, county, as well as state).

The information was always there....

Ya can lead a horse to water...and all that jazz.


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[DebinGA]

In Ferguson, it starts with having a black leader who will run for office, then having that leader getting out there to meet the voters. Hard to blame lack of options on the system if you don't participate in it.

When Normandy HS, MB's alma mater, lost its accreditation a yr or two ago, the state of MO mandated that Ferguson pay the full expense for students' move to other schools. I think the transportation and high tuition costs pretty much bankrupted Ferguson. Now there's the cost of the riots and the aftermath. I don't know if there are enough AA masochists in Ferguson willing to run for office there.

 

[Linda7NJ]

Anyone watching live feed? What's happening there right now?


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[branwynbreeze]

So death threats are condoned by this group? SMH

thats bs which will lead to riots.
call in the NG

they're chanting about taking down racist cops.............did i hear that right?

 

[Lovejac]

Anyone watching live feed? What's happening there right now?


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Yes, where's pops? Our twitter and live feed extraordinaire.

 

[Linda7NJ]

So death threats are condoned by this group? SMH

Charming...


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[DebinGA]

I'm not understanding why they are accusing cities of this. Are they assuming that AA's don't vote in the spring and summer? :waitasec:

I've never lived anywhere [GA and NC] where elective offices weren't all decided at the same time. If someone died or resigned, which was very rare, there was a special election several months later. Or the gov could fill a vacancy temporarily. That's how Mike Nifong became DA in Durham, NC.

 

[CHERIE.T]

The protesters don't want racist cops...who does?
I'd like to know how many of the few thousand protesters are racist.

 

[Phoebeb]

So the request for removal is political regarding McCulloch withdrawing his support for Dooley???

The list McCulloch cited includes the appointment of a county real estate official with a felony conviction for embezzling federal housing funds, the hiring of a tax collector delinquent on her own taxes, the $3.7 million crime lab contract that has ensnared former police board president Gregory Sansone in an FBI investigation and the top health department administrator who committed suicide last month after it was discovered he’d operated a fake company that collected $3.4 million from county contracts.

Wow, that's pretty egregious stuff, if true. Also, lots of millions of dollars floating around Ferguson!

 

[Linda7NJ]

Yes, where's pops? Our twitter and live feed extraordinaire.

Missing


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[tlcya]

I don't know what it starts with, as I'm not African American nor am I a resident of Ferguson. I won't presume to tell them what it "starts with". That decision is up to them. It seems to me that whole lotta white folks and a whole lotta so-called "leaders" (Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, et. al) are trying to tell the citizens of Ferguson what's best for them.

I think the citizens of Ferguson are the ones to decide that for themselves.

My only concern is that they have all the information necessary in order to make informed choices and that they register to vote and participate in local elections (municipal, county, as well as state).

And if they don't want that information or simply want carte blanche their list of "demands"? What then? That is what scare me.

Hell in a handbasket indeed and if we think think it ends in Ferguson . . . Well . . .

 

[Frydaddy]

I don't know what it starts with, as I'm not African American nor am I a resident of Ferguson. I won't presume to tell them what it "starts with". That decision is up to them. It seems to me that whole lotta white folks and a whole lotta so-called "leaders" (Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, et. al) are trying to tell the citizens of Ferguson what's best for them.

I think the citizens of Ferguson are the ones to decide that for themselves.

My only concern is that they have all the information necessary in order to make informed choices and that they register to vote and participate in local elections (municipal, county, as well as state).

Neither am I either one of those things, is this one of those deals where I am not supposed to have an opinion on the issue? And, if they aren't informed, whose fault is that?

 

[TheDuchess]

Well nighty night WS! I plan to lay my head down tonight and try to believe that when I wake, all will be right with the world. :bedtime:

 

[Little Jedi]

and, if they aren't informed, whose fault is that?

^^ This ! ^^

 

[New1]

I believe that every American citizen who meets the standards for voting should have the right to do so. However, I do not believe that everybody SHOULD vote. If they don't take the time to KNOW or find out who and what they are voting for or against, they should not go to the polls. MOO

 

[sorrell skye]

and yet this is our electoral and justice system and it is not new. I am not arguing with you sorrell and appreciate the balance you try to bring to this topic as I have also walked in those shoes.

But it really frustrates me that people play the tired old "system is not there to work for me" card. If people don't like the system then work each day to change it if they feel that strongly about it. I do not perceive that is the case with this issue that has blossomed around this shooting. What I feel has happened here is that a lot of people who take no interest or action in bettering what they feel is an unfair unjustly slanted American system have used this shooting in order to act in a lawless manner because they feel it will be excused because an unarmed black child was shoot in the back by abusive white law enforcement officer and that royaly Pizzes me off. What have any of those looting burning and throwing urine filled bottles done to change that fact if that is their perception?

Truth of the matter is IMO not one person who has looted, burned, mobbed or otherwise broken the laws thanks to this shooting has one danged bit of interest in any of the topics or specifics of this case that we have all spent weeks discussing and debating. They simply have an excuse now to act the way the want to and always have acted previously but now get to do it in front of CNN and Foxnews cameras with some sort of cloak of justification. It is frightening and disheartening to see how many buy into this carp. Again JMO

BBM

I've been politically active in my community. I've attended caucuses and have been elected as a delegate for my presidential candidate. During that process, I learned how disenfranchised some folks feel. I've learned how some folks have come to the point where they believe that no matter how hard they try, no one is there for them and no one has their back.

When apathy sets in, it's incredibly difficult to overcome it, especially when generational or cultural apathy has arisen due to decades of oppression.

Regarding the above bolded bit: I agree 100%. But we can't lump the law-abiding protesters in with the looters, the thugs, and the arsonists.

I think it behooves each and every one of us to listen to the legitimate protesters, even if they cry out in anger - even if they may seem to be misguided in their methods cos we think we know how a protest should be conducted, or we think we know what they oughta be doing 'stead of marching in the streets and complaining.

It's as if some folks are accusing the law-abiding protesters of being 'uppity'.

Personally speaking, this entire event has taught me that I don't know nearly as much as I thought I knew.

One thing I do know is this: I want to learn. I want to understand. I want to listen.

Learning, understanding, and listening can only occur in humility.