The Events of Nov 24 in Ferguson, Mo.

8/10/2019 The Events of Nov 24 in Ferguson, Mo.

1/7

The Lessons of Ferguson

By Ronald H. Brady

The events of November 24, 2014, n Ferguson !o.have am"lfed the need for a serous

soul sear#hng, by bla#$ and %hte &mer#a, on the "roblems asso#ated %th ra#alrelatons n the 'nted (tates. But Ferguson %ll not be the "rmary fo#us of ths essay.)nstead, ths %ll be a ds#usson about %hat bla#$s and %htes #an do together to mendthe estranged relatonsh" bet%een bla#$ and %hte &mer#a. The mmgraton system snot the only thng that s bro$en n ths #ountry. Ra#al relatons n &mer#a have beenbro$en, to varyng degrees, ever sn#e slavery.

From the s#r"tures %e learn that *the thngs that you fear %ll #ome u"on you+. That s avery good message for the etremsts, on both sdes of the &mer#an ra#al dvde, to ta$eheed of. !sunderstandng and fear are at the base of all of the ra#al "roblems n&mer#a.

)t s tme for the bla#$ mddle #lass -n#ludng those %ho lve n the suburbs to stand u"and send a #lear and strong message to the thugs n the nner #ty. & "art of the messageshould be that slavery s over and that nstead of standng dle and %atng for re"aratons-that are not l$ely to #ome, the nner #ty youth should %al$ enthusast#ally through adoor of o""ortunty that s "resently %de o"en. The o""ortunty for a good edu#aton s"resently avalable. /es the fa#ltes #ould be better but the #om"uters and other hghte#h tools n the nner #ty s#hools are far better than those that %ere avalable to theTus$egee &rmen -before they began fghter "lot tranng and loo$ at %hat theya##om"lshed fghtng a s$llful erman foe even n the mdst of a m ro% '.(.mltary establshment.

&s for the tea#hers3 most of them are dong ther best but some of the very best are s#areda%ay by all of the #rme "er"etrated by...bla#$ youth. &nd many of the "otental to" terbla#$ students are relu#tant to demonstrate ther true ablty be#ause they are afrad ofbeng a##used of *a#tng %hte+ by... other bla#$ students. (n#e a good edu#aton s a"rereuste for a good 5ob, the bla#$ mddle #lass should lead the effort to develo" a ne%bla#$ #ulture that s #ondu#ve to learnng. 6hy not start %th a #ool style of "ostve ra"that %ll en#ourage bla#$ youth to learn and not do #rme by usng "ostve rhyme7 &ndthe bla#$ mddle -and u""er #lass must ma$e t #lear that t %ll hel" anyone n the nner#ty %ho %ants to hel" themselves but that the a#tons of the thugs hgh on llegal drugs%ll no longer be tolerated.

)f on 8#t. 2, 2009, h#ago had been sele#ted to host the 201: 8lym"# ames then one#an be sure that a massve, %ell organ;ed and #oordnated seven year "lan %ould havebeen mmedately "ut n "la#e for the "ur"ose of #onstru#tng the ne#essary fa#ltes andma$ng the ne#essary "re"aratons for the 201: 8lym"# #om"ettons. No% %hy #an


2/7


3/7

During the oil boom of the 1910s, the area of northeast Oklahoma around Tulsa flourished,

including the Greenwood neighborhood, which came to be known as "the Negro Wall treet"

!now commonl referred to as "the BlackWall treet"#$%&'The area was home to se(eral )rominent

black businessmen, man of them multimillionaires$ Greenwood boasted a (ariet of thri(ing

businesses that were (er successful u) until theTulsa *ace *iot$Not onl did black +mericans

want to contribute to the success of their own sho)s, but there was also racial segregation laws

)re(ented them from sho))ing anwhere other than Greenwood$%'-ollowing the riots, the area

was rebuilt and thri(ed until the 19.0s when desegregation allowed blacks to sho) in areas that

were restricted before$

Detroit +(enue, along the edge of tand)i)e /ill, contained a number of higherend houses

belonging to doctors, lawers and business owners$ +lso, the buildings on Greenwood +(enue

housed the offices of almost all of Tulsas black lawers, realtors, doctors, and other

)rofessionals$%2'3n Tulsa at the time of the riot, there were fifteen wellknown black +merican

)hsicians, one of whom, Dr$ +$4$ 5ackson, was considered the 6most able Negro surgeon in

+merica7 b one of the8aobrothers$%.'Dr$ 5ackson was shot to death as he left his house during

the unrest$%'Greenwood )ublished two news)a)ers, the Tulsa Starand the Oklahoma Sun,which

co(ered not onl Tulsa, but also state and national news and elections$ :uildings housing the two

)a)ers were destroed during the destruction of Greenwood$%'

Greenwood was a (er religiousl acti(e communit$ +t the time of the racial (iolence there were

more than a do;en black +merican churches and man 4hristian outh organi;ations and

religious societies$

)t #ertanly s not unreasonable to s"e#ulate that 5ealousy and fear %ere among theemotonal for#es that motvated the %hte ra#sts to brutally destroy the lves and "ro"ertyof hundreds -a##ordng to the Red ross of self suff#ent &fr#an &mer#an #t;ens.6hat "ossbly #ould have been the reasons behnd su#h fear3 you may as$7 The reason s"robably "lan and sm"le. They %ere fearful that bla#$s %ould ta$e a%ay from theme#onom# resour#es and o""ortuntes3 among other thngs. But far #om"etton shouldnot be res"onded to %th sabotage. (abotage s a #o%ardly and terror;ng %ay of dealng%th thngs. That s %hy &mer#a s no% s fghtng the %ar aganst terror. The sour#e ofsu#h evl must be erad#ated.

The mddle and u""er #lass %htes of today must admt that su#h brutal a#ts -su#h asthose that o##urred n the Tulsa Rots aganst a self>suff#ent &fr#an &mer#an#ommunty %ere etremely #ruel and #o%ardly and %ll n no %ay, style, sha"e, form orfashon be allo%ed to ha""en agan. (u#h a "ro#lamaton by %hte &mer#ans %ll go along %ay n de"rvng the thugs n the urban areas of one of ther must "otent tools. Thattool s the su""oston that %hte &mer#a %ll never let bla#$s a#heve e#onom# "arty.Therefore, n the o"non of the thugs, bla#$s may as %ell #olle#t %elfare and do llegal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_Streethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwood,_Tulsa,_Oklahoma#cite_note-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulsa_Race_Riothttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulsa_Race_Riothttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulsa_Race_Riothttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwood,_Tulsa,_Oklahoma#cite_note-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwood,_Tulsa,_Oklahoma#cite_note-5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayo_Clinichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayo_Clinichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwood,_Tulsa,_Oklahoma#cite_note-book-6http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwood,_Tulsa,_Oklahoma#cite_note-ReferenceA-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwood,_Tulsa,_Oklahoma#cite_note-ReferenceA-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_Streethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwood,_Tulsa,_Oklahoma#cite_note-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulsa_Race_Riothttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwood,_Tulsa,_Oklahoma#cite_note-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwood,_Tulsa,_Oklahoma#cite_note-5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayo_Clinichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwood,_Tulsa,_Oklahoma#cite_note-book-6http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwood,_Tulsa,_Oklahoma#cite_note-ReferenceA-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwood,_Tulsa,_Oklahoma#cite_note-ReferenceA-2


4/7

drugs. (u#h an atttude among bla#$s only serves to mantan the status uo of #rme and"overty. But t should be noted "arenthet#ally that e#essve drug use s s"readng to thesuburban #ommuntes also.Bla#$s and %htes al$e en5oy the use of #ell "hones, smart "hones and other hgh te#h

ele#tron# dev#es. But %hle %hte men and &sans are %ell re"resented n (l#on alleybla#$s are not. Ths s #learly not due to any genet# def#en#y n ther "otentalntelle#tual ablty to learn s#en#e and math. The evden#e for ths statement les n thefa#t that #ontnental &fr#an students have demonstrated an outstandng ablty to masters#en#e and math and =nglsh3 %h#h s a foregn language to them. )f #ontnental&fr#ans #an e#el n s#en#e and math and s"ea$ the language %ell then %hy #an


5/7

Former N/ mayor Rudol"h ulan and &fr#an &mer#an author !#hael =r# yson%ere guests on !eet The ?ress on 11>2G>14. The n#dent n Ferguson, !o. %as one ofthe man to"#s of ds#usson. ulan noted that a""romately 9A@ of bla#$ murderv#tms %ere $lled by others bla#$s. &nd he %ondered aloud about %hy bla#$s don


6/7

6ords even %hen only used as an entertanment veh#le #an be hurtful but not nearly ashurtful as bla#$ on bla#$ #rmes and murder. But the usage of the N %ord and bla#$ onbla#$ murder are related f only to the etend that %hen bla#$ freely use the N %ordamong themselves or %hen they trag#ally $ll themselves va drve by shootng et#.,then the outrage s not nearly as great as t s %hen %htes -es"e#ally the "ol#e engage

n those a#tvtes.

&nother unfortunate realty s the fa#t that among the vast ma5orty of la% abdng "ol#ethere are many #orru"t #o"s -and some of them are bla#$ #o"s n the nner #ty. Ths fa#tenables the gang bangers to say3 %hy should %e $ee" the la% %hen the #o"s themselvesare #roo$ed7 (o the bla#$ #ommunty and the "ol#e unons must %or$ together to brea$the #ode of slen#e. Tell the #o"s not to %orry about %ho %ll %at#h ther ba#$s f theyturn n the #orru"t off#ers on the for#e. Be#ause the la% abdng %or$ng members of thebla#$ #ommunty -%hen t s free from thugs on drugs and brutal #orru"t #o"s %ll gladlyta$e over the fun#ton of %at#hng the ba#$s of the good #o"s as a sho% of than$s.&nd the bla#$ #ommunty must nsttute a ne% #ultural m"rovement #am"agn that %ll

n#lude tea#hng *the seven year old !t#h that t s 8E to snt#h+ and to turn the badguys n and that t s also o$ to trust the members of the "ol#e for#e be#ause they no%have #hanged #ourse and are ready to be your frend. &nd by the tme that !t#h s 1A he%ll $no% that snt#hng on the bad guys -anonymously f ne#essary s defntely #oolD

The ve% from here s that the N %ord s a %ord that %as on#e used by the slave master todesgnate a grou" of "eo"le that the slave masters #onsdered to be sub human. ?eo"ledesgnated by the N %ord %ere often gven 40 lashes n res"onse to the slghtest*msbehavor+. Ths msbehavor often n#luded su#h thngs as #hldren tryng to learn toread and %rte. ?erha"s ths s %here the #ustomary use of #or"oral "unshed orgnatedn the bla#$ #ommunty. & #hld had to be %h""ed to $ee" hm from runnng afoul of there"ressve rules of the slave masters, or the #hld -young adult #ould re#eve forty lashesor %orse. &nd a good sub5e#t for an m"artal study by a do#toral student n so#ology#ould be to determne f the test s#ore ga" of today %as #aused n "art by the fa#t thatbla#$s %ere often "hys#ally "unshed, durng slavery, f they tred to learn to read. Thsmust have generated a negatve "er#e"ton of learnng n the mnds of bla#$ #hldren. To%hat etent have those negatves sentments -orgnally asso#ated %th re"ressveenvronmental fa#tors and not genet#s been culturally"assed do%n to the "resentgeneraton of bla#$s7 8n the other hand the #hldren of the slave o%ners %ereen#ouraged and gven every o""ortunty to learn readng and math.

No% let us return to the ds#usson about the N %ord. 6hy does not the bla#$ #ommuntystart a %ell #oordnated #am"agn to gradually "hase t out over a "erod of say ten years7(urely the %ell demonstrated #reatveness of the bla#$ #ommunty n the area ofentertanment #an be used to fnd a ne% %ord or #on#e"t -to am#ably des#rbe theaverage bla#$ man that s 5ust as fun and endearng as the N %ord %hen used n frendlyhumorous #onversatons among bla#$s. (to" usng the N %ord and sto" bla#$ on bla#$#rme and let there be heard more ra" %th "ostve rhymeD


7/7

The desre to "ea#efully demonstrate over the non nd#tment of a %hte "ol#e off#er%ho shot an unarmed bla#$ teen s #ertanly understandable. But %hat s notunderstandable, by the "resent author, s %hy the leaders of the bla#$ #ommunty donho"JeOeA>G9vT=JfPr2NAP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoCdHd4_iDohttps://groups.google.com/forum/#!search/seven$20year$20plan$20single$20mom$20prom/rec.music.hip-hop/e7e5-3C9vTE/xfQr2JNqq5QJhttps://groups.google.com/forum/#!search/seven$20year$20plan$20single$20mom$20prom/rec.music.hip-hop/e7e5-3C9vTE/xfQr2JNqq5QJhttps://groups.google.com/forum/#!search/seven$20year$20plan$20single$20mom$20prom/rec.music.hip-hop/e7e5-3C9vTE/xfQr2JNqq5QJhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoCdHd4_iDohttps://groups.google.com/forum/#!search/seven$20year$20plan$20single$20mom$20prom/rec.music.hip-hop/e7e5-3C9vTE/xfQr2JNqq5QJhttps://groups.google.com/forum/#!search/seven$20year$20plan$20single$20mom$20prom/rec.music.hip-hop/e7e5-3C9vTE/xfQr2JNqq5QJhttps://groups.google.com/forum/#!search/seven$20year$20plan$20single$20mom$20prom/rec.music.hip-hop/e7e5-3C9vTE/xfQr2JNqq5QJ

The Events of Nov 24 in Ferguson, Mo.

Documents

Transcript of The Events of Nov 24 in Ferguson, Mo.