Law enforcement officials in Ferguson, Missouri are having a difficult time separating peaceful from violent protesters. As a result, the peaceful ones suffer from teargas and other unpleasantries. From someone who has been there and done that as an antiwar protester during the Vietnam War, let me offer this advice–it’s not the responsibility of law enforcement, it’s the the task of the protesters themselves. Continue reading How to Separate Peaceful and Violent Protesters
Tag Archives: Ferguson
Michael Brown–Karma versus Justice
Throughout America, news reports suggest there is a problem with the use of excessive force by police. Often it is applied in the arrest or simply the stopping of young African American males. It should be noted that it is also a problem in dealing with mentally disturbed individuals. The former occurs in major part due to institutional racism still embedded in the American system–profiling young Blacks. They are stopped all out of proportion with their representation in the population and all out of proportion to their actual criminality. Then, when they do not respond with the respect and deference that law enforcement officials would expect, they are beaten or killed. Continue reading Michael Brown–Karma versus Justice