Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - FW: The Outrage of Racial Bias

dear oa,
you are right about racism pervading much of america. but that's only part of the story. obama is a black president. we have black figures of authority in much of our society; we have a large percentage of black students in our universities, who go on to be professionals.
at the same time, we still have a black underclass that lives under terrible conditions.
we have both things, not just one.
as a result, Ferguson has become the by-word for progressives to militate for a more just society. whatever differences you might find in some of the media coverage, the killing and re-incarceration of the two white inmates will soon pass into historical insignificance, but the Black Lives Matter, which ferguson helped inaugurate, will certainly be remembered and acted on for many years--or so i believe.

we can focus on the negative treatment accorded black people in the u.s., but i want to imagine we can do so in the spirit of a fight for justice, not a despair that leads nowhere.  and i very much believe we need to celebrate the great accomplishments of black people as well, if we are to motivate the next generation of black and \white children to change. and i do believe the children are open to being less racist than the last generation. change is possible, and we have to try to act on that idea.
ken

On 12/6/15 4:45 PM, Anunoby, Ogugua wrote:

Remember David Sweat and Richard Matt, two grown men and convicted murderers who daringly escaped from the Clinton Correctional facility in Dannemora, New York June 2015?.  Matt was shot dead by the police. Sweat was shot, captured, and returned to prison by the police. See

 

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/28/us/prison-escape-david-sweat-five-things/

 

Remember Michael Brown, the unarmed teenager shot dead by a Police Officer Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri August 2014?

See attached snapshot and the difference in near diametrically opposite sentiments expressed for the mothers of both men.

Many minds are closed on matters of race. How to reopen them is the question.

 

oa

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

--   kenneth w. harrow   professor of english  michigan state university  department of english  619 red cedar road  room C-614 wells hall  east lansing, mi 48824  ph. 517 803 8839  harrow@msu.edu