My People:
Americans are angry - at least a sufficient number to cover ninety cities - and rightly so.
I must confess that one of the major disappointments that I have had with the Obama presidency is that I have NOT seen increased respect for people of color - aka Black people - as a result of his being this first (Black) President of color. Upon his election back in 2008 , I had hoped that with that particular jinx broken, the more racist elements would calm down and be more receptive of our common humanity.
Instead, even during the Obama campaign, I had seen flashes of bizarre racism by some White Americans, an unbelief that a Black presidency was possible in their life-time being realized. Weird people like Rush Limbaugh made early statements that they wanted Obama's presidency to fail, WHATEVER good he did, a theme taken up by the ever-recalcitrant McConnell-Boehner Republican axis of the American Congress. Obama did not help matters by trying to be too compliant - until he realized late that there was ABSOLUTELY NOTHING he could do right to satisfy this particular racist strain of Americana.
And now Ferguson. In 2014, we are back to the race riots of Watts (August 11-17, 1965), Washington DC (April 4-8, 1968) and the Los Angeles riots of 1992 (April 29 - May 4, after Rodney King). Under a Black Presidency, the rage is even more felt: what else MUST we do to belong, the rioters seem to be saying? Unanimous dismissal of ALL charges against Darren Wilson - with at least four Black jury members (maybe more) out of a total of twelve members - followed by an expectation that NOTHING will happen after it, hence an un-preparedness for the rage that has followed?
President Obama has already made a statement on the ongoing race riots, the first one under his watch:
He bears a responsibility to make sure that it is one of the last, He might start by ensuring that the composition of law enforcement officers across America bears the same composition of the community that they police. Until that happens, it will continue to be an episodic CAPITAL OFFENCE to be a Black Teenager in America.
And there you have it. Yes... "Hands Up....Don't Shoot....Black Lives Matter..."
Bolaji Aluko
PS: Give it to the USA about TRANSPARENCY, which however does not always translate to JUSTICE: the entire transcripts of the Grand Jury can be read here:
PICTURES OF RAGE...with Howard University students leading some of the charges....
Ferguson: A Ferguson firefighter surveys rubble at a strip mall that was set on fire when rioting erupted
following the grand jury announcement
Oakland: A protester parades around a bonfire with a poster of Michael Brown during a march in protest against the St. Louis County grand jury decision not to bring criminal charges against Darren Wilson
Washington DC: Hundreds of demonstrators, many of them Howard University students, march down the middle of U Street Northwest after a grand jury did not intict the white police officer who killed an unarmed black teenager in Missouri
Washington DC: Demonstrators marched down the middle of U Street Northwest to protest the grand jury's verdict on Monday
Washinton DC: Hundreds of demonstrators gather outside the White House after the Ferguson grand jury decision in Missouri
Boston: A man holds a sign reading 'Black Lives Matter' as demonstrators react to the grand jury decision in the shooting death of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown, in front of the State House in Boston, Massachusetts
Washington D.C. Protesters gather outside the White House. President Obama urged calm as violent protests broke out on the streets of Ferguson after a grand jury decided a white policeman will not face charges for killing a black teen
New York: Protestors march up Seventh Avenue after a grand jury decision in the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri
Cleveland: In Public Square at least a dozen protesters held signs on Monday afternoon and chanted 'Hands up, don't shoot,' which has become a rallying cry since the Ferguson shooting
San Francisco: A group of people raise their arms while chanting 'Hands Up, Don't Shoot' during Monday night's protests
New York: In Union Square, protesters spelled out slogans including 'Black lives matter'
Los Angeles: A protester faces off against a line of police on the 110 freeway during a demonstration in California following the grand jury decision in the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri
Police guard the Ferguson police department as rioting erupts following the grand jury announcement in the Michael Brown case on Monday in Ferguson, Mo.
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