The situation in Ferguson is a reality check for Black people. If you are expecting justice from the white grand jury you have lost your mind. But like the man said "everything is teaching us."
We have a Black president, a Black Attorney General and lots of non-white representatives in Congress. Democrats control Ferguson/St. Louis and have significant power in Missouri. That is, there is a Democrat Governor (Jay Nixon), Democrat U.S. Senator (Claire McCaskill), a Democrat state attorney general (Chris Koster), a Democrat prosecutor (Robert McCulloch) overseeing the grand jury. The Democratic Party has dominated St. Louis city politics for decades. The city has not had a Republican mayor since 1949 and the last time a Republican was elected to another city-wide office was in the 1970s. As of 2006, 27 of the city's 28 Aldermen are Democrats. At the federal level, in Missouri's 1st congressional district, a Republican has not represented a significant portion of St. Louis in the U.S. House since 1953. [MORE]
Yet Blacks still have no power to get justice for Michael Brown - or themselves, in Ferguson - or anywhere. Despite well known, widespread, 'going viral' outrage by Black people, no jobs have been lost, no one has been unelected and of course Darren Wilson has not been arrested or charged with a crime in the death of Michael Brown. And Wilson is still getting paid. "It" doesn't work this way when whites are killed by non-whites. And you know it. Right in our face; Blacks have no power to solve our problems. This is what powerless class means.
Racism is external phenomenon that can easily be observed, verified and knowledged by just walking out your front door. Nevertheless, for your review consider some Ferguson data:
Number of Whites on Grand Jury 9 (of 12)
Number of Black prosecutors involved in investigation 0
Percentage of Blacks in Ferguson 67%
Number of Blacks on the City Council 1 (Mr. Dwayne T. James) [MORE]
Number of Blacks on the Ferguson school board 0 [MORE]
Number of Black police officers on Ferguson police force 3 [MORE]
Last year Black people made up 86% of all people stopped on the street by Ferguson cops [MORE]
Last year Blacks people made up 91% of all people searched by Ferguson police [MORE]
Last year Blacks made up 92% of all people arrested by Ferguson police [MORE]
Whites, by 47% to 37%, said the issue of race is getting more attention than it deserves. [MORE]
19% of Ferguson's general budget is from revenue from court fines and fees in the 2012 fiscal year. [MORE]
Number of elections affected by Ferguson protests - 0
Number of Republican elected officals in Ferguson - who cares.
Number of effective Ferguson boycotts or strikes of any kind - 0
Amount of commerce affected by Ferguson protests - too small to measure
Amount of money or business lost by the Emerson Electric Company a multinational corporation owned by racist suspects headquartered in Ferguson since the incident - $0
Amount of money or business lost by the Ferguson Walmart, a corporation owned by racist suspects since the incident - too small to measure [MORE]
Number of protest signs made about police brutality - thousands
Number of teddy bears purchased - thousands
Number of candles burned - thousands
Number of passionate speeches made about Ferguson/Michael Brown - Too many
The protests have not produced justice. Black People have every right to be angry but these protests have amounted to a temper tantrum. In a state of complete attachment to the racial stupidity of whites, Black people are victims of their own emotions. Praying, tweeting, burning candles and posting up teddy bears do not fight the power of white supremacy. Racists want Blacks to burn down another Quickmart. Racist cops, prosecutors, judges can't wait for Blacks to break the law - so they can do to you what they want to do, legally. Racists are the most provocative people in the world and they know how to push our buttons. That's what the white media is doing right now, counting down, waiting to see how Blacks react to the obvious in Ferguson. They love it - watch them watch.
If this is a "movement" it has been a movement of circular thought. What are the goals of the protests? Who exactly is pro police brutality? Are you really still relying on the moral suasion of white people? What kind of law can change the relationship between Black people and white people? Who will legislate, administer, enforce it? [white people]. To the white controlled Democrat & Republican political parties, what are the repercussions of not punishing Darren Wison? Stop pretending. Belief that we have some illusional power is actually submission to and/or cooperation with white supremacy. [MORE] Hypothetical belief in this system and in changing white people has lead to suffering. Let it go.
Blacks are scared of assessing their actual position, facing their powerless reality and then confronting white power, white supremacy. White supremacy is racism and racism is white supremacy. It is cause and effect: Racism causes a myriad of problems for Blacks such as police brutality and unequal administration of "justice." Blacks prefer to look away. When will White people's centuries long winning streak end?
It is time for some linear thought and questions like, How can we get some power? How can we neutralize white power and stop white people from practicing racism? What kind of consciousness is needed for the task? How do we begin to confront the system of white supremacy/racism?
According to Amos Wilson, 'our salvation requires that we perceive White supremacy as the major social, political, economic, and spiritual problem to be resolved by Afrikan peoples, and that we ask and answer definitively the questions: What kind of culture must we construct in order to overthrow White Supremacy? What kinds of social identities, relations, arrangements, alignments, institutions, values, etc., when actualized, will allow us to attain and protect our liberty?; enhance our quality of life? What kinds of socialization practices must we institute in order to empower ourselves to become the kinds of people we must become if we are to secure our rights to be free?" [MORE]
Check out Anon below on their counter-racist definition of racism:
Racism is Systematic Group Power by White People. According to Anon, "of course, all people can be hateful or prejudiced. Those terms describe individual behaviors, not systematic power. Racism is the COLLECTIVE behaviors of a group. A white individual within a system of racism/white supremacy has the implicit or explicit support of that system IF they choose to practice racism. [MORE]
There is only ONE kind of racism: white supremacy. White people are the only group in America with the POWER to discriminate (deprive or punish other ethnic groups), and the systems and institutions to maintain the imbalance of power.
In America, whites have the POWER to discriminate against blacks (and other non-whites) by depriving them of income, promotions, jobs, housing, land, justice, and any other rights – if they choose to do so. It doesn’t matter that some whites are poorer than some blacks.
In all things and in all places in America, whites are collectively more powerful than blacks are collectively. This imbalance of (white) power creates the opportunity and the ability to practice racism against non-whites. Racism is not empty rhetoric (words) or mindless emotion. Racism is economic, political, institutional, and systematic POWER. Since whites control all the institutions and systems of power in America, only whites have the power to practice racism. [MORE]