No subject
Wed Sep 17 19:00:04 EST 2014
<br>
Overall racial context<br>
<br>
According to The Washington Post, the incident sparked unrest in Ferguson<b=
r>
largely due to questions of racism as a factor in the shooting.[155]<br>
Protests,[156] vandalism, and other forms of social unrest continued for<br=
>
more than a week,[157] with night curfew being imposed and escalated<br>
violence.[158][159] Several of the stores looted during the unrest are<br>
Asian American owned, with The Daily Beast writing that Asian Americans<br>
tend to be "left out" of the race relations discussion.[160]<br>
<br>
Also according to The Washington Post, the Ferguson Police Department<br>
"bears little demographic resemblance" to the mostly African-Amer=
ican<br>
community, which already harbored "suspicions of the law enforcement<b=
r>
agency" preceding Brown's shooting, with 48 of the police force=
9;s 53<br>
officers being white,[161] while the population is only one-third white<br>
and about two-thirds black.[155][162] An annual report last year by the<br>
office of Missouri's attorney general concluded that Ferguson police we=
re<br>
"twice as likely to arrest African Americans during traffic stops as t=
hey<br>
were whites".[155] The officer who shot Brown, Darren Wilson, lives in=
<br>
Crestwood, Missouri, 18 miles away from Ferguson.[163]<br>
<br>
The Los Angeles Times argues that the situation that exploded in Ferguson<b=
r>
"has been building for decades", and that protesters initially ca=
me from<br>
the town and neighboring towns that have pockets of poverty, the poorest<br=
>
of St. Louis, and lists "the growing challenge of the suburbanization =
of<br>
poverty" as the catalyst.[164]<br>
<br>
Another aspect of this situation might stem from a system that burdens the<=
br>
poor and black in Ferguson. Minor traffic offenses are the starting point,<=
br>
and the costs spiral up rapidly if the offenders do not pay the fines on<br=
>
time or do not appear in court. The income from court fines represented<br>
the second largest source of revenue for Ferguson in 2013. On October 1,<br=
>
2014, the city of St. Louis cancelled 220,000 arrest warrants - and gave a<=
br>
three month delay to the offenders to get a new court date before the<br>
warrants would be re-issued.[165]<br>
<br>
Boko Haram Slashes Throats, Drowns 50 Civilians in Northern Nigeria<br>
Breitbart News - Nov 24, 2014 Scores of Boko Haram fighters blocked a<br>
route linking Nigeria with Chad near the fishing village of Doron Baga on<b=
r>
the shores of Lake Chad on Thursday and killed a group of 48 fish traders<b=
r>
on their way to Chad to buy fish, according to Abubakar ...<br>
<br>
On torture and the U.S.:<br>
<a href=3D"http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/20/cia-torture-white-house=
_n_6195032.html" target=3D"_blank">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/<u></u>201=
4/11/20/cia-torture-white-<u></u>house_n_6195032.html</a><br>
<br>
Comment -<br>
<br>
In backchannel with Johannes, I realized my position unfortunately is one<b=
r>
of nihilism, combined with anguish; I see no way out of this violence and<b=
r>
corruption, and actions of potential healing are for the living of course.<=
br>
A memorial in Ferguson, and there are, will be, many, will not change the<b=
r>
tactics of the police, the deeply-embedded, structural, racism that rules<b=
r>
the United States; mourning the victims of ISIS doesn't change the tact=
ics<br>
of ISIS - and perhaps that's the real question - what can be done to<br=
>
change ISIS itself? And if nothing, you end up where I feel I'm heading=
,<br>
to a state of hopelessness. The world is simultaneously digital flows and<b=
r>
abject, tortured, hungered, flesh, simultaneously living online, and<br>
moving among so many favelas, so much poverty, pollution, starvation,<br>
offline, and again this statistic which haunts me - that one in thirty<br>
children will be homeless, some time in her or his life.<br>
<br>
Nihilism isn't a course of action, and it doesn't mean giving up; i=
nstead<br>
it references taking a stance, most likely useless, just to assert that<br>
one is human, that anguish is still possible. My own work carries failure<b=
r>
in its heart, it helps some people (I hope) cope with the world - we all<br=
>
hope for that - it has no effect on the systemic, however... On the other<b=
r>
hand, one may well change the attitudes of the police - through education,<=
br>
community learning, dialog, and this is (I think) happening in some<br>
places. (I'd appreciate any bibliography you might be able to supply on=
<br>
nihilism and its potential.)<br>
<br>
But ISIS - or other groups believing in absolute inerrancy, absolute<br>
power, absolute truth, absolute annihilation - what is to be done? How to<b=
r>
reach them? Is anything possible?<br>
<br>
- Alan (apologies for meandering)<br>
<br>
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</blockquote></div><br></div>
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