| haxxiy said: Stupid American laws as usual. None of that racism bullshit. It wouldn't be different if it was an albino or whatever. Murica is basically the only so-called "democratic" country where a cop can shoot the top of your head off if you don't keep your hands to the steering wheel or something idiotic like that. |
No, race is a big factor here.
The community is 65% percent black. The police force is 95% percent white. The civic leadership is similarly stacked disproportionately with white people.
86% of traffic stops in Ferguson and 92% of arrests target black people, even though the police are more likely to find contraband if they stop white people.
A police officer's most powerful weapon is a gun or an MRAP, it's authority. Respected authority will resolve many situations before they can escalate to violence. When police are seen as a symbol of institutional persecution, rather than safety and protection, as is frequently the case with disaffected minorities around the world, they need to resort to violence more often.
A lot of people have remarked that Ferguson police decked out in full armor and assualt gear resemble an occupying force. I suspect both the police and the citizens of Ferguson have subconsciously felt like they are an occupying force for some time.
Whether Brown's shooting was a desperate struggle or an execution, it was symptomatic of that institutional racism.
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