Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Ferguson: The signal it sends about America (Prepare to feel awful about yourself)
CNN Opinion ^ | August 18, 2014 | Sally Kohn

Posted on 08/18/2014 4:16:40 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

Editor's note: Sally Kohn is a progressive activist, columnist and television commentator. Follow her on Twitter @sallykohn. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

The protesters in Ferguson, Missouri, want justice for the unarmed black teenager shot and killed there by a police officer. But the protests also reflect broader patterns of racial injustice across the country, from chronic police violence and abuse against black men to the persistent economic and social exclusion of communities of color.

In one sense, the unrest in Ferguson might be calmed if the government would simply release all the details of Michael Brown's death, bring charges against Officer Darren Wilson if appropriate and hold accountable those officials who unleashed a military-style assault on protesting citizens.

Yet in another sense, the simmering anger that has bubbled over in Ferguson will never go away as long as the ugly conditions of racial bias in America go unaddressed.

On August 9, a police officer in Ferguson shot and killed Brown, an unarmed, black 18-year-old boy.

Just days earlier, on August 5, police in Beavercreek, Ohio, shot and killed John Crawford, a 22-year-old black father of two who was holding an air rifle inside a Walmart. On July 17, police choked and killed Eric Garner, a 43-year-old black father of six on Staten Island, New York, in what has now been ruled a homicide.

These killings occurred against the backdrop of a long history of black men being suspiciously, recklessly, wantonly killed by police. This is in addition to everyday harassment by police to which young black men have become sadly accustomed. In New York in 2011, 25% of the NYPD's stop and frisks targeted young black men, who make up less than 2% of the city's overall population....

(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Government; Political Humor/Cartoons
KEYWORDS: blacks; ferguson; policebrutality; rsacism
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-63 next last
To: Billthedrill
"Sally Kohn is a progressive activist..."

He sure is...

I think Fox test-hired him once but the visuals were so bad they immediately yanked him off the air.

21 posted on 08/18/2014 4:34:42 PM PDT by Mr. K (Palin/Cruz 2016)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

“black 18-year-old boy”

Wow. She’s one racist cracker, isn’t she.


22 posted on 08/18/2014 4:36:35 PM PDT by PAR35
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

CONTACT SALLY

Sally received a joint degree in law and public administration from New York University and was a Root Tilden public service scholar at the New York University School of Law. She received her undergraduate degree from George Washington University in D.C. Originally from Allentown, Pennsylvania, Sally now resides in Brooklyn, New York, with her partner Sarah Hansen and their daughter Willa.

23 posted on 08/18/2014 4:38:09 PM PDT by Fred Nerks (fair dinkum...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet
In New York in 2011, 25% of the NYPD's stop and frisks targeted young black men, who make up less than 2% of the city's overall population....

The cops should, of course, have given equal time to stopping and searching elderly Jewish women using a walker.

I would think that if I were a young black man, I'd blame any harassment I got from the cops on other young black men giving them excellent reason to be suspicious of my (our) demographic.

Possibly I wouldn't, but to my mind that's a much more logical target for anger.

To go with some actual facts, over 70% of violent crime in NYC is by black people, who are stop and frisked 53% of the time. So they're actually being under-stopped.<

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/commissioner-kelly-defends-stop-and-frisk-targeting-african-americans-article-1.1332840

24 posted on 08/18/2014 4:40:16 PM PDT by Sherman Logan (Perception wins all the battles. Reality wins all the wars.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: wideawake
Boy, your bell is still ringing from the NY Garner case...

BTW wideawake, I can assure you I am not Sally the progressive activist.

But once again, thanks for that bit of humor.

25 posted on 08/18/2014 4:41:42 PM PDT by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

“On August 9, a police officer in Ferguson shot and killed Brown, an unarmed, black 18-year-old boy.”

Boy huh, When i was 18 I was in Vietnam. A boy I was not...


26 posted on 08/18/2014 4:42:05 PM PDT by babygene ( .)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

“Sally Kohn is a progressive activist.”

Normally I’d be polite toward a lady, but this thing is no lady. Therefore, stick it up your hole where the sun don’t shine, you beeotch.


27 posted on 08/18/2014 4:42:18 PM PDT by sergeantdave
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: trisham
What a shame. She’s a pretty girl.

Downright gorgeous.

OK, we should stop now...

28 posted on 08/18/2014 4:45:12 PM PDT by Flycatcher (God speaks to us, through the supernal lightness of birds, in a special type of poetry.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: dragnet2

Got it, Sally.


29 posted on 08/18/2014 4:45:58 PM PDT by wideawake
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: Fred Nerks

She’s not willing to marry the mother of her child? Is the mother not jewish?


30 posted on 08/18/2014 4:46:38 PM PDT by PAR35
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: babygene

And I was on the Korean DMZ. Back home and there, as an 18 year old, I could vote, smoke, marry without permission, sign a binding contract and drink alcohol freely.


31 posted on 08/18/2014 4:47:03 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

What I see watching a little of CNN is race baiting at it’s worst.


32 posted on 08/18/2014 4:47:44 PM PDT by McGruff (You can lead a human to knowledge but you can't make him think)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Flycatcher
Probably.
33 posted on 08/18/2014 4:47:45 PM PDT by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

Oh, wait a minute, Sally. Did you really just call a black man a “boy”? Tsk tsk.


34 posted on 08/18/2014 4:48:13 PM PDT by Billthedrill
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Fred Nerks

Yeah, I knew all that, but thanks for letting the other readers know.


35 posted on 08/18/2014 4:48:29 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

I have been looking at a new 12 gage shotgun. Only have to wonder which shot to put in it when I buy it. Need the most coverage when I pump and shoot.


36 posted on 08/18/2014 4:49:55 PM PDT by RetiredArmy (MARANATHA, MARANATHA, Come quickly LORD Jesus!!! Father send thy Son!! Its Time!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: wideawake

You're killing me fastasleep...Stop it...

37 posted on 08/18/2014 4:50:34 PM PDT by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

The ugly racial bias is fr liberals like Sally.


38 posted on 08/18/2014 4:51:04 PM PDT by ully2
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Fred Nerks

I guess she is the man in that abomination of an arrangement.


39 posted on 08/18/2014 4:51:08 PM PDT by RetiredArmy (MARANATHA, MARANATHA, Come quickly LORD Jesus!!! Father send thy Son!! Its Time!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: RetiredArmy

I like Mossbergs, but then again, I’m poor.


40 posted on 08/18/2014 4:51:24 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 36 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-63 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson