THE LESSONS OF FERGUSON

First printed August 14, 2014 

Updated on August 30, 2014

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In Ferguson, Missouri, the racist murder of Michael Brown produced the only response that could ever hope to break the otherwise endless cycle of injustice: mass resistance.

With the exception of the outburst of impassioned struggle that followed, the police killing of Michael Brown would appear to have been copied from an overused script. A young black man, unarmed, was shot by police while his hands were in the air. The police defended the killing by making the absurd claim that Michael was reaching for the officer’s gun, following the standard legal advice that has become an automatic reflex: “Just claim that he was attacking you, and then you’ll get away with it.” The media, politicians, and civil rights celebrities called for peace and mourning. All otherwise seemed to be going according to the business-as-usual routine—but the black community of Ferguson was not content to follow the routine.

The Ferguson upsurge took over the streets for ten days, culminating in the arrival of the National Guard. The rest of the nation watched in awe, either fearing or admiring the power that such a small population could exert. The entire national political structure was left to contemplate some burning questions: “What if this happened in Los Angeles? Or Chicago? Or Detroit?” And seemingly overnight, the myth of the “post-racial” America simply evaporated.  

There can be no question of the wisdom of those who choose to take matters into their own hands: the criminal justice system has stubbornly denied justice in virtually every instance in which black and Latino youth have been brutalized or murdered by the police. Regardless of the facts of the situation, regardless of whether the political leadership was Democratic or Republican, and regardless of the public magnitude of the scandal, all authorities have strictly applied a universal policy to all racist murders by police: the cop gets away with the murder, the civil rights celebrities keep the peace, perhaps a bit of money is tossed towards the family of the victim, and the black and Latino youth remain in peril. No, there can be no question of the wisdom of those who choose to take matters into their own hands.

Just days following the murder of Michael Brown, the LA police shot and killed another unarmed black man, Ezell Ford. LAPD officers had committed another murder only one week earlier, beating Omar Abrego to death in front of his house. The city of Oakland, California still remembers the police killing of Oscar Grant, whose murder was recorded on video as Officer Johannes Mehserle shot the unarmed Grant in the back while Grant was face-down on the ground and in handcuffs. The city of Santa Rosa, California still remembers the police killing of Andy Lopez, the 13-year old Latino youth who was shot seven times by Officer Erick Gelhaus; the District Attorney for the case, Jill Ravitch, did not even file charges against Gelhaus. And the nation watched as NYPD officers strangled the unarmed Eric Garner to death just one month ago.

But the events of Ferguson, Missouri, in which the black community created mass resistance to the national pattern of police tyranny, represent an important divergence from the standard refrain. The struggle introduced serious obstacles to those who wish to cover up the problem without offering any solution, and challenged the hypocrisy of those who call for peace without insisting that justice be dealt to the police perpetrators of violence. Even more profoundly, the Ferguson resistance has done more to protect all black and Latino youth against police brutality than any other action in the last twenty years. Thanks to Ferguson, every police officer in the country must think twice before drawing his gun against an unarmed person, seriously considering the idea that a single act of abuse could precipitate a national emergency. No investigations, no internal reviews, no changes in police protocol have accomplished in twenty years what the black community of Ferguson achieved in just ten days.

However, ten days and one community are not enough. It would be dangerous for political authorities to assume that Ferguson was simply a freak accident, or that the deployment of the National Guard “solved the problem.” Some political frauds even seek to minimize the conflict as being nothing more than a “communication problem” between police and the black and Latino population. The underlying reality is that racial inequality and segregation have grown to levels not seen since the old civil rights struggles, half a century ago. As long as black and Latino children attend separate and unequal schools and can have no expectations for a decent living afterwards, the norms of “order” will continue to be a hostile, militarized police force and a titanic prison industry. The real “communication problem” is that the political elite need to receive a bigger, stronger message.

To defend the lives and freedom of the black and Latino youth across the nation, it is necessary to build a new wave of mass struggle against police tyranny. It is necessary to demand real opportunities, integrated education, and decent jobs. For all those who wish to lead the way towards equality, join BAMN and take matters into your own hands.

COALITION TO DEFEND AFFIRMATIVE ACTION, INTEGRATION AND IMMIGRANT RIGHTS AND FIGHT FOR EQUALITY BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY  (BAMN)     

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