Been listening to NPR on and off. St. Louis has, unfortunately, gotten lots of national attention. Or, rather, Ferguson. Its funny how in the news thats how its reported, and thats accurate, but I still think of this as something that happened in St. Louis. Weve got all these municipalities. I have no idea how many but I thought today they may have said theres like 95 municipalities in the St. Louis area. I think of them all as St. Louis. The problem in Ferguson is not just a Ferguson problem, its a problem for all of St. Louis. This whole tragedy has me thinking of so many things. How fragmented we are as a major metropolitan area, and all the repercussions of that. How racially segregated St. Louis is, one of the most segregated cities in the U.S. How young black men are seen as disposable, a lost cause. How a sucky economy means that the people on the edge of it end up falling off the edge. Its real easy to say to someone who is poor or unemployed, Get a job. What job? People with degrees and lots of experience cant get jobs. Anyway, it goes on and on. Its big, complex, there are no easy answers. Where does one start? I have no idea. I hope that the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner in New York will lead to some serious thinking about some of the fundamental problems that continue to plague our society. I hope that the conversation continues and maybe, just maybe, it could be the catalyst for some change. But Im not real optimistic. Weve been through this before. Im afraid that soon it will be forgotten and attention will go somewhere else. Its all too common. As a society, we really dont care too much about what happens to our young black men. What a waste. What would it look like if we saw every person as valuable and full of potential? What would it look like if everyone had half a chance to live up to their potential? Wed be awesome. Weve a long way to go. There obviously remains a lot of work to be done.
Posted on: Wed, 27 Aug 2014 05:15:40 +0000
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