There once was a place where the police were called to deal with some criminal activity. The criminals were people of color. It was a clear situation where the law was being broken. The police responded as the law required. Within hours the neighborhood population started to riot. After days of rioting and unrest many local businesses were burned to the ground. Gunfire in the streets. People wounded and killed. The riots spread outside the first neighborhood. The police were overwhelmed and the National Guard was called in to assist. The US Army was also called when the National Guard wasnt enough to stop the rioting. In the aftermath, most of the ruined businesses left to rebuild somewhere else. That left a local community with virtually no economic base. No place close by to find a job. Fewer places to buy things like food or other daily necessities. The large grocery stores moved out to be replaced by inferior substitutes. The local banks closed their branches or walled everything off behind floor to ceiling plexiglass. It became a place where fear was the reality of life every day. Those that had the ability, left soon afterward, leaving behind those people who were least able to deal with the situation. Crime skyrocketed. Street gangs took over. This was Detroit in July 1967. I was there. My family wasnt allowed to move out because of my dads job. We watched our neighborhood become a place where a kid couldnt ride a bike down to the corner of the block without being assaulted by gangs. History repeats itself. Ferguson MO, (and maybe St Louis itself) will be a shell in 30-40 years.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Nov 2014 19:50:11 +0000
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