Louisville, KY - Ferguson "protesters" could care less abut Michael Brown. Bold statement to be sure and I will be called a racist, or worse, but the fact remains the statement is true. Ask yourself a simple question: Is Ferguson better off after last night's lawless thug party in the community?
The answer is a resounding no.
What did the whole world get to see by the actions of these lawless thugs in response to the grand jury decision in the death of Michael Brown?
The reinforcement of the negative stereotype's so many haters have come to believe about the black community. And that folks is the problem.
Race baiters like Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, and I would go so far as to say this administration in many ways, continues to create a scenario in which these things happen and continue to keep racism alive. I don't make that claim lightly.
Take these images for example:
This isn't Ferguson. This is from the Louisville riots in 1968.
Yes for those with a short memory we have experienced similar, but there was a cost.
Most white business owners quickly pulled out or were forced, by the threat of racial
violence, out of Parkland and surrounding areas. Most white residents
also left the West End, which had been almost entirely white north of
Broadway, from subdivision until the 1960s. The riot would have effects
that shaped the image which whites would hold of Louisville's West End,
that it was predominantly black.
And that image has remained consistent ever since.
So how did it all begin?
According to wikipedia, on May 27, 1968, a group of 400 people, mostly blacks, gathered at Twenty-Eight and Greenwood Streets, in the Parkland neighborhood. The intersection, and Parkland in general, had recently
become an important location for Louisville's black community, as the
local NAACP branch had moved its office there.
The crowd was protesting the possible reinstatement of a white
officer who had been suspended for beating a black man some weeks
earlier. Several community leaders arrived and told the crowd that no
decision had been reached, and alluded to disturbances in the future if
the officer was reinstated.
By 8:30, the crowd began to disperse.
However, rumors (which turned out to be untrue) were spread that Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee speaker Stokely Carmichael's
plane to Louisville was being intentionally delayed by whites. After
bottles were thrown by the crowd, the crowd became unruly and police
were called.
However the small and unprepared police response simply
upset the crowd more, which continued to grow. The police, including a
captain who was hit in the face by a bottle, retreated, leaving behind a
patrol car, which was turned over and burned.
By midnight, rioters had looted stores as far east as Fourth Street, overturned cars and started fires.
Within an hour, Mayor Kenneth A. Schmied requested 700 Kentucky National Guard troops and established a city-wide curfew. Violence and vandalism
continued to rage the next day, but had subdued somewhat by May 29.
Business owners began to return, although troops remained until June 4.
Police made 472 arrests related to the riots. Two black teenage rioters
had died, and $200,000 in damage had been done.
The aftermath?
The West End community has not to this day had any meaningful business to aid them in moving forward. Almost 50 years later.
Even going so far as to put all their eggs in one basket by continuing a five decade hold over the City with the liberal Democrats have not helped.
Today we are fighting over a Wal Mart in the area just to have something. This is what happens when you destroy your own neighborhood and we are living proof of that right here at home. 50 years later the West End community still has to drive miles away from home just to meet their basic daily needs.
Ferguson rioters and looters could care less about the tragedy of Michael Brown. The lawless thugs and race baiters responsible for the anarchy in Ferguson have proven once again that they only care about themselves.
According to USA Today:
Demonstrators taunted police, shattered windows and set fire to two St. Louis County police cars at the protest's furious peek. Scattered, intermittent gunfire was also reported.
St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said at a 1:30 a.m. CT news conference that at least a dozen buildings were set ablaze and that he had heard at least 150 gunshots, none fired by police. A police officer was shot but not seriously hurt, Belmar said.
Police had made 29 arrests.
Scores of police officers, armed with riot gear, dispersed a crowd of about 300 with volley after volley of tear gas, pepper spray and bean bags. But not before looters plundered a Walgreens store, Family Dollar store and an AutoZone outlet. Other protesters torched a Little Caesars pizza restaurant and local beauty shop — among several buildings set ablaze that were continuing to light up the sky early Tuesday morning. Two police cars were burned.
Think what you want but what did any of this do to improve relations in the community? What did it say about the tragedy of Michael Brown?
No one has seen all of the evidence the Grand Jury was privy to yet seemingly everyone knows what decision should have been made. And if that decision did not meet with your satisfaction, though you do not have the facts, well then burn up your town. Yet who suffers?
Others continue to state that the violence is primarily from out of towners. Hogwash. Check this out.
Ferguson resident Malik Rhasaan, a community organizer with Hands Up United, said,...... "They have insurance. They can rebuild,'' said Rhasaan, 42.
What if they choose to rebuild somewhere else Mr. Rhasaan? Who pays the higher insurance costs going forward?
Not to be outdone, Detroit was quoted as well, "We're saying, 'No more,'" said Rev. Sylvester Davis, who has been a Detroit resident for 65 years. "We're seeing a system where black men don't matter. We're open season. It's time for us to stop this mess. We want justice and equal rights."
Define Justice and equal rights. Was there Justice to the law abiding citizens and business owners in Ferguson with these violent lawless thugs going on such a rampage?
How can you seek that which you do not offer to others?
Great Christian example there Reverend Davis.
This is and will continue to be political. Many may doubt my words but it is true. Think about it.
The liberal Democratic agenda is the constant in each of the riots we endure in these situations. We know that firsthand right here at home. We learned it in 1968 and revisited it in the 1970's when the Democrat inspired Ku Klux Klan came into Louisville over busing.
We have seen it over and over on a National level with riots across the Country including one of the worst in recent times. The LA riots.
I was accused yesterday of being racist because I would never get it unless I heard it from "one of my own people." Attached was a picture of Jon Stewart. I laughed.
I lived the riots of 1968 though I was a child. My family lived in the West End. I lived the busing and the Ku Klux Klan marches. I remember both incidents vividly. I also remember thinking then that adults should know better. That they should be leaders for me and my brothers to look up to and follow.
There is an old saying, attitude reflects leadership.
Today that saying is proving just as true as when the term was first coined.
In my history I learned at a young age the obvious.
My "people," for those who must use a label to define anyone, are not based on color.
Martin Luther King, Jr had a dream and I liked his vision. He stated:
"Judge a man by the content of his character not by the color of his skin."
The content of the character of the lawless, race baiting, selfish thugs we see in Ferguson today are not the character of the good people in America.
Failed leadership created the attitude. It is up to us to correct it.
Listen daily from 7-8pm at The Ed Springston Show. Also visit Louisville Politics for more details and in depth coverage of local political and news issues.
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Ed Springston