Written by Wes Annac, August 21, 2014 – https://tinyurl.com/kx5paxe
“Today they say that we are free, only to be chained in poverty.” – Bob Marley
It’s crazy to think that all of the mayhem in Ferguson is happening just twenty minutes from my neighborhood.
A short drive away from Alton, IL, rioting and looting is taking place because of the fatal shooting of an unarmed teenager, which has once again put America’s (and the world’s) attention on race and the unfair divide between the advantaged and the disadvantaged.
People are making it clear that they’re ready for a change, and they’ve been protesting in an effort to put the spotlight on the issues at hand – namely, economic division and police brutality.
Like some people (including Russell Brand) have said, we can probably expect more of this as the planetary consciousness continues to rise. People are awakening from their slumber, and they’re taking responsibility for showing the world that a change needs made.
We’re all ready for positive change, but most people aren’t comfortable enough rising up and actually doing something about it. The peaceful protesters in Ferguson are doing something the rest of the world should be doing, and social action will always be a driving force to the creation of direct and widespread change.
We need protests in this day and age, because the ‘elite’ need to be held responsible for their corruption and unwillingness to run this planet in the best interests of every sovereign citizen. People of every race have been treated unfairly by the higher classes for centuries, and this issue puts the spotlight on this unfair treatment.
I think people should realize that this issue reaches further than Ferguson and even the United States.
This is why it’s been given international attention – it’s a problem the whole world faces. Economic inequality runs rampant, and while people have protested and, in some cases, rioted about it throughout the ages, we’re just beginning to give it the attention it deserves.
Our modern, politically correct society is slowly but surely addressing all of the issues that keep us from thriving as a species, and we’re finally putting our attention on important issues that were ignored before.
People have worked very hard to awaken us to the injustices that take place against the lower classes every day, and as much as I hate to say it, I’m sure shootings just like Michael Brown’s happen every day in various countries. How often do we hear about them?
The United States is a huge country – one of the most developed and progressive countries in the world – and yet, we still don’t hear about most of the things that happen here. In our own country, we’re kept from hearing about the majority of unlawful, prejudice-driven shootings that take place.
The middle class is conditioned to accept a version of life that doesn’t focus on the injustices that go on right under our noses, and in most cases, the lower class is left to deal with the fallout. This obviously needs to change if we want things like this to stop happening, and we need to be the ones to change it by taking action; helping the people who are victims of profiling to raise awareness.
Another thing I think we should keep in mind is that race doesn’t necessarily have to be an issue here. Yes, racial inequality is as big of a problem as police brutality, but I’d imagine the majority of rioting and looting in Ferguson has less to do with the specific issue at hand and more to do with the fact that people are fed up.
I don’t think inequality has as much to do with race as it does economic status, an in order for humanity to thrive, I think we need to stop identifying each other based on our race. It’s easy to point the finger at the issue of race when things like this happen, but every race has been subjected to economic ruin and the resulting prejudice.
People of every race have been profiled and even killed because of who they are, and I don’t think we’ll make any significant progress if we continue to look at this issue in terms of race. An underlying theme runs through this issue that I think we should all see, and that is that everyone, of every race, has been kept down.
We need to come together and hold the people who’ve kept us down accountable, and as long as we continue to let the color of our skin divide us, the ‘elite’ will continue to get away with their crimes. Corrupt policemen will continue to take the lives of unarmed kids, no matter their race, because we’ll still be too conflicted to do something about it.
Concluded in Part 2 tomorrow. To read this post in full, visit: https://tinyurl.com/nwrlrtb