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1、Passage 12Passage 12Death incites unrest21st Century, August 27, 2014Picketers protest the shooting of an unarmed black teen by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, US.A media firestorm has swept across the US since Aug 9 when Michael Brown, an 18-year-old black man, was *fatally shot by a police
2、 officer in Ferguson, Missouri. Residents in the area took to the streets to protest what they feel is racial *injustice in US law enforcement practices. Protests carried on for days and grew so intense in certain areas that the police *deployed military-grade armored vehicles, tear gas and rubber b
3、ullets. Brown was initially stopped by the officer for *jaywalking. When confrontation *ensued, the officer, who is white, shot Brown at least six times. The officer claims he acted in self-defense. Brown was unarmed at the time he was killed. An investigation into what really happened is currently
4、underway. But many people are wondering if the same thing would have happened had Brown been white. The killing of Brown might be the *catalyst of the Ferguson unrest, but as explanatory journalism website V points out, the underlying cause of the *turmoil is years of racial tensions between Ferguso
5、ns minority communities, police, and local government. Prior to the shooting, Americans were already discussing the history of police violence against black men, and general racism as well. In 2012 Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teen, was fatally shot by a neighborhood watch guard in Florida. The
6、guard, George Zimmerman, was acquitted of all charges related to the killing.An old problem But this time in Ferguson, the problems may have been worsened by the lack of black representation in local government. According to the US Census Bureau, Ferguson is about 67 percent black. But both its mayo
7、r and police chief are white. Out of 53 commissioned police officers, only three are black, according to the Los Angeles Times. The *disparities also apply to the number of police actions against white and black residents. A report from the Missouri attorney generals office found black people made u
8、p more than 93 percent of arrests carried out by Ferguson police in 2013. US president Barack Obama, in a speech calling for calm in Ferguson on Aug 18, acknowledged the deep racial divisions that continue to *plague not only Ferguson but cities across the US, reported The New York Times. “In too ma
9、ny communities around the country, a *gulf of mistrust exists between local residents and law enforcement,” Obama said. “In too many communities, too many young men of color are left behind and seen only as objects of fear.” Annette Gordon-Reed, writing in the Financial Times, points out that the US
10、 has yet to overcome its tortured racial past. Deep-rooted prejudices have made black people, particularly young black men, *presumptive criminals outside the boundaries of full citizenship, Gordon-Reed says. This conclusion can be drawn if one looks at the record of police conduct, says Gordon-Reed
11、 “from instances of brutal treatment of blacks in custody, to racial disparities in drug arrests and sentencing”. History of racial inequality The deep racial divide between blacks and whites makes whats happening in Ferguson more than just the average crime story, says a New York Times article. Its
12、 been five decades since legal *segregation was outlawed, but a wide gap remains between black and white Americans, and in some important respects its as wide as ever. The unemployment gap between blacks and whites has remained virtually unchanged over the last 40 years. The income and wealth gaps h
13、ave actually widened. So has the gap in educational *attainment. There are bright spots, including a rising number of blacks in executive and *managerial jobs (not to mention top political jobs). But by most measures, black and white Americans are still living in radically different societies and there is no reason to believe that will change anytime soon, says The New York Times. 5 / 5
