Urban migration has become a common trend in the 21st century. Many people today spend most of their time in urban areas for educational and career purposes. As a result, the population in urban centers has grown tremendously in the 21st century. Social misconduct such as violence, crime, and drug abuse accompany population growth. Urbanization breaks social ties and leaves people vulnerable to social and political misconduct, mostly the youths. Violence in urban areas starts small, but as cities and towns grow, the issues eventually become a notorious problem to society. Ferguson is one of the urban areas in America where issues of violence occur daily. Burglary issues and drug use are common problems in Ferguson, which explains the constant presence of police and other law enforcement officers (Phillip 2).
A recent event in Ferguson is the shooting of a teen boy by a police officer in the streets of Ferguson (Alcindor 5). The grand jury’s decision led to violence and chaos in the city because the court’s decision did not resonate well with people’s expectations. Neither the government nor the public has come up with the ideal solution to the problem at hand. Instead, people are busy seeking their will rather than justice by fighting one another assigning blame. This paper aims at discussing various ways in which both the public and the government have failed in resolving the violence in Ferguson. The role of the business community in uniting people, and the impact that the case has on the young generation and the future stability of Ferguson are the major questions that this paper seeks to analyze.
The shooting of an unarmed black young teen in Ferguson by a white police officer has raised many issues around the world. Both the public and the government reacted differently to the matter. According to Brown (8), the shooting of the young man was not a new thing in Ferguson; it is a common trend in the town and other suburbs in America. Many articles, blogs, and case reports contain cases similar to the one in question, but so far, there has not been any amicable solution. The situation begs the question as to what the government and the public are doing to stop innocent killings and multiple cases of violence in Ferguson. A look at different articles on the case from the press and the government makes it is clear that no solution is being sought. Rather, people are busy assigning blame and presenting their cases to paint the police in Ferguson as incompetent (Buchanan 3-5). Using force to maintain law and order in Ferguson by the government is justifiable based on the many cases of violence in the area. Such blame games make it hard to come up with reasonable solutions to the long-term problems in Ferguson.
Racial discrimination is a major cause of violence in Ferguson and other suburbs in the United States. Activists believe that the problems facing Ferguson relate to the differences between the whites and the blacks. Focusing on racial discrimination makes it hard to handle the problem at hand and solve the issue of violence in Ferguson. In addition, the arguments of the activists present the civil structure of Ferguson as weak. People in Ferguson do not have any hope in the government, especially in handling violent cases that involve the misuse of power by the police. Activists present Ferguson as a disadvantaged community where justice never sees the light of day. A significant number of people present their cases in the articles on how the police harassed them innocently. Such cases lack a reasonable solution because people are more concerned with seeking revenge rather than justice. According to Palen (56), the civil system of Ferguson protects the members of law enforcement agencies who misuse their power and hurt innocent young people.
Lack of organization among the protestors is another problem in Ferguson. Some of the protesters are calm and show some level of understanding while anger and racial hatred drive others. It is, for this reason, difficult to achieve an amicable solution to the situation and create a long-lasting solution when people seek retribution. Some of the protesters want justice served while others want their will served, hence the division and lack of organization (Brown 8).
The ruling of the jury left many people dissatisfied and raised many questions. In addition, the ruling widened the gap between the community and the government because people completely lost hope of ever getting justice from the government. The role of the business community in uniting the people of Ferguson in the light of Michael Brown’s case is a question that deserves attention. The business people interact with both the government and the locals; for this reason, they can help bring unity between these two groups. The police respond to small theft cases in Ferguson reported by business owners within the town. For this reason, the business owners can serve to unite the police and the public by helping the officers to keep the violators of the law from the streets. On the other hand, the response of the business community after a shooting case can incite people to become more violent (Lee and FlorCruz 6).
The second question is how the Michael’s case help solve the long-term issues in Ferguson. The process through which the government solves the case will determine the future stability of Ferguson in terms of peace and public appreciation of the police. Rather than focusing on the shooting of an innocent child, the government should seek to solve the cause of the incident. Alcindor (6) asserts that high levels of crime, especially among the blacks and the militarization of the police are the major causes of innocent deaths in the hands of the police in Ferguson.
The third question is how the reaction of the young generation to the case affects the future stability of the town. Other than focusing on the criminal cases in the town, the police can focus on the impacts that their actions have on the young people. Most of the teens indicated a level of distrust with the police and that is a dangerous situation for a society. Issues of violence and crime are bound to continue in Ferguson as long as the young people have a negative perception of the police (Alcindor 5). In general, this case was more than a shooting case, but a societal problem that is yet to find a lasting solution.
Works Cited
Alcindor, Yamiche. “Ferguson struggles to grasp why protests turned violent.” USA today. 2014: 5-6. Print.
Brown, Emily. “Timeline: Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, Mo.” USA today. 2014: 7-10. Print.
Buchanan, Larry. “What happened in Ferguson: what events led to the shooting of Michael Brown?” The New York Times. 2014: 1-10. Print.
Lee, Brianna and FlorCruz, Michelle. “Ferguson, Missouri protests: international newspapers, media highlight the violence, destruction, flames.” International business times. 2014: 4-11. Print.
Palen, Jones. The urban world. Boulder, Colorado London, England: Paradigm Publishers, 2012. Print.
Phillip, Abby. “After Unarmed Teen Michael Brown Is Killed, The St. Louise Post-Dispatch Front Page Captures Ferguson Burning.” The Washington post. 2014: 1-4. Print.