Reference no: EM131409983

Please only use these websites below for bibliography (no other sites allowed)

(Approximately300 words)

Please research the recent events in Ferguson, MO including the editorial from The Guardian, a liberal newspaper from the UK. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/19/guardian-view-on-ferguson-riots

And from the more conservative Wall Street Journal https://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/08/20/wall-street-journal-editor-eric-holder-should-tell-ferguson-protesters-to-pull-up-their-pants/

I would like you to carefully and respectfully discuss your thoughts on the Ferguson incident and its aftermath.  Try to understand and analyze the influences on your opinion and the opinions of others.  Keep in mind the two assigned readings.  One is by black Harvard professor, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. who was arrested on July 16, 2009, when he had trouble opening the door to his house and a passer-by called police.  The police state that Gates had initially refused to show identification to the arresting officer, Sergeant James Crowley. When Gates was told that Crowley was investigating a possible break in, Gates then stated, "Why, because I'm a black man in America?" 

The second reading is by John Wideman who writes in Harper's magazine "Race, like religion, is immune to critiques of science and logic because it rests on belief. And people need beliefs."  He furthers states "the myth of race and the racialized perspective it authorizes turn color into an indictment, into instant proof of innocence or guilty-as-charged. We should understand by now that race can mean anything, everything, or nothing, depending upon whom we ask." Or that "the concept of race abiding today in America is a profound orphaning of all black children."  Is there a myth associated with young black men and their characteristics?  Is it a myth in your opinion?  What does Wideman mean by the "orphaning of all black children?" President Obama and other prominent black men have come forward to discuss their own experiences with racial profiling and the need for young black men to be prepared for interactions with law enforcement.  In a former speech the President talked of his experience as a young black man walking down the street and hearing the clicking of the car door locks going down.

Some possible topics for your posts:  Is race still an issue in this nation despite our progress in many areas  Why might that be so? What did Gates mean by "the theater of race?" That our reactions are more "reflexive than reflective"? How does the incident in Feruguson relate to his writing?  Have we come to assume that most young African-American men may be up to no good. What affect does this have on the development of young men of color? Are changing US demographics pertinent? Is race more divisive than economic disparities in this nation?  Why do we appear continue to focus more on race than other issues such as the growing economic divide and our need for empathy as discussed in the Kristof article?  And why is empathy an issue in a diversity course?