***
THE
ONE THING I haven't seen or heard in all the Ferguson coverage is a
comparison of the present-day policing of U.S. minorities with the
strategy and tactics used against the labor movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries – specifically from the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 through the Haymarket Massacre and the Battle of Blair Mountain in 1921.
Militarization of law enforcement (then via the National Guard and the Pinkerton Agency), the ever-present possibility of provocateurs and the law-enforcement organizations' protection of the rights of the establishment over those of the individual – all are similar to what is happening to folks of color now, whether in Ferguson or on our southern border.
Militarization of law enforcement (then via the National Guard and the Pinkerton Agency), the ever-present possibility of provocateurs and the law-enforcement organizations' protection of the rights of the establishment over those of the individual – all are similar to what is happening to folks of color now, whether in Ferguson or on our southern border.
Then
as now, the conflicts are about labor – though the pivotal elements
tend to be obscured by the fact labor rights no longer threaten our
economic establishment. With the advent of containerization,
just-in-time production and stocking, and very speedy transport, the
unionized jobs have gone – either overseas or to the "right-to-work"
states – the outsourcing helped by various tax breaks.
But
something had to be done with the remaining workers. Oh, we can start a
new industry! Besides the military-industrial (and Congressional)
complex, we now have the prison-industrial-Congressional complex. Like
the 19th Century practice of giving away land and tax benefits to railroads, we now have 21st
Century giveaways to private, for-profit prisons, and we can even
guarantee them a certain number of prisoners – or detainees in the case
of Immigration Detention Centers.
The
reason we haven't heard such comparisons being made is there is no
longer a Labor Radio or a newspaper sponsored by labor. There aren't
even any labor programs on air or columns in the press any more. And
without constant publicity, labor unions, corrupt or clean, begin to
fade.
During the civil rights era, reporters and editors, even for the top newspapers and networks, earned middle class incomes. Newspaper workers lived in the neighborhoods where the average Joe lived. Now they earn enough money not to have to live with the hoi polloi. This only increases their lack of understanding of the real story.
At the heart of the Ferguson conflict is economics and education. Typically due to the tax breaks granted corporations (see above), there isn't enough money to fully fund good schools with good teachers for all students. In addition, few state governments are empowered to do more than minimally contribute to public school (K-12) funding. In most states, the critical budget decisions are made by local school districts. That's because most of the money spent in a given district is generated – mostly from real estate taxes – within that district. Thus the impoverished districts stay poor and the rich ones get richer. And yes, I agree that teachers' unions have fostered some of the malaise in our schools, but that really didn't start until desegregation – until white teachers felt they had to fend off what they regarded as encroachment by "new" (often African-American) teachers.
During the civil rights era, reporters and editors, even for the top newspapers and networks, earned middle class incomes. Newspaper workers lived in the neighborhoods where the average Joe lived. Now they earn enough money not to have to live with the hoi polloi. This only increases their lack of understanding of the real story.
At the heart of the Ferguson conflict is economics and education. Typically due to the tax breaks granted corporations (see above), there isn't enough money to fully fund good schools with good teachers for all students. In addition, few state governments are empowered to do more than minimally contribute to public school (K-12) funding. In most states, the critical budget decisions are made by local school districts. That's because most of the money spent in a given district is generated – mostly from real estate taxes – within that district. Thus the impoverished districts stay poor and the rich ones get richer. And yes, I agree that teachers' unions have fostered some of the malaise in our schools, but that really didn't start until desegregation – until white teachers felt they had to fend off what they regarded as encroachment by "new" (often African-American) teachers.
Once
upon a time, our land-grant colleges were supposed to be for workers'
families. Now they, and community colleges (which used to be free to
students in their service area), are beyond the reach of today's lower
income families: a year at Washington State University costs about
$28,176 a year for tuition, books, fees, room and board, transportation,
and miscellaneous expenses. Tacoma Community College charges $109.59
per credit hour, plus fees, books, etc.
But
even if a college education were free, the good jobs have been leaving
the nation at least since the Reagan years. I watched a factory that was
making tools for the auto industry get shipped piecemeal to Korea in
1982-1984. It went from 50-plus people per shift, three shifts a day,
seven days a week, shutting down only on Christmas, to zero people in
two years. None of those middle-aged men were retained by the company.
Likewise, Boeing is slowly moving its work from the Seattle area to
non-union states from Kansas to South Carolina.
And even if we reform the education system, where are the jobs? As in Egypt, Tunisia, Italy, and Spain – where are the jobs that would give these kids a purpose?
To speak to the particulars of Darren Wilson versus Michael Brown, a one-inch differential in height should not have cowed Officer Wilson so much he immediately pulled his gun. Frankly, I'm surprised he didn't kick his door open as Mike Brown got close enough. Anyone behind the steering wheel of a car is at a definite disadvantage when it comes to getting a nightstick or pepper spray as opposed to a firearm that's on his hip. For both men, the final 90 seconds probably ran on pure adrenalin. But the outcome was determined the moment Brown reached inside Wilson's car.
Yes, I do believe Wilson was terrified. Lots of people are afraid of large people, and large people depend on that fear to get their own way. Wilson probably had used his height to keep from having to pull his gun before. This time, his opponent was bigger than he was – certainly heavier though not much taller. And Wilson's testimony reflects that.
Should he have been terrified? I don't think so. I think his training and fitness level should have overcome that. Wilson might be in excellent shape for a Ferguson cop, but he spends his days in a squad car, not being a physically active teenager. He needs to up his fitness profile and his awareness quotient. People caught off-guard as he was are generally used to terrorizing other people by their mere presence.
And even if we reform the education system, where are the jobs? As in Egypt, Tunisia, Italy, and Spain – where are the jobs that would give these kids a purpose?
To speak to the particulars of Darren Wilson versus Michael Brown, a one-inch differential in height should not have cowed Officer Wilson so much he immediately pulled his gun. Frankly, I'm surprised he didn't kick his door open as Mike Brown got close enough. Anyone behind the steering wheel of a car is at a definite disadvantage when it comes to getting a nightstick or pepper spray as opposed to a firearm that's on his hip. For both men, the final 90 seconds probably ran on pure adrenalin. But the outcome was determined the moment Brown reached inside Wilson's car.
Yes, I do believe Wilson was terrified. Lots of people are afraid of large people, and large people depend on that fear to get their own way. Wilson probably had used his height to keep from having to pull his gun before. This time, his opponent was bigger than he was – certainly heavier though not much taller. And Wilson's testimony reflects that.
Should he have been terrified? I don't think so. I think his training and fitness level should have overcome that. Wilson might be in excellent shape for a Ferguson cop, but he spends his days in a squad car, not being a physically active teenager. He needs to up his fitness profile and his awareness quotient. People caught off-guard as he was are generally used to terrorizing other people by their mere presence.
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