Well this thread escalated quickly.
From the comments of that Greg Howard article at Deadspin:
Quote:
Black folks have as much claim on this experiment as anyone. But the lack of ownership of our communities isn't doing anyone any favors. The tactics need to change and just raising hell and complaining for more government oversight is what got us here in the first place.
Michael Brown is a tragedy and his killer should be brought to justice. But if we're going to stop these crimes, it starts with stopping outsiders from selling our towns part and parcel, from demanding local control of schools, police forces and stores in communities. It comes from putting pressure on and creating the conditions for structural equality and making alliances with people who value our lives as much as we do and educating them.
But this whole "America is failing us and hostile to us" narrative of the black cognoscenti on twitter is getting old and getting us nowhere because employing the tactics of our grandparents in a digital world means we consistently lose the PR fight that marches, boycotts and other coordinated events won in the 50s and 60s.
It's time for new rhetoric, boldness & a commitment to something other than claiming we're powerless in this. Change will come and it'll either be on our terms or someone else's.
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