Transcripts For LINKTV Democracy Now 20140819

Darren wilson should be arrested. Top of histhe very head, it makes no sense. That is what we have, that is why we believe that those two things alone are ample evidence for this officer to be arrested. Ferguson for to the latest and spake with longtime missouri civil rights activists jamala rogers. Philiip agnew of dream defenders and the reverend osagy efo sekou. Johne will speak to howard, director of the Haas Institute. All that and more, coming up. Democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Heavy unrest in the ongoing fatal policethe shooting of 18yearold Michael Brown. At least 31 people were arrested as the clashes erupted between groups of demonstrators and riot police. Police claim they came under heavy gunfire and two people were shot over the course of the night, not by police. Highway patrol captain ron johnson blamed when he called a small group of lawbreakers. Acts came fromal a tiny minority of lawbreakers. Anyone who activities protests understand that there is a dangerous dynamic in the night. It allows a small number of violent agitators to hide in the crowd and then attempt to create chaos. The catalyst can be bottles , andn, molotov cocktails of course, shots fired. Protesters are peaceful and respectful. Protesters do not clash with police. Were least two journalists detained overnight, including aux of the intercept. Monday march the first night of the National Guard being deployed to ferguson, but they have laid a limited role. The officer who shot Michael Brown remains in hiding on paid leave. The family of brown held a News Conference to discuss a private that revealed brown had been shot six times. A family attorney backed up the witnesses who claim brown was shot as he tried to flee. What does this preliminary all caps he tell us . What is the preliminary autopsy tell us . That the witness accounts were true, he was shot multiple times. It is going to be one of those things that we have to get all the witness statements out and look at all the autopsies to put this picture together for his family to know that the witnesses, what they were telling them about him being shot mobile times in broad daylight. Isthe Justice Department conducting its own autopsy, in addition to another by state examiners. Eric holder will travel to ferguson to meet with fbi agents conducting a civil rights investigation. President obama declined to weigh in on the specifics of the shooting, citing and investigation. He voiced concerns about the militarized Police Response about the protest over the past week. There is a big difference between our military and local law enforcement. We do not want those lines blurred. Our would be contrary to positions. There would be bipartisan interest in reexamining those programs. Ferguson after headlines. Israel and hamas have renewed their ceasefire for another 24 hours. The truce was due to expire after five days but was extended to continue talks in cairo. Palestinian negotiators say the 24hour extension will be the last and that palestinian delegates are unified in their demands, which include an easing of the israeli blockade of gaza. The two sides have reportedly narrowed to france is on some issues but remain at an impasse on others, including the opening of an airport and seaport for gaza, as well as the release of hundreds of palestinian prisoners. Speaking in gaza, pierre of the humanead agency for palestinian refugees, says the blockade needs to be lifted for gaza survival. Is not enough to have a suspicion of hostilities have a cessation of hostilities. It is unsustainable in human terms. It is not possible to have 83 0,000 people and now 1. 1 million ood of 1. 8 million on wfp f distribution lists. 1. 1 million people. I take no pride in that figure. Government is blocking Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch from entering the gaza strip. Preventing researchers from investigating the assault. The israeli journalist amira mustreports groups register as a humanitarian organization, only to be informed they do not qualify. Amnesty and Human Rights Watch withraised reports allegations of war crimes by israel and hamas. Kurdish and Iraqi Forces Say they have retaken control of the reversing one of the Islamic States key achievements in its sweep through northern iraq. The apparent victory over the Islamic State, known widely as isil, shows the most intensive u. S. Airstrikes since the Campaign Began early this month. The Iraqi Campaign says it has launched an operation to retake tikrit. Called aised what he major step forward in iraq and said he believes the decision to launch strikes is in u. S. Interest. U. S. Id an escalation of involvement is less likely if the new government adopt and inclusive approach. The interest is in making sure our people are protected and in making sure that a savage toup that seems willing slaughter people for no rhyme or reason other than they have not them our on the to have partners ground. If we have partners on the ground, Mission Creep is less likely. Hashe Islamic State released a video warning of an attack on americans around the world. Of video shows a photograph an american beheaded during the iraq war with a caption reading we will drown all of you in blood. Accusing separatist rebels of killing dozens of refugees. They say rebels attacked a convoy of civilians trying to flee the east, which has seen intensified violence in recent months. Rebel leaders have either denied an attack took place or claimed ukraine was responsible for any casualties that may have occurred. There has been no independent confirmation of either sides claim. Over 2000 people have died since fighting erupted in april, with more than half killed in the last two weeks. Unidentified warplanes have bombed targets in the libyan amidst of tripoli continued violence between Government Forces and rebel militias. The strikes reportedly targeted militia controlled areas, killing six. Representatives of the renegade hifter general khalifa have claimed responsibility. Doubts have been raised, as his forces are believed to lack the capability. Nato and the u. S. Have denied involvement. Its fifth day of massive antigovernment protests. Tens of thousands of demonstrators led by opposition ralliedmran khan have in a call for the resignation of Prime Minister nawaz sharif. Convoys have joined a march on the capital, islamabad. Honored byld man israel for saving a jewish life during the night the holocaust has returned his medal in protest of the gaza assault. An awardli was given for his actions under nazi occupation in amsterdam. Smuggledhenk zanoli out a jewish boy and helped hide him for two years in his home, despite not see suspicion. Father was executed in a concentration camp and his brotherinlaw was executed at a resistance fighter. Zanoli returned his medal, saying that israeli bombings in gaza had killed six of his relatives. His grandniece is married to a palestinian man who lost three brothers, a sisterinlaw, a nephew, and his fathers first wife. For me to hold onto the honor granted to me by the state of israel under these circumstances would be an insult to those in my family who lost no less than six of their relatives in gaza. Actionsoli added the of your state in gaza these days have already resulted in serious accusations of war crimes and crimes against humanity. It would be of no surprise to me that these accusations could lead to possible convictions if true and unpublicized justice is able to have its course. Gazahappened to our kin in will no doubt be brought to the table at such a time as well. Headlines. Ome of the this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Least 31 people arrested in ferguson, missouri last night as protests continued over the Fatal Police Shooting of 18yearold Michael Brown. The cover of todays st. Louis dispatch has a banner headline Reading Street flare up. A Police Officer dressed in riot teargas. Ts startling images were published on twitter overnight. A human rights monitor from Amnesty International photographed a Police Armored car charging through the crowd of protesters. Wroteys zeke johnson insanity as Police Armored car chargers through crowd, lucky no one hurt, seems so reckless. Kesling of the wall street journal, published a photo with the caption, just stoaw just rifle. Tyle tweetedakuma of msnbc riot police aiming guns at journalists who are holding twor hands in the air, journalists were detained overnight including Ryan Devereaux of the intercept. Earlier in the day, Police Arrested scott olson of getty images. Captain ronol johnson defended the Police Response, saying officers have come under heavy attack. There were numerous reports of shots fired. We had two fires, one at a business and one at an occupied residence. , our officers came under heavy gunfire. Our officers confiscated two guns during a car stop near the media staging area. These are not acts of protesters the acts of violent criminals. Our officers acted with professionalism. Once again, not a single bullet fired by officers, despite coming under heavy attack. The governor of missouri deploy the National Guard to the streets of ferguson, so far they have played a limited role, protecting the police post. Thes after attorneys for family of Michael Brown held a press conference to discuss the findings of a private autopsy that revealed brown had been shot six times. Daryl parks is an attorney for the family. The first is the kill shot, when attorney crump was speaking, here. Head, apex of his severe and clear injury. Back to front position. The second shot, that is here, a hison the diagram by hairline. That bullet came out near the eye area. Thats very important. Front to bothk to supporting what the witnesses said about him trying to surrender. His head was in a downward position, it had to be. Those type of facts are clear. Given thosehat kinds of facts, this officer should have been arrested. Those things speak for themselves. Why would he be shot in the very top of his head . Daryl parks, an attorney for the family of Michael Brown. The Justice Department will conduct its own autopsy. President obama announced eric holder will travel to ferguson wednesday to meet with fbi agents conducting a federal civil rights investigation into the shooting. We go now to ferguson, we are joined by reverend sekou from in First Baptist Church Jamaica plain, massachusetts, dispatched to ferguson by the fellowship of reconciliation. In st. To High School Louis and has family in ferguson. Thank you for joining us, reverend. Can you talk about what happened last night . Thank you, amy. Protesters had been obeying the orders to keep moving. The crowd grew very large, several thousand. And then the police line. Ssembled young people are very angry in this community and in a tremendous amount of pain. Not only because of the death of mike brown, but because of the history of abuse by police in st. Louis county. One young man was completely , inconsolable. We try to restrain him and calm him down and then all of a wasen, and urban tank deployed and a garrison of officer came and snatched him out of our hands. Later on that evening down the point wheree other the military police had set up, young people were refusing to leave the streets. And Police Deployed teargas. I was standing there when it happened, a number of us were tear gassed last night. Is nothinging now less than an occupation. I have not felt the way that i palestine inwas in 2012. In fact, i had to go through a check when. I was asked for my id to get to this media station. So, our young people are in a tremendous amount of pain. An officer who should have been indicted has not been indicted. Clear and the and reality that these young people are engaging in a rich tradition of nonviolent civil disobedience. There is some violence, the greatest amount of violence occurred last saturday when Michael Brown was shot down like and left left industry for four hours. In the street for four hours. Your voice is hoarse after two nights of being tear gassed. 31 people arrested, including Ryan Devereaux. At an Early Morning News Conference, ron johnson defended the arrests. I will tell you that in the midst of chaos, officers are running around. Were not sure who is a journalist and who is not. If i see someone with a 50,000 camera on the shoulder, i am pretty sure. Some journalists are Walking Around and all you have is a cell phone because you are from a small media outlet. Some of you may have a camera around your neck. We may take some of you into custody. When we do take you into custody and we have found out that you are a journalist, we have taken the proper actions. In the midst of it, we cannot in the midst of chaos, trying to move people on, we have to be safe. We have not heard rather Ryan Devereaux is out, it has been many hours. Camerad sekou, a 50,000 on your shoulder will keep you safe. Evidently a 50,000 camera will keep you safe, but being a black boy walking down the street in your own community will not. The level of Police Oppression we are experiencing here is unbelievable. Over my shoulder, hundreds of police cars. Since i have been here, i arrived friday night, since i have been here, i personally have had about 100 m16s and ak47s pointed at me. We were marching on saturday peacefully and then all of a sudden urban tanks appeared out of nowhere and tear gassed children. It is a highlevel Police Presence and a violation of the First Amendment. Journalists are not allowed to do their job in order to bear witness to what is happening here on american soil while drones are being deployed. There are teachers are telling me that they cannot buy books for their children. The ideal is completely problematic. The provocation that is ofpening is the high level military style Police Presence here in ferguson. Reverend sekou, as you stand there in the streets of night, manyst ministers were deployed, leaders from the community. Can you talk about your role there . And if you think that role is being respected by police. Speaking of ministers, you just came from studying at stanford university, dr. Martin luther kings papers. Can you wrap that in to your answer . It is rather surreal to have spent the last six weeks as a scholar in residence at the Martin Luther king papers at stanford and to get on a paper to flat and to get on a plane to fly home and see the economic work 50 yearsl at later. Thinking about keening theonding to the riots and anger he encountered by young people who were simply uncontrollable when simply inconsolable when another young black man was shot down like a dog by a policing agency. All of that has added a bit of surrealness. I was part of a group of local byrgy, a lot of this is led local organizations like the organization of black struggle. We have been trying to calm them folks down and keep out of harms way. It is a tragedy that as a clergy a tear gas mask more than i need a collar to do the work that i feel called to do. We have been attempting to diffuse the situation and the escalade the young peoples anger, not that their anger is not righteous. We are trying to protect them from the police. In one of those instances, we are attempting to do that. Let us be clear that we are engaging in work that should not be necessary in a democracy. We should not have to spend our time trying to protect children from police in their own community. And so, we have been engaging in that work. Young people are inconsolable, their hearts are broken and they are in pain. The numbers we see over and over again, i am ready to die because i do not have anything to live for. We are and have been we are attempting to engage that so they might be able to live and fight another day. Lastly, i want to say that one of the things people can do you are comingif year, we need more boots on the ground, please contact local organizations, particularly the organization of black Struggle Network and organizers here to be able to be plugged into supporting the work that needs to be done on the ground. The riske coming, at of repeating myself. If you are coming from out of town, contact the organization of black struggle and other local organizations so that you can get your directive from them. Asking the media to continue to do your job and to tell your truth and to be able to bear witness to the fourth estate, hold accountable Police Agencies and government officials. The state senator and others have created a petition online, a moveon petition asking for the indictment the cculloh to be removed. Son should be in jail, not the young people i saw arrested trying to leave last night. He needs to be in jail. If he would have been arrested, most of this would not be at work. It is a failure of government. Of policingure agencies. It is a failure of this nation. It is a crying shame. This nation has betrayed these children with underfunded schools, have a policing, and have a militarizing. Ashamed ofuld be what it has done and we will defend them with our lives. Reverend osagyefo sekou, please stay safe. From the First Baptist church in jamaica plain, massachusetts, dispatched to ferguson by the fellowship of reconciliation. His family is an ferguson and he has been on the front lines each night, tear gas and number of times. Now is ira democracy we stay in the streets of ferguson. Stay with us. [ ] [music break] freedom suite. Democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Researchvey by the pew center finds the public reaction to the shooting of Michael Brown is divided along racial lines, 80 of africanamericans say the case raises issues about race that need to be discussed, less than 40 of whites agree. Racey half of whites say is getting more attention than it deserves. Africanamericans are more critical of the Police Response, 65 are saying police have gone too far, compared to 33 of whites. Calling to mind the racial 1960s. S of the in 1960 seven, Lyndon Johnson established the Kerner Commission to investigate the causes of the unrest. 1968, the commission famously concluded that our nation is moving towards two societies one black and one white, separate and unequal. Over a month later, the assassination of dr. Martin luther king jr. Sparked uprisings in more than 100 cities across the country. Including kansas city, missouri. The National Guard was deployed and five people were killed. Our next guest, jamala rogers, was born in kansas city and witnessed the 1968 uprising. She recently wrote a piece called Kerner Commission comes societies, separate and unequal. Callas on a Conference Monday with attorney general eric holder and senior obama adviser valerie jarrett. We are also joined by phillip director oftive youth of color and allies who engage in nonviolent civil disobedience and engagement to bring about change. We will find out why he just came into ferguson. First, we will start with phillip agnew. Why did you come to ferguson . Here as a young person who knows all too well what it is like to live on the second rung of society. I came here to be a part of resistance. Ofhave not seen a reaction nonviolent civil disobedience by officers of the state like this in my lifetime. I came here to stand sidebyside and to learn how we can help. Last year, we had a young man murdered by an officer of the Miami Beach Police department in cold blood. A year later, he is still paid and on the force. I came here because this moment, this town has become the epicenter and a test ground for what american officer of the to repress First Amendment rights, the right to peacefully assemble. Anybody that does not see it or does not wake up right now is in for a rude awakening tomorrow. Your response to the National Guard being called in . Protocol is not working. The police are the people that anded this problem exacerbate the problem. Bringing in the National Guard, i dont think, will do anything to quell a community that is reacting in the only way humanly possible when you see one of your own children murdered in cold blood by the very people who are supposed to protect them. The National Guard is going to do nothing to alleviate the grief and the pain from a community that continuously has salt poured in the wound from the people supposed to protect them. The National Guard, i have heard, is the last attempt to restore peace and order. If there is any peace and order to be had, the police need to go. There is a war zone here. I feel like i am a war correspondent. There are army tanks, army men, people in fatigues. You are asked where you are when you want to go anywhere in the city. This is not what you would imagine an American City to look like. You would imagine america would do things like this to people in gaza, not here in ferguson, in st. Louis, missouri. It is interesting, yesterday we talked about th dread scott the dredd scott case. Dredd scott is very just down the road. His case is dredd scott versus sanford. Made meassociation, it think of sanford, florida. You rose to National Prominence in dealing with the Trayvon Martin case, the murder of localr young man by a security guy, george zimmerman, who was acquitted. Can you talk about connections you see coming here from florida . There are plenty of connections. We talked about living in two americas. There have been two americas since the founding of this country. We live in it in florida and we live in it here in ferguson as we speak. There is an america where people are able to voice their concerns. There is an america where people are able to live freely and happily. As i drove around, i saw people walking their dogs and going about their daily life, just down the block, there is another [no audio] to a breaking to go and fix the audio. You have been listening to phillip agnew, head of dream defenders. He just came in to ferguson, missouri from florida. As people are gathering there, deeply concerned about Racial Justice in this country. We will also be joined by jamala of the organization for black struggle. On the streets of ferguson, missouri. Stay with us. [ ] [music break] fruit, mosttrange often sung by billy holiday, she said she threw up every time she sang it. Democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Back to the streets of ferguson, missouri, joined by jamala rogers, founder and past chair of the organization for black struggle in st. Louis, missouri. Innessed the 1968 riots kansas city. Her recent piece is called Kerner Commission warning comes two societies, separate and unequal. The call by about so many, why the delay in information coming from the police. Except information they released, allegedly, about Michael Brown shoplifting. Being pushed hard to release the name of darren wilson, the Police Officer. Asking why there is no action on an indictment, now a grand jury has been an panel has been empaneled. Downdictment could come without a grand jury. Talk about the prosecutor in this case, mcculloch, and the calls for him to step aside. Has a very ugly history in terms of the prosecution of africanamericans in st. Louis county. Some of those cases have also come back to haunt him in terms of wrongful conviction. In hiss no confidence ability to bring justice to the family of Michael Brown or to the ferguson community. And so, that is why the growing voices are getting stronger and stronger in terms of him stepping back and a special prosecutor be appointed. Jury,oblem with a grand anybody who has an understanding of how that works knows that most of the time grand jury is of theappendage prosecutor. When he decided to convene a , that escalated peoples anger and outrage that justice was not going to be served. Thepparently mr. Mcculloch, prosecutor, criticized the appointment of ron johnson, the Highway Security captain, who was brought in, saying it would demoralize the local police. Ferguson. Lson and he also comes from a family of Police Officers. In fact, his father was killed in the line of duty. The questioning of whether he can be objective when it comes to actually investigating a Police Officer. Again, there is no confidence in Bob Mcculloch. If you really wanted to do the right thing by ferguson, he would not have been criticizing ron johnsons assignment to that area. Ron johnson has a history with ferguson. He lives there. While he was there, there was calm on the streets. Ae fact that there is continued military presence in ferguson is what is keeping the fires going. Lets be clear on that. So, the outrage and anger and pain that the community is feeling has only been exacerbated by the fact that you pointing at people and you have armored tanks in the street. I keep thinking and wondering what would be the case if that presence was not there. And who would young people be throwing rocks at . If they left the area and if they actually were there to keep peace and calm, as opposed to harassing folks and doing all kinds of things that have been captured not only on social media but by some of the bona fide media. This is a force that has no interest in making sure that this community is safe and calm. They are trying to make a point. The point is that more military presence is needed as opposed to less. I can recall an incident where young people were trying to stand in front of a store to keep folks from breaking in and looting. And threw tear gas and dispersed them, allowing the looters to continue. We see young people harassed, last night, young people were beaten by the police. All these incidents have continued to mount. It is the same with the situation of police abuse and Police Murder. There is rarely a time when the police are going to get their due and they are beyond the law. Young people in our community, those of the black and brown community, are tired of seeing our young people be target practice for the police. Encouraged by eric holder coming to ferguson tomorrow . The dispatch of Something Like 40 fbi agents, officers to investigate and do a separate investigation at a federal level into the death of Michael Brown. Who, again, as was pointed out before, lay in the street hour , two hour after hour peoples puzzlement. That image of Michael Browns body lay in the street for more than four hours. Image know, that was the that really galvanized peoples anger. And now, the fact that the autopsy has revealed that he was shot six times, two of those shots to the head, which means that he was in a lower position. I think if the police had been acting properly, they would have immediately arrested the officer and started the process of indictment. When i think about the effects when i think about the feds coming in, thats probably a different kind of animal. I dont think there is that much faith in them. They have investigated other situations of Police Murder and nothing has come out of it. We will see. I was on the phone call yesterday with the white house and eric holder a short. There was going to be a swift but and eric holder assured folks there was going to be a swift but decisive investigation. We will see. Now, i think that whatever the department of justice has at their disposal, including trying totalk to mr. Mcculloch stand down, they need to be doing that. There is plenty of blame to pass around in terms of law enforcement. The police chief has bungled this case and someone needs to take it from them. Just to be clear on the quote of Bob Mcculloch criticizing jay nixons decision to bring in ron johnson. He told the st. Louis dispatch, it is shameful to what he did, to denigrate the men and women of the Police Department is shameful. That is the prosecutor that has empaneled a grand jury and will decide whether the officer that shot Michael Brown will be conducted. Way back,ers, you go can you briefly give us a little guardy about the national and about the unrest in missouri . One of the things phillip thew mentioned is that National Guard is supposed to be the last resort. Here, we have people coming in and engaging in this kind of military behavior. In kansas city when it happened, it really did ratchet up the violence. A number of people were killed after the guard came in. It was very scary for me to hear that they were on their way, quite frankly. I do not see them as anything but an occupying force. Even in terms of the media camp here. It brought back vivid memories and also brought back the fact that the same conditions that er report found, poor education, lack of resources, unemployment, a racist media, all of those ingredients are being stirred up right here in ferguson and across the urban centers of america. Jamala rogers, thank you for being with us. Counter and founder and past chair of the organization for black struggle. Born in kansas city, missouri. We turn to john powell in detroit. Professor of law and africanamerican studies and ethnic studies at university of california berkeley. Director of the Haas Institute for fair and inclusive society. Welcome to democracy now , you have been listening to the broadcast from the streets of ferguson, missouri. Your thoughts . Is, myirst thought condolences for the family and the community. Ands a difficult situation also one that comes up to frequent. Frequently. You mentioned the Kerner Commission 50 years ago, we are still dealing with the same issues. We avoid the hard issues, the structure, the system, the continued neglect of poor people of color across the country. Obviously, the police do not community with people. The police do not know the people. The Kerner Commission noticed this in 1968. Part of the problem was the police did not have a relationship with the community, a trusting relationship. The black community has been over policed and unprotected. Not a concern from a number of sources is how do we protect the people there with guns, tanks, instead of the people who live there, that is the problem. It is a serious problem. You have gone too many communities after police shootings. You have been looking at issues like these for decades. Talk about what you have found. One of the most important things is the relationship between the police and in this case military. Is there a sense of trust . Tragedyout katrina, a of a different sort. A tragedy that was heavily racialized, it was not a police shooting. When the levees broke in new orleans, they said the military tanks pointednd at people who were suffering from shock, most of them black. It was not until the general who was also africanamerican went in and said put your guns down, these are american citizens. Is notimes, that recognized. The people there are in pain and not beingty is recognized. That happens over and over again. The police are sent in, they are afraid, we get that. Although they have guns and tanks, we are still afraid. There is a thing called implicit bias. Mentioneduntry, you the difference between how important race is. Fortunately, we have a way of testing how americans feel about race. The test is in. You do not have to ask people what they think the test is empirical. You do not have to ask people what they think, you can test it. Country. S a racialized many police are afraid of blacks, many blacks are afraid of police. Police have guns and tanks and the law behind them. I was in detroit years ago when the riot happened. I watched tanks down the street and have studied it as an academic. Things have changed but the foundation for tensions between police and the community has not changed. It is interesting you mentioned general honore, who i was just watching speaking from baton rouge, louisiana. Actually criticizing how ferguson has been handled after the death of Michael Brown. Saying the police went in as if they were going in for in a cell to riots opposed control. He supported the National Guard. He talked about the military college, it is in missouri. You have looked at florida and what happened after Trayvon Martin and what we can learn from this. Media, professor powell, even be paying attention to ferguson after Michael Brown was killed if there were not protests in the street . Probably not. We have seen many cases where young black men and young latino man has been killed or abuse and it is only when there is a flareup that the country becomes focused on it. It only becomes focus on it on of flareup for that period time and in the tension goes elsewhere. We watched in new york when black women were killed and raped, they did not make the news. When the famous central park car, got white woman a a lot of news. , aost the same time period black woman was raped and killed , it did not make the news. Black lives are not valued in the same way. Case, central park jogger the young men, teenagers, young teenagers who were arrested and spent years in jail, ultimately have been vindicated and just like aething multimillion Dollar Settlement from the city of new york. But they served their full time in jail. They got 40 million in the last month. That is right. One of the things this shows, we need to respect all life. Im not trying to put black lives over what lies, all lies, palestinians and use. In this country we have a history of not just police, but of the lawome enforcement agencies, disrespecting black life. In hundreds of ways. The police are just one expression of that. Iscan measure that now, it not a question of asking. Is not the same as saying is the country racist or even our the , we live in a system where black life is less value. It is reflected in schools and our taxing policies. ,hen a white life is threatened in terms of what happens when a white person is killed by a black person from the system respond very differently when a black risk is killed by a white person. This is a study that went to the spring court went to the Supreme Court of georgia. If a black person kills a white person, the system, not individuals, responds extremely differently. Much faster and is more likely to get a conviction. In some cases, over convict. Is fundamentally different. You mentioned white attitudes and black attitudes about what is happening. The reality is we live in a segregated society. Something happens in the black community, the White Community does not know. They do not live there and they only see what they read in the newspaper. They are not physically present in the black community. Weis also interesting, if were living in a country where therace was less important, large divisions in terms of Racial Attitudes Say Something in terms of what is going on. Professor powell, you teach a course on dredd scott, he is buried just down the road on florissant, the cemetery is just down the road from these protests. In st. Louis. Rt can you talk about significance of what has been known as the most infamous case in Supreme Court history. Whomjudges, a number of have families that owned slaves, ruled that africanamericans cannot be citizens of the u. S. That was a very important case, it gave us the civil war amendment, the 13th which purported to end slavery. It accidentally it actually did not. It said slavery should not exist in its territories except, what happens after the exception is when someone is arrested and tried. Even the 13th amendment says slavery is still out. Dredd scott traveled outside of missouri and was waving his freedom. The question was is he a citizen. So he cant even bring the case to federal court. You have to have diversity jurisdiction between citizens of two different states to be in federal court. The court first of all found that he was not a citizen. And that no black, free or otherwise, this is important. Even if he was free, the court was saying, you still cannot be a citizen. U. S. , thisck in the is a Supreme Court justice saying this. There have been states that extended citizenship since the beginning. Lengths to say that blacks could never be part of the political community. They were not perceived as people. One of the things that was made reference to, we the people, w blacks . At include tanning said blacks could not be considered people under the constitution. That case actually inflame the country in many ways. It also inflamed the republicans. The caseture of actually remains in the sense we have not created a more perfect union. We still have not come to full recognition of blacks and other people. One way we can demonstrate that, when we see another human being, our brain is wired. Part of the brain lights up in recognition of another human being. There are many situations when we can show americans a black of an who has been victim crime, that part of the brain does not light up. We literally do not see a number of young lachman as human beings. So, we still live with the ghost of dred scott. We have just 30 seconds. Are your what recommendations as you look outside ferguson in . A couple things, i do think things need to be deescalated. We actually should have a real police in thek at u. S. We should make Police Accountable to communities. We should actually bring some of the stuff we are learning about implicit bias into the discourse so we moved beyond is it racism or not. We should actually have a real conversation about race and what it means in the 21st century. Even though we have an africanamerican president. A. Powell, professor of law and africanamerican studies and ethnic studies at the university of california berkeley. Director of the Haas Institute for a fair and inclusive society. Speaking to us today from detroit, michigan. That doesnt for our broadcast that does it for our broadcast. Democracy now is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. Email your comments to outreach democracynow. Org or mail them to democracy now p. O. Box 693 new york, new york 10013. 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