Ferguson sparks conversations in Twin Cities
Much of the country has been watching Ferguson, Missouri this week, where nightly protests continued over the shooting death of Michael Brown.
Photos: Chaotic scene captured in Ferguson, Mo.
The unarmed black teenager was killed by a white police officer - sparking a nationwide conversation about the relationship between local black communities and police.
As New York Times op-ed columnist Charles Blow wrote last Sunday:
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Yes there are the disturbingly repetitive and eerily similar circumstances of many cases of unarmed black people being killed by police officers.
This reinforces black people's beliefs - supported by actual data--that blacks are treated less fairly by the police.
But I submit that this is bigger than that. The frustration we see in Ferguson is about not only the present act of perceived injustice but also the calcifying system of inequity - economic, educational, judicial - drawn largely along racial lines.
Tom Weber talks with three guests about the kinds of conversations Ferguson has sparked here in the Twin Cities.
Related:
• Some worry that police-community tensions could erupt in Minneapolis
• Ferguson memorial turns into protest in Minneapolis
• Activists: Flowers' beating by police 'is not isolated'
• Northside group asking for apology from MPD