Ferguson Is a Symptom of America

After the riots in Ferguson, a small town in Missouri, people can’t help but ask: Why have riots in Ferguson been fermenting for more than half a month, causing a state of emergency, requiring a curfew, and bringing in fully armed National Guard troops to maintain order? Why did people in many big cities such as New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago erupt into protests to support the victim, a black teenager, Michael Brown? Does racial discrimination still exist even though blacks are professors, governors, congressmen, ministers and even president?

In fact, the shooting of Brown by a white police officer seems just the fuse that touched off over 10 years of anger and wrath buried inside of African-Americans and detonated a long accumulated racial, economic and social crisis.

Ferguson is a small town with a population of less than 20,000, a suburb of St. Louis. However, the demographic composition of this small town has experienced earthshaking changes within one generation. Prior to the 1990s, middle-class Caucasians were the dominant residents in town, constituting three-quarters of the population. However, since the 1980s, Caucasians had moved out of town gradually and migrated to seek a better life in the outer suburbs that have better living conditions and are far from big cities. In their place, a large amount of African-Americans moved in from big cities seeking to improve living conditions. Currently, African-Americans constitute two-thirds of the town’s population.

Great changes in the racial dynamic didn’t change the town’s “superstructure.” A strange phenomenon, “African-American city, Caucasian power,” was formed. Now, the mayor of Ferguson is Caucasian; six out of seven city council members are Caucasians; 50 out of 53 police officers are Caucasians; six out of seven school principals are Caucasians; etc. This small town is like an “independent kingdom” managed by a handful of Caucasians and doesn’t concern the weal and woe of African-Americans who moved into town. “Government of the people” is supposed to exist “for the people.” This hasn’t been the case in Ferguson, and this reality has intensified gradually.

At the same time of the “Great Migration,” American enterprises chased after maximizing benefits, and many industries outsourced overseas. This led to closures of factories and loss of job opportunities. Ferguson was decaying under the impact of this wave and became a “poor” town. Now, the median annual household income is $37,000, which is $10,000 lower than the average in Missouri. One-fourth of Ferguson’s residents are living below the poverty line. A large number of young people are unemployed and can’t find a job.

The impacts of the global financial crisis worsened the situation in Ferguson. According to reports, the number of people visiting food banks showed a substantial surge, with no observed declines for six years. Developing chances and reviving hopes always pass by this small town and leave this forgotten corner alone. Loss, frustration, despair and anger fill their hearts. Finally, these emotions exploded all at once, using Brown’s killing as a catalyst, like a big burning fire.

Actually, Ferguson is just an example of many small towns in the Rust Belt and all over the U.S. According to a research report published by the Brookings Institution last month, since 2000, the poverty growth rate in small cities and towns has grown at twice the rate than in big cities. More than half of about 46 million impoverished people in the U.S. live in the outskirts of cities and towns. Impoverishment of small cities and towns has become an important racial and social issue troubling America. This is also the reason for the wave of protests in big cities all over the nation after the occurrence of the Ferguson riots.

Due to improvements brought about by the civil rights movement, racial discrimination has decreased substantially. Apparent racial discrimination hasn’t been seen. However, various forms of visible or invisible racial discrimination are everywhere all the time. Prejudices such as suspicion, disbelief and distrust seem to be the mindset that white police officers follow. With such bias standing on duty, it seems to be natural that innocent African-Americans are shot by white police officers’ guns.

Two years ago, a neighborhood watch member shot and killed a teenager, Trayvon Martin, in Florida for being a “suspicious person.” After the incident, even President Obama said emotionally that what happened to Martin might have happened to him 35 years ago.

Racial issues are American social ills. Though the Ferguson riots tend to moderate, such events will not disappear. In contrast, they will happen continuously. Visible racial discrimination is easy to eliminate, but invisible racial discrimination is rooted in the mind, and concepts penetrate into subconscious behaviors. Many American generations’ persistent efforts might be needed to root out racial discrimination.

The author is a former ambassador, a current senior researcher at the China Foundation for International Studies, and a commentator for Huanqiu.net.