The New Jim Crow
1. Ferguson, Missouri has a population of approximately 21,000 people — roughly 75% of those residents are Black
2. The Ferguson police department has around 530 cops —less than 5 of them are Black
3. Ferguson had *zero* homicides for all of 2014 —until Michael Brown was murdered by Darrin Wilson
4. Things you should know: Five Myths About Black-on-Black Crime
5. Michael Brown was 18yrs old and was about to begin college. Brown had no criminal record, and despite the Ferguson PD’s smear campaign, Mike Brown PAID FOR the cigars —those facts are all important and should be known, but even if Brown was a high school dropout with prior arrests who stole the cigars, 1) it wouldn’t have made his life any less valuable, 2) we have a court system and those are not capital offenses and 3) it doesn’t change the fact that the cop who killed him, Darren Wilson, had no idea about Brown’s personal history when he executed Brown. Wilson saw only a Black teen deemed either “too uppity” or “suspicious” because of his skin color
6. Five examples: The Militarization of the police
7. It’s deeply Institutional: Police view Black Children As Less Innocent
8. So please – don’t get it twisted