It's Been A Year Since The Police Murder In Ferguson

(This image of Ferguson in 2014 is from the website Slate.)

Today marks the one year anniversary of the murder of an unarmed Black teenager (Michael Brown) by a policeman in Ferguson, Missouri. And yes, I still think it was a murder -- in spite of the biased and erroneous information the District Attorney presented to the Grand Jury to get a no-bill. The killing sparked demonstrations and riots (caused mainly by the military-like police overreaction to the demonstrations). The media attention to this killing has sparked interest in other killings of unarmed Black citizens in the last year.

I would hope that some good will come from this and other similar tragedies, and maybe there is some hope for that.  The chart below shows the rise in the percentage of Americans who believe that more must be done in this country to insure equality for Black citizens. In 2014, only 46% of Americans believed that. But in 2015, a significant majority (59%) now believe more must be done -- a rise of 15 points.

Note also that every single demographic group (except for Republicans) now has a majority saying more must be done to insure equality -- and even among Republicans there has been a 15 point rise in the percentage wanting more to be done (from 27% in 2014 to 42% in 2015).

While I applaud this awakening of Americans to the realization that racism still exists (even in governmental organizations like the police and courts), I do not delude myself into thinking that real change will happen -- at least not yet. Sadly, the Congress is controlled by right-wing Republicans, and their policies have shown they do not believe any changes need be made. It will take a much bigger percentage than 59% to force these politicians to take any action at all.

But we must not let this opportunity, however slim, for change to pass us by. We are supposed to be a free country -- and a country that believes in equal rights and opportunity. All Americans need to ask themselves if they really believe that, and if they do, then it is time to make those words a reality.

The chart below was made from a recent survey done by the Pew Research Center -- done between July 14th and 20th of a random national sample of 2,002 adults, with a margin of error of 2.5 points.