Introduction
Structural racism has had a significant impact on the United States as a whole since its establishment. The abolishment of slavery in the 19th century and the Civil Rights Movement in the 20th century, with the following ban on segregation and other discriminatory practices, did not eliminate structural racism. In today’s American society, where racism seems to be prohibited on an institutional level, it still exists as a force that serves the interests of the prevailing white population.
Structural racism is a concept that refers to how policies and systems are designed to perpetuate inequality (Gee & Hicken, 2021). Most of the time, this force is invisible and difficult to detect and identify, as society is built upon it. As of today, this phenomenon continues to affect the country as a whole and specific communities in particular.
The Ferguson community is not an exception, as systemic discrimination against Black individuals has affected Ferguson’s Black population significantly. The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of structural racism on Ferguson. The hypothesis that will be analyzed in the paper is that structural racism has affected the community negatively, resulting in disparities in the treatment by the police, as well as physical and mental health consequences.
Current Context
Discriminatory policies and practices have disproportionately affected the African American members of the Ferguson community. Ferguson is a predominantly black city, which, however, did not prevent the white representatives of the community from holding most political and economic power (Bloom & Frampton, 2020). White officials and business owners have been abusing their structural power and systemic racism to favor their interests and maintain the unfair treatment of the Black population (Bloom & Frampton, 2020).
The prevalence of white officials in the power structures resulted in the lack of investment in black neighborhoods and the lack of representation of black members of the community in the decision-making process (Bloom & Frampton, 2020). This has created disparities in fields such as education, healthcare, housing, and employment. It is the black population in Ferguson that mostly struggles to gain access to education opportunities and healthcare services. African Americans also represent the majority of the homeless population and those struggling with rent or mortgages; they constitute the highest percentage of the unemployed population as well.
One of the reasons why Ferguson has been the subject of public scrutiny in the last decade is the accusations of racism in Ferguson’s police department. A particular event that led to growing controversy and protests among citizens is the shooting of Michael Brown that took place in 2014 (Bloom & Frampton, 2020). Brown was an unarmed black teenager who was killed by Ferguson’s police officer Darren Wilson, who claimed that Brown had attacked him (Bloom & Frampton, 2020).
No charges were pressed against Wilson even though Brown’s death was considered to be wrongful, which led to civil society’s outrage. This issue brought national attention to the issue of systemic racism in the country as a whole and the institutional inequity in the community in particular. Widespread protests and the way the authorities dealt with them only highlighted the problem of police brutality and racial profiling in the city.
The shooting and the mass protests that attracted the attention of American authorities to the problem resulted in an investigation by the Department of Justice. The report of the Department of Justice on the systemic discrimination in Ferguson focused on the unconstitutional practices that could lead to these events and normalize the unfair treatment of Ferguson’s African American population (United States Department of Justice, 2015). During the investigation, it was found that the police department of Ferguson did, indeed, apply discriminatory practices that disproportionately targeted the black members of the community (United States Department of Justice, 2015). These practices presented a pattern that created the fabric of normalized racial discrimination.
Some of the practices that were predominantly exercised when targeting the black population included the use of excessive force, which, as a result, became manifested in the murder of Michael Brown (United States Department of Justice, 2015). It was also concluded that the arrests of the black residents were often unjustified, in the same way as the fines issued to African American individuals did not have a legitimate ground (United States Department of Justice, 2015). These fines were used to generate revenue for the authorities and to benefit the white representatives of power (United States Department of Justice, 2015). Overall, the investigation found multiple irregularities in the operation of Ferguson’s police department, but it also drew attention to how systemic racism affected the community in general. The issue is deeper than how the police function; rather, it is concerned with institutional inequity in the community as a whole.
Since the shooting, the mass protests, and the investigation took place, some reforms have been implemented to change the systemic racism patterns affecting the community. Singular reforms, however, have not been enough to reverse all the negative consequences Ferguson’s black population has suffered and continues to suffer to this day. Many black residents of Ferguson still feel that structural racism persists in Ferguson and has a profound impact on their lives; thus, they demand that more changes be introduced.
Supporting Evidence
Racism as a Means of Generating Revenue
Systemic racism typically serves to benefit those in power, and the economic factor plays a significant role in perpetuating structural discrimination. Ferguson is not an exception to the rule, and the most crucial reason why racism is so deeply ingrained in the community’s fabric is that it was used to create economic benefits. Naturally, white representatives of power were the recipients of those benefits.
Ferguson’s investigation found that the city’s police department generated revenue through the unjust arrests and fines issued to black individuals (United States Department of Justice, 2015). The report emphasized that the police department lacked a proper system for addressing police officer misconduct (United States Department of Justice, 2015). “FPD’s lack of systems to detect and hold officers responsible for misconduct reflects the department’s focus on revenue generation at the expense of lawful policing and helps perpetuate the patterns of unconstitutional conduct we found” (United States Department of Justice, 2015, p. 15).
The reports of the arrests, fines, and other occurrences were not appropriately checked, which contributed to a system in which racism was the basis of revenue generation (United States Department of Justice, 2015). As a result, black residents did not feel protected by the police but instead felt unsafe. These practices also contributed to a lack of safety in the community, hindering its overall development.
Use of Excessive Force
The lack of safety in the community was also fostered by the use of excessive force against black individuals residing in Ferguson. Systemic racism often involves the perpetuation of cruel practices by the police to maintain fear among citizens and use force to their benefit (Gee & Hicken, 2021). The Ferguson investigation found that excessive force was a common occurrence in the documented incidents (United States Department of Justice, 2015).
Considering that “nearly 90% of documented force used by FPD officers was used against African Americans” (United States Department of Justice, 2015, p. 5), it was the black people who suffered primarily from this practice. Police officers often used force on unarmed black civilians even though there was no immediate threat coming from them; they also “release canines on unarmed subjects unreasonably” (United States Department of Justice, 2015, p. 28). Excessive force was also often used as a means of retaliation (United States Department of Justice, 2015). These practices were so widespread in the community that they fostered an environment of brutality and fear in the city.
The environment of prevailing brutality affects, on the one hand, the direct targets of the excessive force, that is, the African American population of Ferguson. They experience the negative impact of this discriminatory practice in several ways. Firstly, this system is aimed at keeping black civilians under strict control, which is harsher than the control exercised over white individuals.
The use of excessive and unjustified force deprives African Americans of the possibility to act as freely as white Americans. As a result, a large part of the population feels that their freedom is severely and unfairly restricted. Moreover, the health of black residents is often seriously damaged as a result of the police actions, and the death rate among this segment of the population is also higher due to this (Braveman et al, 2022). The community as a whole is also impacted negatively, as it cannot prosper when the cruel treatment of one part of the population prevails.
Structural Racism and the Population’s Health
Excessive physical force applied by the police officers is not the only factor that impacts the health of African Americans in Ferguson. Black residents in Ferguson are known to suffer from health problems disproportionately in comparison with the white residents. Both physical and mental health are affected, and both can be seen as a result of systemic racism.
In general, the health issues are created by the stress of having to deal with daily manifestations of structural racism in the community. In particular, the 2014 events, such as Michael Brown’s death and the brutal crackdown on protesters, created a collective trauma in the population (First et al, 2020). Community health is one of the most important indicators of its prosperity, and the health of a significant part of the city’s population is affected by historical and structural racism.
Ferguson is a community that went through events that were traumatizing for the population of the city. Michael Brown’s death, the outrage of the people, followed by aggressive acts such as burning buildings, and the police crackdown have all contributed to the collective trauma and fear among the community’s population in general (First et al, 2020). The black residents, however, were particularly affected by these events—this type of stress and collective trauma results in a decline in the quality of the population’s health.
First et al (2020) emphasize that “in some cases, these stress reactions can become problematic for individual functioning and health” (p. 371). The consequences for the health of Ferguson’s population included increased occurrence of conditions such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (First et al, 2020). A study found that “43.0% of community participants exceeded the cutoff for depression” and “34.3% of community participants exceeded the cutoff for PTSD” (First et al, 2020, p. 371). Mental and other conditions reflect how severe the consequences of racism can be for the well-being of a community.
On the other hand, the black civilians residing in Ferguson are also affected by a historic, intergenerational trauma caused by systemic racial discrimination. Black civilians’ health is severely affected by what can be called “race-based traumatic stress”, which is “a form of traumatic experience driven by reactions to individual or institutional racism that devalues one’s race” (First et al, 2020, p. 372).
The physical and mental health of the black residents of Ferguson is significantly diminished due to encountering structural racism regularly (First et al, 2020). Besides an overall collective stress experienced by African Americans in Ferguson, there is also the historical trauma of several centuries of police brutality prevailing in the community (First et al, 2020). This also results in mental and physical health issues that the community’s black population has been experiencing disproportionately throughout history.
Exceptions to the Hypothesis
The Ferguson events happened almost 10 years ago, and the reactions of both society and the population were unprecedented. Thus, it could be argued that those incidents played a catalytic role in the critical structural changes observed in Ferguson today. Several initiatives were implemented that significantly reduced racial disparities.
One of the initiatives, for example, is concerned with the youngest African Americans: “There have been some advancements in funding for early childhood, including a ballot measure in St. Louis city that will potentially raise $2.3 million annually for early childhood services in the city’s most divested areas” (Rivas, 2020). The officials of the Ferguson police department also emphasize that “the department strives to improve by gaining public input on various things, including its updated use-of-force policy and an external review of the department” (Rivas, 2020). The events of those years led to an increased control over how the police exercise their power and how they treat black individuals overall (Gillham & Marx, 2018). This suggests that some progress has been made at present.
Although some changes have been implemented and the issue addressed, the transformation is still far from the desirable outcome. The progress, as experts say, has been slow. As Sgt. Benjamin Granda, the spokesman, notes, “I believe we are better than we were five years ago, but not as good as we will be five years from now” (Rivas, 2020). This means that there is still considerable room for improvement, but the authorities have a clear goal and understand where they need to arrive. Thus, it can be argued that the initial hypothesis is challenged because the authorities are willing to reconstruct the system and eliminate persistent institutional racism.
Reflective Analysis
Institutional racism has had a significant impact on the community of Ferguson and its black residents. One of the most apparent manifestations of systemic discrimination is police brutality aimed predominantly at African Americans. The police system in Ferguson worked in such a way that it benefited the white representatives of power in multiple ways, including having increased revenue and keeping the black population under control. The freedom of black individuals, as a result, was severely restricted, while their health and safety were under constant threat.
Black residents in Ferguson suffer from collective and historic trauma due to the mistreatment they have received throughout the years and the events that took place in 2014. This leads to an increased incidence of physical and mental health-related issues, including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. These issues affect the community as a whole, and black individuals suffer most of the damage.
Conclusion
The hypothesis that systemic racism affects the Ferguson community in terms of police brutality, physical and mental health issues, was confirmed by several sources, including the investigation of the United States Department of Justice. It was proven that most of the racial issues stem from the discrimination that black individuals face daily. However, it was found that after the 2014 events, progress has been made, and the authorities aim to transform the current system.
References
Bloom, J., & Frampton, Z. D. (2020). Racist policing, practical resonance, and frame alignment in Ferguson. In H. Johnston & P. Oliver. (Eds.), Racialized protest and the state: Resistance and repression in a divided America (pp. 89-111). Routledge.
Braveman, P. A., Arkin, E., Proctor, D., Kauh, T., & Holm, N. (2022). Systemic and structural racism: Definitions, examples, health damages, and approaches to dismantling. Health affairs (Project Hope), 41(2), 171–178.
First, J. M., Danforth, L., Frisby, C. M., Warner, B. R., Ferguson, M. W., & Houston, J. B. (2020). Posttraumatic stress related to the killing of Michael Brown and resulting civil unrest in Ferguson, Missouri: Roles of protest engagement, media use, race, and resilience. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research, 11(3), 369–391.
Gee, G. C., & Hicken, M. T. (2021). Structural racism: The rules and relations of inequity. Ethnicity & disease, 31(1), 293–300.
Gillham, P. F., & Marx, G. T. (2018). Changes in the policing of civil disorders since the Kerner Report: The police response to Ferguson, August 2014, and some implications for the twenty-first century. The Russel Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, 4(6), 122-143.
Rivas, R. (2020). Five years after Ferguson report, some say progress has come too slow. Missouri Independent.
United States Department of Justice. (2015). Investigation of the Ferguson police department.