Urban Violence Case in Ferguson Essay (Critical Writing)

The Kind of Violence That Took Place in Ferguson

In the Ferguson’s case, the kind of violence that took place was a combination of both primitive and Reactive violence. His can be described from two angles or approaches of the case. One angle is the violence perpetrated by the police through the shooting of a black protester, Brown. The other angle of looking at the violence is the manner at which the protesters reacted to the shooting. In addition, the riots became more tragic after the Aug. 9 shooting. At this point, the violence turned from reactive type to a very primitive kind of violence. While the first riot was peaceful demonstration aimed at stopping the rampant racial discrimination especially in the local justice system, the second was more primitive.

A primitive type of violence is signified by primitive behavior which includes destruction of property, looting among other unconventional behaviors (Tilly 68). In this type of violence, the protesters engage in seemingly uncivilized behaviors. In the reactive type of violence, protesters are driven by a desire to achieve a goal and mostly anger. The first violence was reactive since the protesters were seeking to stop the racial injustices and discrepancies while the second riot was a combination of the primitive and reactive violence.

Combination of values that best explains what happened

What happened in Ferguson was an expression of liberal values. The public were free expressing their views on national matters that were of great concern to them. At the same time, conservative values are depicted by the action that led to death of a black young protester (Vadum par. 19). The fact that the shooter was a white policeman show conservative values in the police forces. This is a clear indication of racial intolerance.

Was it about breaking the rules?

The violent was however not all about breaking the rules. There were some very fundamental goals set forth. Racism in this day and age is a very primitive value and it should be addressed very seriously. In addition social injustices perpetrated by the same law enforcement agencies should be stopped and the tendency for perpetrators to get away with it should also be addressed. In nutshell, these protests turned the other way and went out of control (Monti 58). However, the damage caused should not be used to underplay the true reasons why the violence began in the first place.

Definitely, the protest was peaceful but different groups reacted differently to it. The police reacted violently to the peaceful demonstrations while the protestors displayed their displeasure in a primitive manner to say the least.

Membership and involvement in the riots

There were no rules assigned to the membership of the members involved in the violence. The violence was based on a free will and open membership. Anybody who shared the anger and disappointment of the locals was free to join in the riot regardless of their race and age.

The people involved in the riots and its organization

Apparently, people allege that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria was responsible for the riots. It is believed that the ISIS is recruiting criminals in Ferguson (Monti 152). However, most of the people that were involved in these riots were the African-American locals. Brown’s friends and family were actively involved in the riot and planning of the events. However, there were three top individuals who were directly involved in the top management of the riots. Among them were:

1. Ashley Yates, Millennial Activists United
2. Rasheen Aldridge, Young Activists St. Louis
3. Brittany Packnett, St. Louis educator and activist
4. T-Dubb-O, St. Louis hip-hop artist
5. James Hayes, Ohio Students Association
6. Phillip Agnew, Dream Defenders
7. Jose Lopez, Make the Road New York

The riot was well planned and coordinated although some youths went rouge and started looting and destroying properties (Fisher and Lowery par. 2). There people who felt like they had the responsibility to protect the rights and freedom of the voiceless minority community. The list of names above represents some of the people who took issues into their own hands and felt a responsibility to stand up for the weak and voiceless in the society. The mix changes over time especially soon after the ruling against the indictment of the police officer responsible for shooting Brown. Soon after the ruling, violence broke out and looting began. A police officer’s vehicle was destroyed and lots of fires lit all over the city.

Different community doing implicated in the violence

Other different ways of doing implicated in the violence include confrontation of police by the people. The protestors wee very violent and rude to the authorities. Government response to contain the situation was met with violent reactance from the public who exposed themselves to great danger. Gunshots were going rampant but protestors were unyielding to run for their lives. In addition, the use of military grade equipments to contain the situation was ill advised in a civil and public riot. This made it look like it was a government fighting its own people.

Elements of civil violence, negation and repulsion

The violence experienced in Ferguson has an element of negation in the case of brown’s shooting. The community is calling for an indictment of a police officer who shot a criminal. It is living in denial that drives the community to overlook the criminal and call the percussion of the same people who are supposed to protect them. This can be described as denial of the fact that the community is not the main target of the police rather the criminals are. An element of repulsion is also very conscious in the riot and violence that erupted especially when the white police officer was not indicted. The hatred towards whites by the black community is evident. Arguably, one can conclude that the shooting of Brown was also a repulsive action towards the black communities. These riots have a repulsive element from sides.

Describing the violence to the commission

This violence was a major setback to Ferguson and its residence. I believe such violence is driven by the desire by few individuals who want to cause commotion in order to achieve self desires. The violence was a great shame to the nation and the institutions mandate d to maintain order because both sides crossed the line. The public broke several laws in the name of protests while the police shot one person dead and several arrests were made without due process being followed. The selective justice being expressed in this case is too shaming to the country. This violence was nothing short of a display of our nation’s permittivity and adherent to conservative military tactics to deal with human rights activists. Intolerance is also clearly depicted in the case.

Works Cited

Fisher, Marc and Wesley Lowery. Ferguson violence broke the mold in three ways — one of which is just unfolding now. 2014. Web.

Monti, Daniel. “Intergroup conflict and collective violence: the case of New York City.” Journal of political and socialogy1978, 6. (2014):147-162. Print.

Monti, Daniel. “Patterns of conflict preceding the 1964 riots.” Journal of Conflict Resolution, 23. 1 (2014): 41-69. Print.

Tilly, Steve. An Urban World, Michigan, MI: University of Michigan, 2013. Print.

Vadum, Matthew. Ferguson Lynch Mob Leaders Convene at the White House. 2014. Web.