Luckily for them there is nobody in downtown Clayton past 2 pm on Fridays
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+1. It is a bit hard to know how many parts sinister and how many parts incompetent Jackson is. Knowles is probably a decent guy at heart but just not a guy who should be around the world stage. County leadership hasn't been much better either. It certainly won't be helpful if all these guys are still around if/when a non-indictment comes.wustl_eng wrote:That's great... "I probably have more in common with the Mayor than the spokesman"... but for real, why hasn't Tom Jackson been fired? I'm not gonna mince words; he's truly a disgusting, stupid, offensive official, and should in no way be in a position of leadership in that town. And the mayor? Man, how clueless these guys are. It's baffling.
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The region as a whole needs to get some better leadership. Scratch that better throw the state in there as well.
What does that mean? Care to expound?dbInSouthCity wrote:Luckily for them there is nobody in downtown Clayton past 2 pm on Fridays
Leaders like Knowles and Jackson seem like they came straight out of Mayberry. I personally think Bob McCullough is a closeted sadist.STLEnginerd wrote:The region as a whole needs to get some better leadership. Scratch that better throw the state in there as well.
Anyway, as the status-quo in St. Louis is being shaken up, the region will be better off long-term. The State will get better as St. Louis gets better.
There's dialogue - both positive and negative - happening in St. Louis more than EVER before. From here, St. Louis can either sink or swim. But I can assure you, it will not be business as usual in St. Louis ever-again.
St. Louis has never seen anything like this - and I think ALL of it is good. You get to see people's true colors. Others are motivated into positive action. The world gets to see St. Louis' underbelly. Mark Twain, Huckleberry Finn, Mississippi riverboats, gooey butter cake and the Cardinals had America fooled. People are literally shocked by the level of racial animus in St. Louis. And the Gateway City, home to Bud and the baseball redbirds has been WHACKED in the media and it's all well-deserved.
St. Louis has the chance to emerge a better city. If not Charlotte, Kansas City, Austin, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Cincy etc. will pass you by.
Get your sh*t together, St. Louis.
Soul Train Line performed during a 70's hit from the Isley Brothers - two (Ronald and Ernie) of whom live in St. Louis - Fight The Power.
^ I agree Arch, this NEEDED to happen to St. Louis. We need this embarrassment, we need this shame. The more I think about it, the more I realize that this may be the catalysis the St. Louis area needed to take a real self examination and then act on it. If we don't, the region is doomed. People can brush this off as a "black" problem or even some middle class blacks claim it is a "poverty" problem, but the fact is its a "St. Louis" problem that requires real solutions. At this point, this situation is waaaay bigger than Mike Brown, this is about systematic racism, corrupt and inefficient government, education, economic opportunity, culture etc. and every other thing holding St. Louis back.
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And I agree it probably needed to happen as well. However we should not stand for a small group of people taking advantage of the situation. People that commit crimes in areas they normally wouldn't have thinking they have leverage on the citizens and police.goat314 wrote:^ I agree Arch, this NEEDED to happen to St. Louis. We need this embarrassment, we need this shame. The more I think about it, the more I realize that this may be the catalysis the St. Louis area needed to take a real self examination and then act on it. If we don't, the region is doomed. People can brush this off as a "black" problem or even some middle class blacks claim it is a "poverty" problem, but the fact is its a "St. Louis" problem that requires real solutions. At this point, this situation is waaaay bigger than Mike Brown, this is about systematic racism, corrupt and inefficient government, education, economic opportunity, culture etc. and every other thing holding St. Louis back.
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This tweet from today's impressive march downtown is unfortunately an all-too-common misunderstanding of our history:
The court house behind the crowd is where the Dred Scott decision was made making Black ppl 3/5th of human beings #BlackLivesMatter
The court house behind the crowd is where the Dred Scott decision was made making Black ppl 3/5th of human beings #BlackLivesMatter
Haha, what?! Is that even a common misunderstanding? That's a pretty basic error in my opinion, never heard it before. Conflating two different things and time periods.
The sad thing is that tweeter probably still knows more about American history than your average person.
The sad thing is that tweeter probably still knows more about American history than your average person.
^ Actually, the court house is where Dred Scott was told that "a black man had no rights that a white man had to respect", which I'm assuming is why they linked it to the 3/5th doctrine that allowed the South to count Africans in their census numbers, but only as 3/5th a man.
I agree. Think about it....a lot of positives have come out of this.goat314 wrote:^ I agree Arch, this NEEDED to happen to St. Louis. We need this embarrassment, we need this shame. The more I think about it, the more I realize that this may be the catalysis the St. Louis area needed to take a real self examination and then act on it. If we don't, the region is doomed. People can brush this off as a "black" problem or even some middle class blacks claim it is a "poverty" problem, but the fact is its a "St. Louis" problem that requires real solutions. At this point, this situation is waaaay bigger than Mike Brown, this is about systematic racism, corrupt and inefficient government, education, economic opportunity, culture etc. and every other thing holding St. Louis back.
1. HealSTL, Antonio French's organization
2. A State audit of municipalities for ticket revenue abuse/ponzi scheme/racketeering
3. Cop body cams
4. Investments made in Ferguson by large corporations such as Centene, Boeing, Emerson, Monsanto
5. A new SLPD unit to review officer-involved shootings
6. Lots of new 501.3C's geared towards voter registration and community empowerment
7. Warrant forgiveness
8. Community meetings dealing with race relations.
9. Job Fairs
10. DOJ investigations into police departments throughout Metro St. Louis
11. Some black politicians finally challenging the local Democratic machine for respect. BTW, I hate Democrats and Republicans. I am neither.
12. Mayor Francis Slay seems sincere (finally) about addressing race relations in St. Louis. Plans to coordinate panel intervention.
I knew St. Louis would have to blow its top for change to happen socially. No one wanted to do the hard work. Now you have been forced to do the hard work after wishing someone else would do it or wishing it would just go away.
St. Louis has been like a bad abusive marriage. She thinks he going to change. He think she needs to change. Neither change until one or both are dead.
St. Louis needs to wake up before she is dead.
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^^ I'll have to brush up for sure, but I'm pretty sure that was from Taney's infamous U.S Supreme Court decision that not only denied the Scott's their freedom but also struck down the Missouri Compromise. It was a rather complicated process.... iirc a Saint Louis jury had followed Missouri precedent and set the Scott's free as they had been in free Illinois for a period; that ruling was overturned in Jefferson City by the Mo Supreme Court, setting the federal case in motion. In the federal court, the panel ruled that Missouri state law was the issue at hand and thus ruled against the Scott's due to the robed rubes of JC. Then came Taney's decision that helped generate outrage among the more civilized people of the nation.
Taney may have lifted the "no rights" phrase from the lower court but I don't think so. Anyway, the 3/5 language was the Original Sin of our Constitution and young nation. A sin for which we have yet to fully overcome.
edit: here is an nps link with a quick overview...
http://www.nps.gov/jeff/historyculture/ ... nology.htm
The Missouri Supreme Court actually heard the case in the Old Courthouse as well and not Jeff City, which I did not know.... so it was the site of several different rulings.
edit number two actually according to the NPS "The suit [in the federal circuit court] was heard not in the Old Courthouse but in the Papin Building, near the area where the north leg of the Gateway Arch stands today." Fascinating.
Taney may have lifted the "no rights" phrase from the lower court but I don't think so. Anyway, the 3/5 language was the Original Sin of our Constitution and young nation. A sin for which we have yet to fully overcome.
edit: here is an nps link with a quick overview...
http://www.nps.gov/jeff/historyculture/ ... nology.htm
The Missouri Supreme Court actually heard the case in the Old Courthouse as well and not Jeff City, which I did not know.... so it was the site of several different rulings.
edit number two actually according to the NPS "The suit [in the federal circuit court] was heard not in the Old Courthouse but in the Papin Building, near the area where the north leg of the Gateway Arch stands today." Fascinating.
Wait... what is going on in this image? I honestly can't figure it out. What is that thing?arch city wrote:Not just black people.
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A Mike Brown effigy with..... "Hands Up."wustl_eng wrote:Wait... what is going on in this image? I honestly can't figure it out. What is that thing?
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In some measures, haven't some of those cities already eclipsed us? I'd say that's especially the case in terms of growth for cities like Austin and Charlotte. I'd also say Indy and KC are doing better in that department.arch city wrote:St. Louis has the chance to emerge a better city. If not Charlotte, Kansas City, Austin, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Cincy etc. will pass you by.
I'm less familiar with Pittsburgh, but I know Cincinnati has its own history with racial tension. How is Cincy now, over ten years since the riots in the OTR area? I know there were boycotts of OTR and downtown businesses for quite a while.
Perhaps there will be some long-term gains after the short-term pain. I sure hope so. I like the list of positives you shared. However, I am still concerned about the costs to everyone in our region if the unrest continues and/or escalates.
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^I wonder if many metropolitan regions have similar issues, they're just more concealed; reminds me of the stories we've all seen about how it's difficult to figure out statistics for how many people die in officer-involved shootings every year.
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To bring a brief sense of humor to a somewhat dark thread, wouldn't it be nice if downtown always had that many people as in those pictures. lmao
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i,Iive,to,draw wrote:To bring a brief sense of humor to a somewhat dark thread, wouldn't it be nice if downtown always had that many people as in those pictures. lmao
Keep in mind, it's not just about officer-involved shootings. St. Louis has deeply-entrenched institutional, systemic and covert racism.
I'm sure there's some degree of the same in other cities, but a lot of region's have simply come farther. Although they are not perfect, II know for a fact Houston and Atlanta have worked on their racial and cultural divides. St. Louis and the Midwest in general....not so much.
I have a friend who had an opportunity to be a part of the turnaround team for Normandy School District. He was working on his doctorate at the time and was a decorated teacher in the Houston Independent School District. He was invited to be a part of the Normandy team.
He was going to move to St. Louis, teach and attend UMSL to continue working on his doctorate.
He spent one weekend in St. Louis and declined.
He heard murmurs about local racism and the potentiality of a full State take over. He then drove around the city to check it out and said, "Arrivederci". He said it was too depressing.
I'm sure there's some degree of the same in other cities, but a lot of region's have simply come farther. Although they are not perfect, II know for a fact Houston and Atlanta have worked on their racial and cultural divides. St. Louis and the Midwest in general....not so much.
I have a friend who had an opportunity to be a part of the turnaround team for Normandy School District. He was working on his doctorate at the time and was a decorated teacher in the Houston Independent School District. He was invited to be a part of the Normandy team.
He was going to move to St. Louis, teach and attend UMSL to continue working on his doctorate.
He spent one weekend in St. Louis and declined.
He heard murmurs about local racism and the potentiality of a full State take over. He then drove around the city to check it out and said, "Arrivederci". He said it was too depressing.
Yes, people from places like Atlanta, Houston, and Dallas will have a hard time adjusting to a city like St. Louis, Cleveland, Detroit etc, even Chicago would be depressing. For one, our winters give you a gloomy feel for much of the year, the region is much older and doesn't have the newish, sun belt type look that most people in newer cities are accustomed to. People also don't like the industrial vibe, the smallish, close together houses, the monotone color schemes. I live between Florida and St. Louis, I'm always astonished at how hard and weathered St. Louis looks in comparison to Tampa and Orlando. Sunbelt cities also have better planned suburbs that are much more visually appealing in my opinion. One thing that I love about St. Louis is fall time, St. Louis is way more beautiful than Houston this time of year. Something about the red bricks and autumn colors does something to my soul.
St. Louis' leadership and its good ol' boys did not plan well for a new regional economy until recently.
AOL Founder, Steve Case on Ferguson:
AOL Founder, Steve Case on Ferguson:
SourceCase planned to visit the BioGenerator and the T-Rex technology incubator, so he knew St. Louis had a sound entrepreneurial infrastructure. "But there could be more," he said. "Important influencers are not necessarily making entrepreneurship a priority."
The recent unrest in Ferguson, Case said, made him even more interested in the St. Louis region's economy. "While that (Ferguson protest) is focused on a police issue, I think it is also a hope and opportunity issue," he said.
In addition to funding companies like WhatsApp, which employed fewer than 60 people when it was sold to Facebook for $19 billion, Case said venture capitalists "need to have a bias toward backing companies that also create jobs."
**BuzzFeed Photos**