Is there a residency requirement for police and politicians in Ferguson? What is the term of office for the mayor and aldermen. Are the alderman elected by the Ferguson people or are they appointed by the mayor?

^Thanks. This helps.

I started one in the county section.

Ferguson suffers from the lack of a well-developed and built-up downtown - it's not totally lacking, but what does exist is a little too sparse and autocentric. One unique attribute of Fson is it has a surprisingly good assortment of prewar homes in some neighborhoods. If that could be paired with something like the Excelsior and Grand development in St. Louis Park MN - a dense 3-5 story multi-use "downtown" development that replaced several blocks of autocentric strip malls - Ferguson could diversify its housing stock and add a core adjacent to the nice '20s nabes west of their existing downtown. The key would be moving this development south of the creek, where it all falls apart.

Ferguson's (former) PR guy:

Devin James, the marketing consultant who was removed from a paid position managing Ferguson’s public relations efforts after disclosures that he had once been convicted of reckless homicide, also claimed in his job application that he has a college degree, but now he acknowledges he does not.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crim ... 1739f.html

Urban or suburban, no place is designed to support 100,000+ dirt poor refugee-immigrants from a foreign culture concentrated in one place.

Despite language and religion, the bosnians probably came from a more similar culture, being continental europeans, even if eastern europeans, than did southern blacks, coming from the jim crow south. They also weren't barred from education and good jobs in their home country, so they likely came here with more skills, and probably more money than southern blacks, and their kids look more or less white, so they aren't necessarily subject to racial discrimination. And they weren't forced into one part of the city by law. It's apples and gravel.

The Bosnians came well after the racial laws of segregation had been disolved. They may have come with skills but by and large they came with very little money. Same could be said for Asians and Indians who very much look different than continental europeans. It's not an unfair comparison. It's been 50 year since the repeal of Jim Crow laws. Structural racism is definitly a problem but the black community can't place the blame of their entrenched poverty problem entirly on that. I don't have the solution but part of the solution has to come from inside the black community itself.

Jim Crow was made illegal 50 years ago, but it hardly ended 50 years ago, and judging by the rhetoric of the tea party, certainly hasn't stopped being felt in much of the south. I think black kids born today, if they have the right socioeconomic status, might get to experience what it's like to be a full citizen. But I think that's a relatively recent development.

Can we set a date when the excuses stop?

When the US, but particularly the white south and its leaders, matures enough to have a serious adult conversation about reparations. Till then, more "excuses."

STLEnginerd wrote:The Bosnians came well after the racial laws of segregation had been disolved. They may have come with skills but by and large they came with very little money. Same could be said for Asians and Indians who very much look different than continental europeans. It's not an unfair comparison. It's been 50 year since the repeal of Jim Crow laws. Structural racism is definitly a problem but the black community can't place the blame of their entrenched poverty problem entirly on that. I don't have the solution but part of the solution has to come from inside the black community itself.

Wowww. You mean to tell me there's been a whole whopping 50 years to reverse 349 years of chattel slavery, slave codes, Black Codes and Jim Crow? That's really enough time to reverse over three centuries of overt and covert bigotry and systemic racism. Ahem....Ferguson is a great example of how far we (and the St. Louis cesspool) have come.

Quick History Lesson
1619, First African Captives arrive in Jamestown, VA.
1639-1865, Slave Codes
1863, Emancipation Proclamation
1865-1900's Black Codes, (Video)
1876-1965, Jim Crow
1954, Brown v. Board of Education
1964, Employment Non-Discrimination Act
1965, Voting Rights Act
1968, Fair Housing Act

Yes, many new recent immigrants have arrived with usable skills - particularly Bosnians. Skills and higher education usually transfer into economic progress faster. Also, many immigrants of color have benefited from the hard work and sacrifices put in mostly by African-Americans to change America.

Sure many immigrants have arrived poor and hungry, but Bosnians, Indians and other immigrants have had the luxury of checking their excess baggage with Lady Liberty when they arrive. Further, Bosnians and recent Asian immigrants didn't face prejudice/bias like the Irish or Italians etc. did upon their arrivals even. All they had to do is just come here and "be" - no legacy sh*t.

Conversely, when Southern Blacks arrived seeking a better way of life they were met with the East St. Louis riots/massacre, property covenants and red lines in St. Louis. Even progressive Blacks with high skill-sets, college degrees, upwardly-mobile philosophies and entrepreneurial spirit were still excluded by the mainstream - some even to this day. This led to the creation of black associations, banks, colleges and universities, newspapers etc. etc.

In essence, the African-American story IS a totally different story from the "traditional" immigrant story, which cannot be denied. Don't minimize or simplify the African-American journey in this country.

Also, Jim Crow may have ended in the late 60's, but much of the RESIDUE lingers with us to this day. Again FERGUSON is the perfect example. Look at the tomfoolery and actions of the school board, police department and city hall. It doesn't take a genius to see that SYSTEMS (educational, judicial, economic, etc.) still play a significant role in how people live and are treated. Despite the still RAMPANT racism in places like St. Louis, where the KKK adopted a highway and the Rosa Parks Highway sign was continuously vandalized, Blacks have worked down poverty levels over the last 50+ years. The biggest drop of ANY group.



Further, look at women and the various women's movements. Despite various women's and feminists movements, women still don't get equal pay for equal work. Systems control women's abortion rights and where they can get abortions. Women are fired for getting pregnant or for taking off time to tend to their children's needs by some employers. Again, systems.

White males, by and large, DO NOT have to worry about these structural systems to the extent that other groups must. Therefore, it's easy to say "It's your fault", or "get your act together". Why do you think employers like Emerson and Centene are planning job trainings and hirings in Ferguson? They recognize there's a problem.

With that said, Blacks make up the second largest racial group in this country. And yes, there are corners of the black community that could do better despite real racist barriers, nonetheless, it still doesn't excuse those who create barriers - like the traffic ticket racket in north county, for example, or the lack of black officers on the St. Louis County or Ferguson police departments.

The way I see it, everybody needs to get their sh*t together.

I imagine a system of reparations in which the southern states would pay 5x more than America would.