The media often focuses on the gossip involving Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Ray Rice, and Duck Dynasty, often overshadowing real issues and problems in American culture. The media does this to keep our attention off topics like ISIS, Ukraine, and Russia, and in our own country Ferguson, Missouri. The media is controlled and owned by the government, hindering our generation from being cultured and discouraging social change.
What they do not want our generation to know is that the generation born between 1980-1995 actually outnumbers the Baby Boomers. They know that if we ever turned our eyes toward political reform, we could not only change our country but also change the world as we know it. They keep us focused on our reality shows and top ten pop stations instead of getting involved and engaged with our world around us. I am aware of this discouraging attitude and decided to take it upon myself to be a part of social change.
I took an extra day off of school during the Labor Day weekend to make the seven-hour drive to Ferguson with a close friend in hopes of being able to peacefully protest and talk to citizens who live in the area to get their first-hand accounts. Twenty-two days after the shooting, the media was not covering the story like it did immediately after the tragedy took place.
The city of Ferguson is about 15 minutes outside of downtown St. Louis and has a small town atmosphere with a population of only 20,000 residents. The city is 67% African-American and 29% white. Last year there were 10,000 more arrest warrants than there are citizens of the city, showing that aggressiveness and brutality was already an issue in the city.
When first arriving in the city, it was not obvious that a national tragedy had just taken place a few weeks ago. As I explored the city, I found myself looking for protesters and resemblances of riots. The residential areas of the city were completely untouched and safe. The two-mile radius of where the shooting took place is where the real action took place. What seemed like every other business had boarded up windows with spray painted signs saying “We’re Open” on them.
After spending nearly an hour searching for the location of the shooting, I found myself in the Canfield Apartment Complex. The apartment complex was located behind a local barbecue restaurant, which looked as if it had been closed for years due to destruction done by rioters. The apartment complex had many residents and visitors sitting outside peacefully protesting and informing visitors about the events over the past three weeks. After paying homage to the memorial made in the middle of the street, where Mr. Brown was shot and killed, I found myself talking to the neighborhood watch resident. He introduced himself as Paul and was a middle-aged African-American.
From his point of view, the media inaccurately portrayed the events happening in the weeks after the shooting. He stated that the amount of people rioting and causing damage was a very minuscule amount in comparison to the people that were peacefully protesting every day, numbering in the high thousands. His main emphasis was focusing on the rights of individuals and not letting the police bully and deceive the citizens into doing something that could lead to their arrest.
The state of Missouri was the last state to free slaves and the attitude towards African-Americans is not only demeaning, but also dehumanizing. He emphasized that this is not a race issue and that all races need to join together in order for society to advance and make the world a better place to live. The treatment of humans by the city police force was absolutely unacceptable and should be considered illegal.
While most college students are not able to impact wars and conflicts in the Middle East and Russia, there is a war in our own country that too many people are turning a blind eye to. The killing of Mike Brown sent shockwaves throughout the country and opportunity for social change arose. Even though I was one of the very few that took advantage of the opportunity to make an impact in the world, not everyone always can. While posting on social media about the issue raises awareness, it is only viewed as passive action. Our generation needs to step up to the plate and realize we have the ability to change the world.
