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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories Police Reports Measure 92 recount shows little change in Jackson County Ashland: Lions Club steps up for vision tests Police allege Ashland pizza parlor owner tried to blow up building Survey: Ashland is an affordable rental market Education Ashland: Lions Club steps up for vision tests Ashland Rotary Student Youth of the Month: Avery Nicole Jesmer AHS arts festival is Friday AHS, SOU seek arts program director In Portland, mindfulness classes ease stress of high school Environment Home Help: Make your new house feel like home ‘Tis the season — for wild mushrooms Don't like weather where you are? Move a mile or two Salmon: A force of nature can be restored Students nurturing nature Business Survey: Ashland is an affordable rental market Trio of local businesses close their doors Tourism in Ashland: The role of the Chamber’s Visitor & Convention Bureau Silvio Calabi: The world loves a Wrangler The sweet smell of soap-selling success Politics and elections Local rep to testify before U.S. Senate panel Tuesday Kent Bush: First Amendment doesn’t mean what you think it means Miller write-in campaign lands Ashland Parks and Rec seat Granlund cartoon: GOP wrecking balls State News In Portland, mindfulness classes ease stress of high school GMO label measure, losing by 809 votes, headed for recount Resent ballots, late results likely to trigger GMO recount Nation - World Grand jury won't indict Ferguson cop in shooting Obituaries Death Notices Death Notices Marie B. (Aiken) Stella Demo Death Notices Sports Latest Stories Grizzlies get their groove back, crush Mustangs Aldridge passes Porter on Blazers' all-time scoring list in win Two Grizzlies make first-team all-state Atanda named All-America honorable mention Mariota named one of three Heisman finalists High school Grizzlies get their groove back, crush Mustangs Two Grizzlies make first-team all-state North Medford boys run away from Ashland with first-half surge SOU volleyball team's season ends with loss to Vanguard at nationals Southern Oregon roughed up by defending champs Southern Oregon University Two Grizzlies make first-team all-state Atanda named All-America honorable mention Mariota named one of three Heisman finalists Florida, here they come North Medford boys run away from Ashland with first-half surge Opinion Latest Stories Our View: 92 backers should move on Guest Opinion: The environmental tipping point Granlund cartoon: CIA torture report Guest Opinion: Shelter is a basic human right Granlund cartoon: William and Barack Editorial Our View: 92 backers should move on Our View: Raiders are winners Our View: Celebrating more students Our View: A morning well spent Other Views: Tax reform won't be easy Letters Letters to the Editor, Dec. 8 Letters to the Editor, Dec. 5 Letters to the Editor, Dec. 4 Letters to the Editor, Dec. 3 Letters to the Editor, Dec. 2 Guest opinions Guest Opinion: The environmental tipping point Guest Opinion: Shelter is a basic human right Guest Opinion: Refugee children at our border Guest Opinion: Why giving market food vendors 'a break' is poor public policy Guest Opinion: Ashland feeds them, we deal with them Revels Latest Stories Community blog: William Stafford: His Writing, His Life SOU presents all-percussion concert Ashland's First Friday Art Walk showcases new exhiits by regional artists 4 Things to do this Weekend At the movies Theater Meet the real Jacob Marley New design for Bricks takes shape Hard to keep a straight face with 'Red Noses' 'Red Noses' is a romp through slapstick and pathos 'The Drunken City': Bachelorettes meet bar-crawlers Music SOU presents all-percussion concert Peter Chianca: Top 40 songs even a dad could love The Farr Side: Different artists, common songs Longtime area musician Steve Read, 64, dies The Farr Side: CMA telecast was a disappointment Visual Art Ashland's First Friday Art Walk showcases new exhiits by regional artists Movies At the movies Interview: Benedict Cumberbatch on playing ‘The Imitation Game’ Interview: Reese Witherspoon experiences life in 'The Wild' Listings for Varsity Theatre and Ashland Street Cinemas 'Citizenfour' is a matter-of-fact bore Food and Drink Blue bows out of Granite Street site, Agave moving in Cruelest Month: Poetry Blog Lifestyle Latest Stories Lost in Suburbia: Row, row, row your basement Dear Monty: When a lawyer’s fee is four times higher than the quote 5 Things to Do This Weekend (Dec. 12-14) Dave Ramsey: Helping financially irresponsible brother stay on track Shayne Looper: Are you infected with ‘solution aversion?’ Aging Happens Inner Peace Column Inner Peace Blog Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » Obituaries Photos Videos Blogs NEWS NOW Our View: 92 backers should move on ... Ashland Calendar ... Guest Opinion: The environmental tipping point ... Our View: 92 backers should move on ... Ashland Calendar ... Guest Opinion: The environmental tipping point ... Kent Bush: Ferguson case shows racism belief system still reinforced By Kent Bush More Content Now DailyTidings.com By Kent Bush More Content Now Posted Nov. 28, 2014 @ 11:57 am By Kent Bush More Content Now Posted Nov. 28, 2014 @ 11:57 am » RELATED CONTENT • SOU students march through Ashland in Ferguson protest » Social News The Ferguson case can’t happen again. As the parent of a black child who will one day be an 18-year-old, I can’t believe he could be shot while unarmed. I hope he never puts himself in the position to have an encounter with law enforcement that could result in something that horrible. I also hope my friends in law enforcement are never put in a position to deal with a situation like this and decide that lethal force is the only way to stop an attack. I hope the resulting riots and reaction don’t cause them to become a victim because they decide to delay an appropriate reaction to a dangerous situation. The Michael Brown and Officer Darren Wilson fatal confrontation is as simple as black and white — that is, anything but simple. We have come a long way from police dogs and firehoses dispersing rallies in the south from 50 years ago. We still have a very long way to go. Racism may not be as rampant as it was then, but the belief system that associates lighter skin with higher intelligence and better character is still reinforced in many homes in all areas of the country. You know how you teach racism? You teach it by calling people animals when they are really confused, scared and misguided humans whose skin is a different color than yours. You breed racism in children and others by circulating cute internet memes about how “no work boots were stolen” in a riot. You can post that you dispersed the crowd by handing out job applications and you can even post photos of someone looting a store and mention how that is a great tribute to a young man killed by a police officer. You can also be the former Mayor of New York City and say incendiary things like the only reason white cops kill black kids is that black people kill so many black people. “If blacks stopped killing blacks, there'd be less cops killing blacks,” Rudy Giuliani said. But there have been no murders at all in Ferguson in 2014 prior to the killing of Mike Brown. He was a suspected cigar thief, not a violent criminal. Darren Wilson’s story on what happened was slightly more believable than the “witnesses” who saw things happen that, according to the autopsy report, could never have really happened. But his retelling of the initial stages of the encounter where he spoke with Miss Manners-style politeness to an 18-year-old who responded with the best New Jack City characterization since Wesley Snipes was fantastical. Then, completely unprovoked, the big black teen attacked him leaving a slightly pink mark. But Wilson withstood the attack. Wilson described his attacker. “It looked like a demon,” he said. It? Maybe he just misspoke. He also said he felt like a 5-year-old fighting Hulk Hogan. Wilson is 6 feet, 4 inches tall. Guess how tall this towering black teen was: If you guessed the exact same height, you would be correct. Wilson is a big 5-year-old. But his testimony was convincing to a grand jury. It should have been. It has been effective for more than 20 years. Rodney King was described by officers who “subdued” him as a Hulk and Tasmanian Devil. Black people are scary. That’s the crux of the problem. Even if people don’t think they are racists, they see a big white 18-year-old and see a college football player. When they see a big black teen, they see a superhuman criminal. Put him in a hoodie and the white kid looks like a cold football player. The black kid becomes a gang member. Life is hard. It is harder when you’re black. In this case, a kid died because he was big and scary and up to no good. Hopefully, we can learn as a society and make both ends of this incident less likely to happen in the future. Sure, the cops need to use lethal force less often — even if the suspect is black. But it wouldn’t hurt if otherwise good black kids would stop stealing from stores in broad daylight and aggressively reacting to officers in the first place. It's 2014. We need to start acting like it. Kent Bush is the publisher of the Butler County Times Gazette in Kansas, and can be reached at [email protected]. By Kent Bush More Content Now DailyTidings.com By Kent Bush More Content Now Posted Nov. 28, 2014 @ 11:57 am » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with DailyTidings.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Alerts Email alerts RSS feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2014 Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 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