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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories Perking up the Ashland Plaza Mail Tribune 100 Since You Asked: Stewart Meadows driving range days are numbered Woman given 60 doses of antivenom for rattlesnake bite Business mural gets a reprieve Crime, Courts and Emergency Services Dad admits to endangering children by failing to secure loaded gun No cause determined in fire that destroyed historic house Semi carrying glass bottles crashes Rogue River Drive fire 50 percent contained Emergency Services Politics and Elections Commissioner Skundrick plans final four town hall meetings Medford eyes electronic sign visual pollution Medford council veterans plan exit Medical marijuana patients run for council seat Former colleagues laud Atiyeh's 'practical' leadership Education A test of mettle: GED tests are more rigorous Middle schoolers get a taste of college living Abraham Lincoln Elementary parents raise money for new playground State treasurer stumps for educational endowment measure Free meals program expands in Grants Pass Environment Stressed but off life support Rogue watershed councils plan to merge West Nile Virus found in mosquitoes collected near Central Point State news Nation - World Obituaries Death Notices Clarence "C.A" A. 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It was a working-class area that did not figure or matter much in my world. For all I knew, it was a foreign country. In those days, St. Louis was a city segregated by suspicion and class affinity. And sometimes by race. I remember an African-American friend of my older brother being denied entry to the pool at my father's golf club. Membership information had been misplaced. Better to come back later. When I asked my wife, who is Korean and also from the St. Louis suburbs, how minorities were treated during her youth, she thought a moment and responded: "I was  the minority." She could not recall attending classes with another minority child until late in high school. St. Louis, like nearly everywhere else in America, has grown more multicultural (though less quickly than many other places). Immigrants to the region have lately come from Bosnia, India and China. But events in Ferguson demonstrate the paradox of American diversity: An increasingly multicultural nation remains deeply divided by race and class. There are many more friendships and marriages between white and minority Americans (about one in 12 marriages are interracial) — but at the same time racially charged suspicion and anger persists among millions. And a broad perception of our own racial enlightenment and acceptance has created a different form of isolation — a self-satisfaction that obscures or masks deep social divisions. The killing of Michael Brown is not primarily a symbol, an example or a wake-up call. It is a specific human tragedy, on a specific street, involving a serious factual dispute. It is the reality that matters most: the deadly struggle over a gun or the murder of a man with his hands in the air. When an unarmed man is killed by a police officer, it is the police who have the burden to demonstrate that it was somehow justified. When protests begin, it is community leaders who have the burden to channel the outrage constructively. But the Brown killing, as part of a grim series of similar tragedies, has quickly become symbolic. As usual, the incident confirms people's pre-existing ideological narratives. It shows a racism deeply rooted in American legal structures. Or it demonstrates the opportunism of the media and the grievance industry. It is evidence of structural rot or of anti-police bias. It indicts the militarization of police forces or reveals the well-armed challenges they face. But many people I know who differ on these matters shared the same immediate, emotional reaction: The images of tear gas, rubber bullets and sniper rifles from Ferguson don't look like America. In a sense, it is a different country. As America has grown more diverse and prosperous over the last several decades, the economic and social isolation of some communities has only increased. This is not entirely a function of race. Many in the white working class have also felt segregated from the promise of America. But problems are concentrated among African-American males, who have disproportionately low levels of workforce participation, disproportionately high levels of incarceration and little sympathetic attention from the broader society. This is not an excuse or even an explanation for any specific incident. It is just a context. African-American males are in a long-term, economic and social crisis for which there are many economic and social explanations. But their most likely interactions with public authority are a squad car or a demand for child support. These actions can't be the only outreach, the main interaction, our society has with young black men. A merely criminal justice response to their problems will ensure future resentment, kindled into anger by future controversies. As a practical matter, it becomes increasingly difficult to enforce order in the absence of opportunity. We often expect too much of police and prisons. During civil strife, it is necessary to establish public order — against both criminal elements and abusive police power (which undermines order as well). But our most admirable, influential leaders have attempted to do something more: to build a single nation of justice and opportunity. And surrendering this objective for any group of Americans would leave a nation both diverse and divided. Michael Gerson's email address is [email protected].   MailTribune.com Writer Posted Aug. 15, 2014 @ 12:01 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 MailTribune.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 Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked 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. 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