Micheal Brown, 18 ( who was African American), was shot multiple times on Saturday, August 9, 2014, by a police officer while he and a friend were walking down the street in Ferguson, a suburb of St. Louis. Accounts differ on what led to the fatal shooting -- the Ferguson Police Department had alleged that Brown assaulted the officer, while eyewitnesses had said Brown was either trying to surrender or leave the scene when he was killed. Since then many tragic shootings between the police and civilians took place in our country. Department of Justice (DOJ) has published a report on both Ferguson Police Department (https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/opa/press-releases/attachments/2015/03/04/ferguson_police_department_report.pdf (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.) and the death of Micheal Brown ( https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/opa/press-releases/attachments/2015/03/04/doj_report_on_shooting_of_michael_brown_1.pdf (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.) You do not need to read both reports thoroughly but need to include them as references as you build your argument(s).
As we study chapter on Race and Ethnicity, explain what does a tragedy like this and response of the citizens of Ferguson ( or other communities) to this tragedy can tell us about racial relationships in the United States? Can we generalize what happened to Brown to larger structural racial relationships in the United States? By "structural" I mean based on the pattern of social relations between different groups over a prolonged period of time. What is the state of racial relations in the United States in your opinion, and why? Provide evidence for your claim. What can we do as a society and individuals to avoid the tragedy like this one in the future?
Please make sure to deal with the facts rather than your own opinion, only. There is a part of the essay that asks for your opinion and in that part you can provide your opinion that is based on evidence.
As you address this essay, please make sure to include and reference in your analysis an article that NPR published on February 4, 2017, entitled "Does Having More Black Officers Reduce Police Violence?" Here is the link:
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