I live in St. Louis. Heartbreak has come to my city. It was probably always here, but now that it has taken the form of riots and military-style armed police in American streets of Ferguson, it’s raw and exposed for everyone here and the entire world to see. Many people reading this post will recognize Ferguson from the headlines trending for the days following the death of unarmed, African-American 18-year-old Michael Brown by a police officer.
Ferguson is both very far and very near from where I live depending on perspective. Geographically, it lies about 25 miles north of me. I can be there in about 30 minutes by car. On my side of town this week, it was sunshine and smiles for my kids on their first days of school while so much pain and anger roiled beyond my sight-line from my north-facing front door.
Wednesday evening, I watched in horror as my twitter feed filled with pictures of tear gas clouds rising in the night air. The scene couldn’t have been more different than the peace of my own home where my family sat doing a puzzle and listening to a St. Louis radio station, which gave no indication of the rioting.
The next morning when I woke to local news radio, I heard school was canceled in Ferguson for the next two days due to the violence. In that respect, Ferguson is worlds away because my daily reality is so far from the experience of parents living there. Or is it? Maybe it’s just that I just need to wake up and take a good look at the city I call home now.
I moved to the St Louis area just over a year ago. We came here from Chicago, a city infamous in the past and present for gun violence with it’s own history of racial rioting (Riots Follow Killing of Martin Luther King, Jr, Chicago Tribune). Diversity looks different to me here than our old Chicago suburban neighborhood where over 60 language dialects were spoken in our school district. While our old school had many different shades of color because of the high immigrant population from many countries, our current student population falls much more along a white/black divide of families who have lived in the U.S. for more than a few generations. I want to believe we live in a post-racial society, but I can’t say that when I see there are only African-American children eating the subsidized breakfast at our school with no Caucasian children sitting at the table. I am thrilled there is a system in place to help children from struggling families start the day with a full stomach. Yet I see that we have a ways to go before economic separation doesn’t also result in racial segregation at the elementary school breakfast table.
Despite the inequality before our eyes, people around here tend to feel safe in our southern suburb and separate from the struggles of communities like Ferguson. As the St Louis Post-Dispatch noted in an editorial this week, “We put up our proverbial (and literal) gates in West County, for example, and separate ourselves from the challenges of the urban core.” That perceived distance between communities is a dangerous mindset. When we see our neighbors as far away, we don’t think about their problems as our own and we’re not inclined to lend a hand or vote in ways that are beneficial to us all as the Greater St. Louis community.
The St Louis Post-Dispatch went on to give this observation that stopped me in my tracks:
“Even without that fatal confrontation, statistics suggest Michael Brown would have died earlier than other African-American males just like him who had the good fortune of being born one ZIP code to the south and west. This is but one of the startling and important conclusions of a recent Washington University study titled ‘For the Sake of All.’
…Had he lived, Michael Brown’s projected lifespan was about 15 years less than had he lived just a couple of ZIP codes away on the south side of Interstate 70. In St. Louis, ZIP code is destiny.”
I’m reminded of a quote by U2 lead signer Bono at a National Prayer Breakfast in 2006 regarding global poverty and the inequalities of survival based on country of birth: “Where you live should no longer determine whether you live.” Here in St. Louis and everywhere in the U.S., where you live shouldn’t dictate how long you live, either.
I’m happy to say that Thursday night was a peaceful night in Ferguson and in all of St. Louis County. There will be much more to work through as details come about the investigation of Michael Brown’s death. At least now, however, we can all stop watching the news helplessly and start asking ourselves the tough questions.
• What are we, personally, doing to fight racial and economic inequality?
• Have we talked to our children honestly about racism in the world today?
• How do we feel about militarization of police and what will we say to elected officials about it?
While I struggle with the questions, I’ll take some of the easy actions like donating food to my local church that will take a delivery to the Ferguson food pantry. If you don’t live in St. Louis, the call to wrestle with questions and take action still applies to you wherever you are in the world. Because Ferguson – the struggle with racism and poverty that it represents – is probably closer than you think.
This is an original post written for World Moms Blog by Cindy Levin.
Photo Credit: Flickr Creative Commons, Martin Fisch
Cindy Levin
Cynthia Changyit Levin is a mother, advocate, speaker, and author of the upcoming book “From Changing Diapers to Changing the World: Why Moms Make Great Advocates and How to Get Started.” A rare breed of non-partisan activist who works across a variety of issues, she coaches volunteers of all ages to build productive relationships with members of Congress. She advocated side-by-side with her two children from their toddler to teen years and crafted a new approach to advocacy based upon her strengths as a mother. Cynthia’s writing and work have appeared in The New York Times, The Financial Times, the Washington Post, and many other national and regional publications. She received the 2021 Cameron Duncan Media Award from RESULTS Educational Fund for her citizen journalism on poverty issues. When she’s not changing the world, Cynthia is usually curled up reading sci-fi/fantasy novels or comic books in which someone else is saving the world.
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I HATE that racism still exists. 🙁
I also hate that certain ethnicities use the “racism” accusations as a “get out of jail free” card! What I hate even more than racism is that people use it as an excuse to loot and vandalize!! Seriously?! How does the death of a young man give you licence to destroy and / or steal other people’s property?
In South Africa Caucasians ARE the minority, yet we have NEVER taken to the streets in violent protest over (for example) having farms “redistributed” to the “previously disadvantaged”! We NEVER play the racism card when a black officer assaults a white person. Why is that?
Today, every human can and should choose to treat each other as they would wish to be treated, but how do we make up for the mistakes and human rights abuses made by people who have come before us and are taking it’s toll on people even today? How do we settle the socioeconomic score? Is it possible? Reverse racism is still racism and also isn’t the answer. And how do we prevent new abuses from happening today? These are the types of questions I’d like to see us all discussing.
Our future generations will continue to inherit the effects historic human rights abuses and total ignorance have had on our fellow brothers and sisters of humanity. How can we all going further provide an environment that fosters peace and a better life for all? I hope we lead more discussions, here, at World Moms Blog to work on shaping the future. It is the greatest legacy we can leave to our future generations, so they no longer have to inherit the burdens of past ignorance. How amazing that would be.
If a US citizen was shot down in another country in the same way without any obvious cause and singled out because he was an American, we, as a nation would be outraged.
It should be no different when that attack happens in this country. Racial profiling must stop.
Cindy, thank you for telling us what is on your mind and bringing global awareness to this issue.
Cindy thank you so much for writing this powerful post. It drives me crazy that more conversations like this aren’t changing things but sadly we live in a country where te roots of racism lie so deep. It is so sad.
I appreciate your perspective, Cindy. I wish “zip code is destiny” had a lot less truth to it.
You have given us so much to think about. Thank you for writing this! Zip code does mean so much still.
Great post and perspective. I have been the victim of reverse racism and seen racism in action. We have cone a long way in some ways but there are so many ways it seems that we ignore “the elephant in the room” and think all the problems are gone away. I agree with Jen that I do not know how to fix the problems which came before us, but at least we are talking about it now….
Thank you for this post!