Discussion for article #235026
Turnout among blacks has been especially troubling
A large portion of Ferguson’t Black population isn’t even allowed to vote. And that’s on top of the fact that virtually every Black person in town has a warrant of some sort out for them. How the hell are you gonna vote a racist government out of office when they’ve made you unable to vote?
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Voter suppression epitomized…
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GOTV, its always important, in national elections and right down to the smallest towns.
“Ferguson staggers elections for three-year terms, so three council members and Mayor James Knowles III are not facing election this year.”
What sort of recall instrument does Missouri offer? Organizing a recall on ALL existing council seats would go a long way towards motivating people to go to the polls when the NEXT election arises.
If the good people of Ferguson can get it together and work in concert, they can change the nature of their city government sooner than later.
And any council candidate who runs would be well advised to promise a full-scale in-depth investigation of all city activities over the past few years (dating back to any limitations statute) and include in that promise an even MORE solemn pledge to prosecute and imprison any former city official, police chief or employee of any sort that is proven to have conspired in the process to oppress the people of Ferguson.
One thing we know already, for certain.
There’s a BIG club of guilty parties who would fear that investigation and the threat of prosecution. They know what they did, and the only reason they got away with it was that they were the prosecutors, judges and juries. Now that they might face the other side of the bench, they know their crimes better than anyone and live now in fear of exposure.
Don’t just clean house… make examples of the miscreants who are being booted from office. They’d do it for you.
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Turnout among blacks has been especially troubling, black leaders have said, leading to a hard push last year to register new voters. But Fey said just 562 voters have been added since August. The county does not keep records of voter registration by race.
Smith, a 76-year-old retired factory worker and former union leader, said the important thing isn’t to register new voters but to get those already registered to turn out. He said the police handling of Brown’s case led him to run for office for the first time.
People get the government they deserve, the one who they have fought for…or not. It’s sad to see that a 76 years old man feels the need to step up to the plate, like there is no one else younger that can take up the job.
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I know, I’m replying to my own post, but I have to make this point. Sending some of these judges and city officers and police officers to prison for abusing their own citizens is a much harsher sentence than it would be for most.
Those prisons are full of the kind people these guys sent there, many of them on trumped up charges for exaggerated offenses.
Any Ferguson official who played an active role in this debacle should be very VERY fearful they might be relegated to the same fate they forced on so many others.
Karma’s only a bitch if you’ve been one. Or something like that.
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I would suggest that the past decade of abuse has frightened most Ferguson blacks into non-voter mode. And with so many traffic fines, etc, no doubt most of them think if they vote, they’ll get hauled in on charges or warrants. There’s a reason people fear the voting booth, and no doubt there are many on the right who prefer it that way.
Bad enough, they don’t vote, worse yet if their fears are being harvested just for that purpose, intentionally, by the status quo that knows it will be gone if The People are actually encouraged and enabled to take part in their own democracy.
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Black Votes Matter. That’s the next campaign slogan. Citizens…Please get out and vote this next time.
The article talks about slight improvement in voters turnout last year versus the previous 2 years. In any case, with the eyes of the Nation and especially those of the DOJ focused on them, I would think that no one in Ferguson will try to arrest anyone on traffic fines warrants. This is a great opportunity for that community to elect leaders they want to govern.
We’re all in this together; Ferguson, I’m pulling for you!
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Stop comitting crimes and you won’t have a warrant out for you. There is no voter ID law in Missouri. There is NO EXCUSE for not voting. If you don’t you get the government you deserve. Would you rather make positive change or do you want to complain and blame everybody else for your problems? Why is there no talk in the media about the attempts of people to silence witnesses in the Michael Brown case because they felt threatened if they went against what the “community” said? Stop making excuses and do something positive about being taken advantage of by the system.
Tone deaf asswipe. Go fuck yourself.
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A76 year old no longer has to worry about what happens to his job if he upsets the powers that be.
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Ferguson police were putting out arrest warrants on people who had not committed crimes. That was part of the anger in the community about any one taking any action that could be viewed as supporting the police.
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