Leid Stories - 11/10/14

Ferguson, MO: Racist Public Policy and the ‘Sundown’ Town

Detroit Bankruptcy: Judge OKs Exit Plan, But Major Battles Loom

The Aug. 8 killing of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old African American, by a white local police officer, Darren Wilson, brought Ferguson, Missouri, to national and international attention as yet another example of the woefully lopsided power equation between African Americans and the systems that control them and their communities.

Our guest, Richard Rothstein, a research associate of the Economic Policy Institute and senior fellow of the Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Law and Social Policy at the University of California (Berkeley) School of Law, explains that Ferguson—and the Fergusons of America—were created and continue to be shaped by racist governmental policies that reflect and reinforce societal attitudes. Ferguson, he says, remains true to the letter and spirit of its origins—as a “sundown” town that required Blacks to disappear from sight at the end of the day.

 

The almost two-year (20 months) legal battle over the largest municipal bankruptcy in the history of the United States came to an end last week, when U.S. District Judge Steven Rhodes ruled that the City of Detroit’s reorganization plan was feasible and fair, and will put the city back on solid financial footing. The euphoria by officials that accompanied Rhodes’ decision, however, is in stark contrast to the anger and angst of many Detroiters who believe they and their city are victims of an orchestrated political hit.

Abayomi Azikiwe, Leid Stories’ correspondent Detroit’s bankruptcy and related issues, reports on the key elements of the court’s decision.