TOW #12 Ferguson Was the Spark (Written)

http://time.com/3617369/eric-garner-grand-jury-protests/

For a long time now, posts about Ferguson and the death of Eric Garner have filled up my tumblr dashboard, and the more I see, the more angry it makes me. This was an interesting article as it connected this two relevant events. The first thing I noticed however, is a few inaccuracies in the description of the Ferguson events, particularly in describing the encounter between Michael Brown and Officer Wilson. The article was mainly about the racism problems that are still present in our country, resulting in the deaths of unarmed people. The article itself was interesting because it provided evidence to support the claim it made in the title, that Ferguson was the "spark" and Garner is "the fire". It talks about how the details in Ferguson are questionable, but that it's still inspired people to take action, and that with this newest development, people have taken to protesting for basic human rights. He did make a good point that even if the circumstances were questionable, it still can't justify Brown's death (which evidence suggests was not due to theft, but to jaywalking). It does question however, what the movement is trying to achieve, as attempting to get rid of racism entirely is impossible. The article appealed to logos in order to support the author's positive opinion of the movements, how it's a good thing that people are standing up for their beliefs and protesting injustice, but raises objections to the way the movement is progressing. I disagree with some of the things the author said in the article however, that Ferguson is getting more attention than Garner, and I disagree, because from what I've seen, it's getting a lot of attention, especially on my social media stream. I agree with the fact that these officers were not even indicted, received no punishment (and Wilson got a load of money from supporters, which I personally find sickening), and essentially got away with killing. There was one sentence that I thought summed up the article pretty well, "Ferguson was the spark, but Garner was 'it.'". Ferguson was an important but with the resolution of the Garner case, it has created even more uproar among the people and makes people inclined to take action at the brutality of the event and the people responsible, possibly leading to future steps combating racism.


Another interesting link: http://raggedyhour.tumblr.com/post/104454252877/nodamncatnodamncradle-odinsblog-racial-bias