Outlines: Causes of the conflict
The three texts for the exam for STX English B from August 21st, 2015 are:
- “There is a ‘Ferguson’ near you” by Jesse L. Jackson
- “What White People Can Do About the Killing of Black Men in America” by Paul Raushenbush
- “Ferguson’s horrors: Riots achieve nothing” by Rich Lowry
The texts all deal with the reactions of the public and of the authorities after the deadly shooting of African-American Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri in August 2014. Since the circumstances of the shooting were ambiguous and concerns were raised about the way the police handled the issue, many African-Americans started protesting against the police and against racist practices.
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Causes of the conflict in Text 1
Text 1 is called “There is a ‘Ferguson’ near you” and it was written by Jesse L. Jackson and published on the USA Today website, on August 13, 2014.
In his column, Jackson argues that the Ferguson protests are illustrative of a broader problem at the national level, the lack of community development programs. Consequently, here are the causes of the racial unrest the author points out:
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Causes of the conflict in Text 2
Text 2 is titled “What White People Can Do About the Killing of Black Men in America” and is a comment by Paul Raushenbush, published on The Huffington Post website, on August 13, 2014.
While Paul Raushenbush focuses more on possible solutions to the racial conflicts in the US and the Baptist’s Church role, his text also hints towards possible causes of the conflicts between African-American protesters and the authorities, following the Ferguson shootings. Here are the causes of the racial unrest the author mentions:
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Causes of the conflict in Text 3
Text 3, “Ferguson’s horrors: Riots achieve nothing”, is a comment written by Rich Lowry and published on the New York Post website, on August 15, 2014.
In his comment, Lowry argues that the riots following the Ferguson shootings can bring nothing good and that people should let justice solve the case, instead of getting involved, complicating things and spiking unrest.
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