Circumstances

The article “Walking while black: Michael Brown, black men and white police officers” by Ishmael Sistrunk was published in The St. Louis American on 13th of August, 2014, five days after “the shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown by a Ferguson police officer.” (ll. 2-3).

The article was written as a reaction to both the shootings and the violent riots that followed.

On 9th of August, 2014 African-American Michael Brown was shot dead by a white police officer who found him suspicious and believed Brown was armed (although he was not). The shooting spiked local and national protests. Most of the protesters were peaceful, but in Ferguson, there were also cases of violence and stealing which Sistrunk describes and criticizes:

It was disappointing to see young black men videotaping themselves looting and eventu...