Topic

The article “Walking while black: Michael Brown, black men and white police officers” by Ishmael Sistrunk explores the topic of racial prejudice and violence in the context of the Ferguson unrest caused by the deadly shooting of Michael Brown by a white police officer on 9th of August, 2014.

After the shooting, a series of peaceful protests took place in Ferguson Missouri. However, there was also a series of violent incidents in which African Americans destroyed shops and entered into violent conflicts with the police officers. The article is a response to all these events.

Violence

The theme of violence is explored in several ways in the article. Firstly, the writer focuses on the violence that followed the shooting of Michael Brown, criticizing it: “Violence and looting have ripped apart North County since the shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown by a Ferguson police officer. (...) It was disappointing to see young black men videotaping themselves looting and eventually burning down the QuikTrip…” (ll. 2-5)

The writer disagrees with such conduct but also believes it was an “inevitable” (l. 8) result of racial discrimination against African Americans.

Later in the article, Sistrunk returns to the theme of violence when he asks his readers to reflect on the victims of po...