Thursday, August 28th, 2014
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
COULD A FERGUSON HAPPEN IN LOUISIANA?
Is the Ferguson, Missouri community unique in its inability to deal with a troubling death with still unanswered questions? Of course not. Ferguson is any-town when reason disintegrates into the chaos of aggressive confrontation.
Ferguson is not a community in decay or a broken ghetto as some news outlets have portrayed it. It will surprise many of my Louisiana readers to learn that I attended high school in Ladue, a small community right next to Ferguson, and to know that I regularly made the fifteen minute drive there for weekend dates. The racial demographics have changed, but the town is still made up of working class neighborhoods that continue to sprawl throughout St. Louis County.
That’s not to say that Ferguson is the safest place to be roaming about. The Wall Street Journal reports, “the city has 190 crimes per square mile, compared with a national median of 39.3. If you live in Ferguson, you are twice as likely to have your car stolen or get mugged, or have your house broken into than if you live in Averageville, U.S.A.” Kind of makes you feel right at home if you happen to live in New Orleans.
Louisiana communities, by comparison, have been relatively peaceful. Racial confrontations in Jena back in 2007, and in New Orleans following Katrina come to mind. Although the Bayou State has a proliferation of crime significantly above the national average, racial calm has generally prevailed. And give the devils their due. Politicians, particularly out of the state capitol, may be incapable of balancing the state budget, and solving a long list of quality of life problems. But racial strife has been minimized by active mayors and other officials both black and white, who have been fairly successful at defusing potential racial confrontations. Continue Reading……….