The original issues stemming from the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson have recently been turned on their head. The "protestors", rallying against supposed rampant police brutality, argued that "black lives matter" - even the mayor of NYC led a chant celebrating this mantra- indicating too many young lives have been unnecessarily lost due to overzealous, racist police work. The media ran with this and aired news stories 24/7 preaching the cruelties committed by law enforcement, every night broadcasting a new and different crime committed by police against minorities.
However, since the recent abhorrent murder of two members of the NYPD, this story has done a political 180. Now, national news has shifted from crimes by police against minorities, to showcasing crimes by minorities against cops. The original "protesters" unknowingly turned America's tide against them, overshadowing the real cause - inherent, perhaps unknowing, racism in American culture - with fanatical, nonsensical protests against those whose sole job it is to protect against harm -- law enforcement.
The current situation acts as an example of what is wrong with American media today, selling stories instead of investigating the news, and in doing so undermining a potentially generation-shifting civil rights movement.
-Laura Kesnig
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