As somebody who lives close to St Louis, I'm not sure whether the constant murders in the city and the ceaseless pressure against the police are more scary or more embarrassing.

A case in point, a city council meeting Wednesday almost turned into a brawl when a policeman showed a up at the meeting wearing an "I'm Darren Wilson" wrist band.

It seems that most people aren't aware of just how much damage has been done through integration, block busting, and the Democratic Party's embrace of Black Power movements. St Louis is looking more and more like a failed African state than the excellent industrial city it was 60 or 70 years ago.

See previous letters from William Clough.