Ash writes: "Nothing could better illustrate the reality of anti-African-American bias in America today than the stark contrast between what happened at the Bundy Ranch in Nevada and what is happening in Ferguson, Missouri. The response to those two events is a portal to the soul of a nation that still belongs to Jim Crow."



People protest Sunday, Aug. 17, 2014, for Michael Brown who was killed by a police officer last Saturday in Ferguson, Mo. (photo: Charlie Riedel/AP)

Where Were the Soldier-Cops at Bundy Ranch?

By Marc Ash, Reader Supported News

othing could better illustrate the reality of anti-African-American bias in America today than the stark contrast between what happened at the Bundy Ranch in Nevada and what is happening in Ferguson, Missouri. The response to those two events is a portal to the soul of a nation that still belongs to Jim Crow.

In Nevada, a rancher defied a federal court order with the support of hundreds of heavily armed self-styled militia members. Together they confronted federal agents attempting to serve a warrant, in some cases training their weapons on the agents.

In Ferguson, Missouri, following the fatal shooting of an unarmed 18-year-old black man by a white police officer, angry black residents left their homes, stood unarmed in the streets, and faced down a fully militarized, almost entirely white police force. Yes, looting of local businesses is taking place, but it began after the entirely peaceful protests were met by Ferguson Police in full combat mode.

To understand the state of race relations in America in the year 2014, you need look no further than the reactions by state and federal law enforcement to the two events.

In Nevada, state and federal law enforcement simply walked away, doing so, they said, “in the name of public safety.” The federal warrant remains unserved to this day.

In Ferguson, the guns remain pointed at the people, black people specifically. What started out as a shocking display of what can happen when a civilian police force adopts military methods and equipment has now become exponentially more volatile as the “real military” arrives, in the form of the Missouri National Guard.

Where was the full military response when it was really appropriate in Nevada? The Bundy Ranch incident was a far more aggressive assault on law and order than the defensive action in Ferguson. There was no response in Nevada – and an overwhelming, fully militarized response in Ferguson. Why? White fear.

To a white-dominated America, angry black folks in the streets are far more terrifying than the most heavily armed whites, regardless of the circumstances.

In reality, the white para-military Ferguson police are more closely aligned ideologically, and more likely to be sympathetic with the white so-called militiamen that defied federal agents at the Bundy Ranch than they are to oppose them. Both groups are largely comprised of members with military training and experience. The tactics each group employed at Bundy Ranch and Ferguson clearly relied on military methods. The views of both groups are equally hostile to African-Americans as well, as their words and actions clearly demonstrate.

During times of African-American unrest there is always a common refrain: “No justice, no peace.” In Ferguson, as across America today, there is no justice or peace.

How may deaths will it take?

Marc Ash is the founder and former Executive Director of Truthout, and is now founder and Editor of Reader Supported News.

Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News.