Society's neglected responsibility for Ferguson

This does not negate everything I have written about the Ferguson police force doing everything wrong.    But Christ Matthews last night on MBNBC gave some thought-provoking comments at the end of his show.   Here's what I got from it:

We (liberals, anyway) tend to put the blame for the community revolt primarily on the local police:    an unjustified shooting of an unarmed black teen;  as far as we've been told the officer who shot him as been allowed to leave town without any charges against him;  the lack of explanations;  the attempts by selective release of information to make the victim look like the bad guy; and the militaristic approach to controlling mostly peaceful crowds.

Matthews, while acknowledging these wrongs, also stood up for the police to some extent.   They have a very difficult job -- trying to keep a lid on unrest in a community that exemplifies the effects of inequality in the United States.    Unemployment, lack of opportunity, inequality -- and not much hope for anything better than a life of menial jobs and second-class citizenship, increased likelihood of being in prison and of dying young.   This is the breeding ground for unrest and mistrust of authority.

Now we put police officers in charge of keeping violence in check in such a breeding ground for it.    Matthews does not minimize the problems.   He says that it doesn't start with the police.   We as a society that perpetuates these conditions give the police a nearly impossible task, often don't give them the training or resources to deal with it adequately.

So while the police bear their share of blame -- society has the larger responsibility to change the economic and social conditions for our minority, underprivileged citizens.

Ralph