Robber Mike Brown was shot dead in Ferguson, Missouri on August 9, 2014.
Michael Brown robbed a local Ferguson convenience store shortly before his death. Then Brown smashed police officer Darren Wilson in the face and wrestled the officer for his gun before he was shot dead.
So it should come as no surprise that Democrats today are comparing Brown to Jimmie Lee Jackson who was shot by state troopers while taking refuge in Selma in 1965.
The Huffington Post reported:
In 1965, Jimmie Lee Jackson was shot while taking refuge from violent state troopers in a restaurant in Selma, Alabama. His death ignited a 50-mile march from Selma to Montgomery, which galvanized the passing of the Voting Rights Act. As we reach the 50th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday,” when demonstrators attempting to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge faced tear gas and clubs in the fight for true voting rights, the conversation about racial equality is as salient as ever.
Activist Ashley Yates joined HuffPost Live on Friday to weigh in on the similarities between today’s #BlackLivesMatter movement and the civil rights struggles of the 60s.
“We’re seeing history repeat itself,” she told host Marc Lamont Hill.
In 2013, the movement took a hit when the Supreme Court gutted a crucial portion of the Voting Rights Act, which was hailed as one of the most important civil rights victories of its time. The 5-4 ruling removed federal oversight from the voting processes of nine mostly southern states.
While some may consider voting discrimination a thing of the past, Yates looked to the demographics of Ferguson’s white-dominated city council representatives as an example of the rampant voter disenfranchisement faced by black Americans.
So, how does Ferguson, a city with an African American majority, end up with a mostly white government?
“Well, that’s because voting disenfranchisement is very, very real,” she said. “The methods don’t look the same as they did in the Jim Crow south, but they are definitely utilizing tactics to make sure that people don’t get their voices heard.”
She also discussed the fight against police brutality, drawing comparisons between Michael Brown and the martyrs of the past.
What a sad bunch of race hustlers.
