Summary Of The Coming Race War Won T Be About Race

On the surface, the Ferguson shooting is a prime example of modern racial prejudice. Since the incident, the media has utilized this tragedy to promote public discourse regarding the discrimination that still exists within our global community. However, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the author of the Time magazine article “The Coming Race War Won’t Be About Race”, argues that race is not the only problem at hand. Instead, he believes that a variety of socio-economic issues have emerged through the nature of this event and others similar to it. He looks further than just the narrow context and explores all of the factors that have caused the events of the shooting of Mike Brown to escalate; to explore the reason why not only the Ferguson community, but, also the nation has such animosity towards
He validates the comparison of the events with credibility by mentioning the time and repercussions of those tragedies. It was in May of 1970, Kent State in Ohio faced an eerie ordeal. The National Guard shot at protesters who were students at the university. This garnered a great amount of attention from the media and people across the nation. But, similar events did not get nearly as much attention and were easily forgotten. While making the comparison to the modern day event in Ferguson, Missouri, Abdul-Jabbar brings to light the Jackson State shooting. Which happened only 10 days after the Kent State shooting. But, “There was no national outcry” (par. 6) not much attention from the media, and not as many protesters. The author of the article inquires and delves into the reason as to why two tragedies that had similar catalysts and outcomes were perpetuated differently. Abdul-Jabbar dissects the factors that went into the way both tragedies were reflected. He also questions if the Ferguson shooting will have the same fate and be forgotten, just like the tragedy at Jackson