An open letter to America’s 1%: you had better hope violent protesters stay stupid.

[JDPriestly]

25. I watched the beginning of the 1992 riots in South Central LA from the third story of a building

that overlooked the city. A few fires -- probably near the homes of those setting the fires.

The frightening thing is the short-sightedness of those who are leaders in a community in which people set fires to their own community.

In LA I think there was a sentiment that the "local" businesses were actually owned by people who were exploiting the community.

But there have to be more positive ways to work for change.

One of the problems with both the rich and the poor, black and white, is that each sector of society lives in its own community and does not comprehend the reality of the other.

Imagine a Thanksgiving dinner with a large family seated around the table. One member of the family takes 40% of the meal and puts it on his plate. It doesn't make any difference whether that one member of the family is black or white or orange. That member will find some reason to justify taking so much that others have less than they need.

Race is an excuse. The exaggerated disparity in wealth is the problem.

In my view, race is a wedge issue that divides poor from poor.

African-American leaders need to make a much bigger effort to form coalitions with other groups like unions and women to fight for economic justice including forming communities that are not geographically divided by race.

If the racial balance in Ferguson had better reflected the racial make-up of our society, do you think that the Wilson would have hassled Brown and Johnson less?

I tend to think that if white people had been living in that area in larger numbers and had been able to see what was going on on a daily basis, that the officer would not have dared to treat Brown as he did. Racially divided cities, geographically viewed, invite police brutality in the communities of the racial minorities. Officers take out their anger in areas in which they think they can get by with it.