Jon Stewart began his show on Thursday by reviewing of the Department of Justice’s report on pervasive racism in the Ferguson, Mo. Police Department.
Aside from racially biased violence and arrests, “The Daily Show” host noted that 20 percent of the town’s revenue came from ticketing black residents for offenses like “manner of walking along roadway.”
Stewart brought on correspondent Jessica Williams, who was broadcasting “live from the Ferguson police station,” which appeared to be a massive and lavish palace.
“Like the White House, it was also built by black people who didn’t have a choice,” Williams quipped. “Fuck these people.”
Stewart spoke for a brief moment, but by the time the camera cut back to Williams, she had received a ticket for “exceeding the height limit for sidewalk use.” She decided to pay it immediately.
Williams amassed more tickets as the segment went on until she was covered in them.
Watch the clip, courtesy of Comedy Central:
Very funny and true lol
Funny idea, but I think she’s still trying to find her timing a bit.
Not much of an exaggeration. From the Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/03/05/ferguson-shows-how-a-police-force-can-turn-into-a-plundering-collection-agency/?tid=hp_mm&hpid=z3
The police routinely discriminate against the poor. They go after people in old cars, people who aren’t dressed like a white collar worker, people who live in low income areas, etc. If you are black or brown, they go after you anyway. Why? Because the poor can’t afford a lawyer to fight the discrimination. At this point, these fines and penalties amount to a sin tax for not being rich and successful. How did it come to this? There are broad reasons in the excellent report from the DoJ. One major one is because municipalities are staved for cash. The poor are an easy target. Shame on our elected officials for their cruel cowardice, and shame on us for looking the other way. But, especially shame on the wealthy. When they were taxed at a more American rate of excessive taxes on excessive income, our infrastructure was sound, even the poor lived in decent neighborhoods, and the police were respected enforcers of the law. Stop soaking the poor and start soaking the rich.
Boy, is that the truth. The Atlantic had a pretty comprehensive piece about the report and it was clear the police had made an entrenched, institutionalized racket out of shaking people down for fines based on absurdly minor or nonexistent infractions. When the police act like a gang with the blessing of the municipal government, things have gotten pretty bad.