Minneapolis police shooting stirs old racial tensions
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by a Minneapolis police officer has pushed racial tensions in the city's small but concentrated minority community to the fore, with a police precinct besieged by a makeshift encampment and hundreds of protesters in recent days.
Police have tried to improve race relations in recent years, and succeeded in some areas. But some community activists say racial disparities — high unemployment rates for blacks, a disproportionate number of arrests for minor crimes and inequities in housing and the school system — have been going on for so long that Sunday's shooting of Jamar Clark, and the reaction from the community, was no surprise.
"We call Minneapolis a tale of two cities: The best of times if you're white, and worst of times if you're black," said Nekima Levy-Pounds, president of the Minneapolis chapter of the NAACP, and one of 42 people arrested when protesters shut down an interstate highway Monday night.
READ MORE: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/minneapol...
Police have tried to improve race relations in recent years, and succeeded in some areas. But some community activists say racial disparities — high unemployment rates for blacks, a disproportionate number of arrests for minor crimes and inequities in housing and the school system — have been going on for so long that Sunday's shooting of Jamar Clark, and the reaction from the community, was no surprise.
"We call Minneapolis a tale of two cities: The best of times if you're white, and worst of times if you're black," said Nekima Levy-Pounds, president of the Minneapolis chapter of the NAACP, and one of 42 people arrested when protesters shut down an interstate highway Monday night.
READ MORE: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/minneapol...
