Ferguson voters can throw the bums out

Throw the bums out.

That should be the mission of the people of Ferguson, Missouri, as they examine and mourn the police shooting of Michael Brown.

The noxious tear gas, righteous protests and heartbreaking loss of Michael will inevitably fade into history. There will be investigations, charges, trials to come as the St. Louis suburb seeks justice.

There is no shortage of anguished and heartfelt suggestions to remedy what happened in Ferguson. The U.S. Justice Department is contemplating a civil rights lawsuit, potentially against the Ferguson police department. The FBI is investigating. Others are calling for reforms in police hiring and training, ending racial profiling and stop-and-frisk, and abolishing police use of military style weapons and vehicles.

Still others, like Brown’s grandfather, Lesley McSpadden, demanded on MSNBC that President Barack Obama meet with him and make something happen.

Those are fine ideas but focused on outsiders, on trying to force the existing power structure to change.

The African-American community of Ferguson must take charge of its own destiny. All they have to do is vote.

Right now, Ferguson is a black city in the iron grip of white power.

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