Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76Plough Quarterly • Winter 2015 69 Here are two important obstacles to obtain- ing justice in Ferguson: the laws of the land and the trauma endured by the black community. First, laws governing the conduct of police offi- cers who use lethal force have an extremely high bar of proof. It must be demonstrated that the officer intentionally used more force in the situa- tion than was necessary. Therefore it is unlikely, though not impossible, that Officer Darren Wilson will be convicted. The second factor, how the incident trauma- tized the community, affects the likelihood of justice for the young people and children who still live in Ferguson. Michael Brown’s body lay in the street for over four hours. His mother screamed and pleaded to be allowed to go to him, but she was denied. His stepfather asked to be permitted to cover his body with a sheet but was not allowed by the police officers. A mother taking her daugh- ter home unexpectedly encountered the scene as Michael Brown’s blood soaked into the asphalt. Residents crowded around in distress. In response to the protests demanding justice the police barricaded four square blocks, fifty-three are black, though 67 percent of Fergu- son’s residents are. Fines and court fees for traffic violations and other infractions of the law were the second largest source of income for the city in 2013. This creates an incentive for police to ticket drivers for every offense, no matter how minor, and this practice is highly racialized: 93 percent of arrests, 86 percent of traffic stops, and 92 percent of vehicle searches in Ferguson involved blacks, even though a smaller fraction of blacks stopped were carry- ing illegal substances compared to whites. There are very few black elected officials, due in part to blacks’ withdrawal from the electoral system. Roughly 30 percent of blacks in St. Louis City and St. Louis County, where Ferguson is located, live below the poverty level, compared to a poverty rate of 8 percent among whites. This highly unjust, racially unequal system has transformed a protest about the death of one young man. It has become more than a quest for justice for him; it becomes a demand for access to a better life for all the young people like him who suffer under an inequitable system. But will they get justice for either Michael Brown or themselves? Plywood covered storefronts near the Ferguson police station in November, 2014. Businesses were bracing for possible vandalism if a grand jury declined to press charges against Darren Wilson, the officer who killed Michael Brown. Photograph by Scott Olson / Getty Images