Detroit Posts About #Ferguson: 'Still Have A Ways To Go,' 'We Are All Connected'

Social media posts about the ALS #IceBucketChallenge or #DreamCruise are overshadowed by more meaningful, provocative topics as users locally discuss tensions in Ferguson, Mo., and related issues for a second week.

An unidentified family at last weekend's African World Festival in Detroit held signs with a hashtag for posts about Ferguson. (Instagram photo by MsConnieT)

Among Metro Detroiters' comments are a reflection on "white privilege," a suggestion that Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton "only make bad matters worse," and a recollection of facing a police handgun.

Here's a sampling of tweets and Facebook comments Monday and in recent days:

• Formula for "disaster:" Small town, mostly black, white police force, bored kids, no jobs, no recreation, cops from other areas, constant harassment, no mentors, peer pressure, equals disaster. -- Randye Bullock, freelance writer and editor

• "Step back and rethink:" Unnecessary behavior leads to big disasters. Riots, insurrections leave the poor in worse shape. . . . Step back and rethink this madness. . . . Higher ground or it will become worse. -- Carl S. Taylor, MSU sociologist from Detroit

• "Cycle of Injustice:" For white people to publicly acknowledge white privilege, they are also acknowledging a stake, no matter how small, in perpetuating the cycle of injustice. -- Herb Harris, Detroit

• "Learn to live:" An officer always has the upper hand. You've got to always know when to back down, even when you're right. Learn to live for the next play. . . . When I am staring at the barrel of a gun at a traffic stop (and it has happened to me), now is not the time to do anything to escalate the situation. That's too real for black men in our community. . . . Just as I want young men to have street smarts with gangs, they should have the same instincts with the police. Just know what you're dealing with. -- Darren Nichols, Detroit News reporter

• The goal: "We just want peace and justice for all. #DONTSHOOT" -- Malaesa Owens McGhee, Detroit public relations practitioner

• All connected:" The violence and protests in Ferguson remind us that we are all connected." -- Greg Bowens, Grosse Pointe Park.

• "No excuse:" A human being was executed with his hands in the air, according to several eyewitness accounts. No matter what this young man did, . . . there is no excuse or rationalization for murder. -- Arnold Andrews, Detroit

• What's really "looting:" A chicken sub, a soda, and a pack of Newports versus a few hundred million dollars worth of homes, dozens of tens of thousands of jobs, and years of recession. Yeah . . . that's looting. -- Ken R. Whittaker, Detroit political consultant and web designer

• "Save our kids:" We are all different hues. Now let's fix stuff and and save our kids." -- Ken Brancheau, Detroit retiree

• Ballot power: What's hard to fathom in Ferguson is that people of color are the majority but they don't control anything. All they need to do is VOTE to change their situation. -- Rhod Foney, University of Michigan electrician

Thinking Jesse Jackson & Rev. Sharpton only make bad matters worse. #ValueQuestionable #Ferguson #LetsDealWithFactsNotPersonalities
— Karen Dumas (@karendumas) August 18, 2014

Troubling similarities between #Ferguson and #FreedomSummer. Black president but we still have a ways to go.
— Ken Coleman (@KenColeman1967) August 18, 2014

#Recipe4Disaster: When the racial composition of law enforcement in a city is not comparable to the community it serves, that's a problem.
— Phyllis Johnson (@luv410s2) August 18, 2014