T

he vandalism in Ferguson, Missouri, that followed the grand jury'€™s decision not to indict a white police officer over the killing of black teen Michael Brown was always likely to happen. It also came as no surprise when the protests spread across the US, for, like Ferguson, many inner cities are predominantly African-American communities who for the most part have little representation in their own governance.

Although not on the same scale, it harks eerily back to the 1965 Watts riots in Los Angeles, in which mainstream white Americans saw criminals looting and destroying their own neighborhoods. Many in the black community, meanwhile, viewed it as an uprising against an oppressive system. Lessons were not learned though, as the 1992 Rodney King riots, also in Los Angeles, were to testify.

They still haven'€™t it seems, for while an African-American does occupy the White House, many in the community believe that a dual system of justice prevails, one that is divided along racial and economic lines. For many, the predominantly white police forces act as '€œarmies of occupation'€ and are backed up by a justice system that does the bidding of those in power and influence. Indeed, it may not be stretching comparison too far to equate conditions in many American cities with those in Jerusalem.

This is an interesting analogy, for both have their roots in fear; for Israel the demographic certainty that one day Arab rather than Jew will make up the majority of its population, while white America has still to reconcile with the fact that its numerical superiority is also fast diminishing.

Ferguson does underscore one of the weaknesses of the democratic system, however, in that there will always be those who feel they are not adequately represented. This holds equally true in cities in France and among minorities elsewhere around the world. Moreover, not all sections of the community are treated equally regardless of race, creed or political persuasion.

Unfortunately, the widening gulf between Republicans and Democrats in the US appears to be even more pronounced at the local level, with compromise largely viewed as tantamount to surrender. In the Ferguson case, there also seems to have been a lot of passing the buck downwards, although this is termed delegation of responsibility. The tardy deployment of the National Guard in and around Ferguson is a prime example of the lack of communication between the governor of Arizona and the mayor of Ferguson, although it may just be coincidence that Governor Jay Nixon is a Democrat and Mayor John Knowles III a Republican.

While this may be perceived as a setback for the US as an upholder of human rights, the episode does provide some valuable lessons for Indonesia, not least the need for community inclusion in elected representation at the local level. Care also has to be taken that party allegiance does not blind representatives to the need to compromise and to vote for something rather than just against.

We may have come a long way on our human rights journey from when armies of occupation enslaved communities or put them to the sword, but we still have a long way to travel before the concept of everyone being born equal is fully embraced by all.

James Kallman
Jakarta