Here it comes now, Occupy II in the name of Michael Brown

It’s ironic that in the case of Michael Brown of Ferguson, Missouri, which according to news reports involved a robbery by Brown of a cigar store, a second theft has occurred. The Ferguson protest of the shooting and grand jury report has been hijacked. It has now morphed into Occupy II.

Do you remember the Occupiers? How could you forget those people living in their own filth, blocking traffic and railing about perceived inequalities? I’ve noticed that these people and other white activists have hijacked the protest movement around the shooting of Michael Brown. They are using him as a platform to rail against things as diverse as the development of North Philly by Temple University to the evils of Black Friday .

I covered the protest last week at Temple University against the decision of the Ferguson grand jury, and I found the protesters were mainly white and they billed the riots in Ferguson as “the rebellion“or the start of “the revolution.” In fact, Temple senior Payne Schroeder, one of the major speakers, called for the protesters to oppose Temple’s “colonial imperialism.” He explained on my radio show on Talk Radio 1210 that Temple’s expansion drives out neighborhood residents, creates only minimum wage jobs and thus is creating many more Michael Browns with little or no hope.

What a bunch of nonsense. Temple is creating jobs, better living conditions and bringing development to a very depressed area of the city. Based on my conversation with him, Schroeder’s real enemy is capitalism. He and others in this movement are arguing that some big conspiracy of our system, the capitalism system, is forcing the Michael Browns of the world to engage with the police.

This “movement” may be given added cachet by Time Magazine. Time is reporting that in their publication’s Person of the Year Poll, the Ferguson Protesters are surging. They say that voters have given them a huge boost. I think this reflects the mainstream media’s fascination with a group of people who are often childish and angry.

I’ve interviewed many of the Occupiers and they are often saddled with a big student loan debt and unmarketable college majors that do not offer them a good opportunity to get a job that would pay very well. Thus, riding the back of Michael Brown, we now have Occupy II.

Being a part of Occupy II just like the original Occupy spectacle is very appealing to some people. Everyone gets a title like Minister of Communications. Some get a bullhorn and the job of making up cool chants that rhyme with “No Justice, No Peace.” You get to disrupt traffic, people and businesses, claiming it’s your constitutional right, while thumbing your nose at the rights of others who are affected by your organized temper tantrum.

So if you’re a person reading this working a job, maintaining a house, raising kids and supporting your community, you are at best unenlightened and at worse a tool of the master class. And if you’re white, then it is clear you are certainly exercising white privilege.

Every one of the new Occupiers has no real answer when I tell them that the majority of the shops looted and burned in Ferguson were owned by minorities. They usually say they are collateral damage in the big struggle or rebellion.

Michael Brown may not have amounted to much, but he deserves better than being a body to be used for some revolutionary fun and games.