The name "Ferguson" will enter America's political vocabulary alongside cities like Detroit, Harlem and South Central Los Angeles -- places where black Americans rioted in the streets following the violent mistreatment of unarmed black men at the hands of police. Despite amazing progress in some areas of race relations -- notably, the election and re-election of Barack Obama as President -- the United States also harbors a deep, durable strain of racism that occasionally flares into public consciousness, sometimes with explosive results. The summer of 2014 was one of those times the curtain was pulled back and the ugliness emerged.
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Errol Louis says racial divisions in America were again exposed by the shooting of Michael Brown
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Black Americans lag behind when it comes to economic and educational opportunities, studies show
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Even with a black president, suspicions of racial profiling will remain a live, lingering concern, says Louis
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Louis predicts more flashpoints like what happened in Ferguson
All around @placeholder, demonstrations have taken place to protest what some call a national epidemic of police brutality toward black men.
In 1935, a false rumor swept through @placeholder that a 16-year-old, arrested for shoplifting, had been killed by police.