Seattle University School of Law Digital Commons Faculty Scholarship 2016 Thugs, Crooks, and Rebellious Negroes: Racist and Racialized Media Coverage of Michael Brown and the Ferguson Demonstrations Bryan Adamson Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/faculty Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Bryan Adamson, Thugs, Crooks, and Rebellious Negroes: Racist and Racialized Media Coverage of Michael Brown and the Ferguson Demonstrations, 32 HARV. J. RACIAL & ETHNIC JUST. 189 (2016). https://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/faculty/747 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Seattle University School of Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Scholarship by an authorized administrator of Seattle University School of Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. "THUGS," "CROOKS," AND "REBELLIOUS NEGROES": RACIST AND RACIALIZED MEDIA COVERAGE OF MICHAEL BROWN AND THE FERGUSON DEMONSTRATIONS Bryan Adamson* IwrRODUCTION At approximately 1:30 p.m. CST on August 9, 2014, when the news broke of a shooting in Ferguson, Missouri, one disturbing picture was the first still image most of us saw.' A Black male body is lying face down on the street. The picture is foregrounded by the familiar yellow "POLICE LINE DO NOT CROSS" barrier tape. One need not cross to see what is there. A wide stream of blood has run down the barely perceptible slope of the roadway. The male's shirt is gathered up above his torso; his under- wear is showing, and the waist of his pants is at mid-thigh. The body's arms and legs are contorted around and beneath him in a manner no live person could will themselves to assume.