look at the scene just a few minutes ago. a large crowd of protesters walking by, chanting. we have seen this now, this crowd growing over the last hour, hour and a half just a few blocks away from where michael brown was shot and killed more than one week ago. we're going to be back again one hour from now. another live edition of "ac 360" at 11:00 p.m. eastern time, 10:00 p.m. here. i want to bring you all the latest on what is happen hearing on the ground as it gets later and later here. as you know, there is no curfew, but people are being watched very closely by police and we are hoping it is going to be staying peaceful as it is now. stay tuned now for don lemon hosting a "cnn tonight" town hall, "black and white many america." >> this is cnn breaking news. >> breaking news. you're looking live at ferguson,

missouri, where there are protests tonight where it's ten days after the death of michael brown. he was shot to death by a police officer. good evening, everyone. i'm don lemon, and i want to welcome our studio audience. this is "cnn tonight." it's a live special. a town hall. it's called "black and white in america." welcome, everyone. are you excited to be here? we are excited to have you here, because tonight the events in ferguson are sparking a national conversation. do we have a race problem? do we have a police problem? or do we have both? black, white, everybody has an opinion. and we're having the conversation live right here in our studio. and you can be a part of it at home. make sure you tweet us your question, using t the #fergusoncues.

we need answers. the lives of our young people depend on it. we have a team of very distinguished guests right here in our studio. but before we get into our conversation, we want to go to ferguson where jake tapper and anderson cooper are both live. i want to begin with jake who is out in the crowd live again tonight. jake, what are you seeing? >> well, as you can see, the protesters are out here in force. it's a much smaller crowd than, for instance, last night by about -- it's about 1/8 the size. 1/8 of what we're used to. but boisterous, as they have been. here we go. we're turning here. they have decided to basically focus on this one square block and just go up and down, up and down. there are members of the clergy here. and other leaders. but it's a smaller group than we've seen in previous nights, a more energetic group.

a lot more young people in their teens and 20s. far fewer children, far fewer women. some community religious leaders have already expressed to me some concerns about a small pocket of troublemakers, potential troublemakers on the other side of the road here. so far police presence is relatively small and not the kind of militarized presence we've seen in previous nights. there are pockets of law enforcement, state troopers here and, there but not the show of force we've seen in the past. not certainly what we saw last night. it's really anything could happen tonight. you know that some officials, local officials asked that there not be any protests tonight, that this be a night of peace, that there not be any protests after dark. but those heading up the protests said no way they were

going to exercise their first amendment right. also, as i'm sure you know, don, you reported on it earlier, there was an incident earlier today in st. louis where police officers killed a young african-american man. he was armed. he had a knife. he was according to them coming at them with a knife, saying "shoot me, kill me" and they did. we have heard some of the protesters talk about that. i don't see any specific relation between the mike brown story and that, but police taking the life of another young african american man in the minds of some of these protesters, there is a connection. back to you, don. >> all right. jake tapper out in the field, marching with the protesters tonight. jake, we'll get back to you. i want to go to anderson now. anderson, you just spoke to ben crump. i just saw your conversation. he is representing michael brown's family. how is the family doing tonight? >> well, obviously, we've been focusing in the last week or so on the protests here. but this is a family in mourning. this is a family who lost their son a little bit more than a

week ago, killed about three blocks from where i'm standing and where these crowds have been gathering. and on top of dealing with the morning process, and today we learned there will be a funeral and a public memorial service on monday, that was announced today by the family and by their attorneys, but this is a family that has also been suddenly thrust into the national spotlight. and they want to pursue what they consider to be justice for their son. they want to see this case go to trial. they want to see an arrest of the police officer involved here. as jake may have mentioned. a grand jury is set to begin as early as tomorrow. but that process may take several weeks. so in addition to mourning the loss of their 18-year-old son, they are concerned about the ability to get justice and to get answers about which they still do not have about how their son died and why. >> anderson, you know, we were out there last night. there doesn't appear to be as many people as when you and i were out there last night. what is the crowd like? at your location, what is the scene like?

>> yeah, it's definitely a lot different than it was last night when you were out here. and don, you know better than anyone. you've been covering this now for days. the crowds are much smaller. they have been much smaller all throughout the day. the crowd that jake tapper was in, there were probably about 150, 200 people maybe in that crowd, marching around. but that's really the only large crowd that we have seen there are a number of several dozen people around here. and there is a heavy police presence. as you know last night, they had a different tactic last night. police would try to identify one or two individuals who they saw as causing trouble. and they would go in, try to arrest those one were to individuals and move out and continue to allow the crowds to protest that worked for a while. until, as you well know, it didn't work any longer. they're hoping it will remain peaceful tonight as we are. we're going to continue with to monitor it all throughout this hour and live into the next hour. >> all right, anderson. thank you very much. thank you very much, jake. just before i move on, can i get a show of hands of people here

in the audience who think that people should still be allowed to protest after dark in ferguson? you think they should, even with all the violence? okay. we'll talk about that tonight. all right. so joining me now here in studio, darryl parks, he is the attorney for michael brown's family. cnn law enforcement analyst tom fuentes. martin luther king iii. he is a global civil rights activist and the oldest son of the reverend martin luther king jr. and the executive director of the black sphere and the black conservative location. also cnn legal analyst mark o'mara, anel powell, the author of "the truth heals." and also joining us is cnn's nischelle turner with the look at why your attitudes about the shooting of michael brown may have a lot to do with whether you are black or white. nischelle, what did you find out? >> you know, don, this has been a really interesting ten days for me. on one hand, i've been look agent this story like a journalist. but on the other hand, i have

family who live in that community in ferguson. so i've been look at these images play out with angst every night, praying that the people i love will be safe in their homes. i think all of this playing out on television has definitely forced americans to take a good look at ourselves. and there is a brand-new poll out tonight that has some very telling numbers about how blacks and whites look at race in america. for the past ten day, america's eyes have been transfixed on these images. many questions and few answers about the death of michael brown. but opinions are taking shape, and the contrast between black and white is stark. >> i have to be very careful about not prejudging. >> reporter: president obama called for calm and caution, but according to a pew research poll of one thousand adults, minds are already made up. when asked if michael brown's shooting raises important issues about race in america, 37% of whites say yes. however, 80% of blacks say this

case is sparking important racial conversation. is the race issue being overplayed? 47% of white adults say you bet. but among african americans, only 18% of black adults say race is getting more attention here than it deserves. 65% of blacks say police have gone too far in responding to the shooting's aftermath. that's in contrast to a third of whites who are divided. 33% saying too much. 32% saying the response has been about right. and about the investigation itself into the killing of the unarmed 18-year-old, 52% of whites polled say they have a great deal or fair amount of confidence in the investigation. but among blacks, 76% saying they have little or no confidence in the investigation. these numbers paint a picture of a deeply divided america. and the fine line the president must walk as he bridges the gap between black and white. >> as americans, we got to use this moment to seek out our

share of humanity that has been laid bare by this moment. >> reporter: i've seen a lot of raised eyebrows in here when the numbers came out. but if you can believe those numbers, this inside even as divisive when last year a florida jury, excuse me, found george zimmerman not guilty in the killing of trayvon martin. at this time, 60% of whites said they felt like race played too much of a part in that case. don, send it back to you. >> definitely interesting. there is a divide. everyone looking at the monitor when the numbers came up for poll, you were shocked, mark omar rachlt you were shocked. darryl parks, do we have a race problem or a police problem this. >> we have a problem that encompasses that plus other things -- education, economics. you know, when you think about st. louis, i was talking with a couple of leaders there who are friends of mine, the problems we see in st. louis right now, although start with michael brown, but cover an amount of time that has been there.

and so i think that this happened at a time where all of those problems have festered and come to fruition at this point. >> i want to ask you, tom fuentes, because you know that a grand jury is convening tomorrow. so we are finally -- the justice part of this is finally going to start rolling. the big investigative part of this is finally going to start rolling. what happens next here? do you think that all of this in any way, the protesting, is this delaying the judicial process at all? >> it's not delaying it. the prosecutor will be going before the grand jury and presenting the evidence as they have it now. but they don't have all the evidence yet. some of the forensic reports are not completed. the autopsy, the toxicology reports which are body fluids and fluids from the organs, blood, that takes four to six weeks to get that result from michael brown. and all of these physical, chemical type tests take time. and they won't have that yet.

so the whole process takes a while. that's the state system. the federal investigation by the fbi is completely separate, and it's a criminal investigation. and that will also be analyzing all of the evidence and looking at that. one thing about the federal system is with the federal speedy trial act, if they choose to bring charges against officer wilson, they have to go to tile in 90 days. >> right. >> so they have to be prepared. they have to have the evidence together, the reporting together. and the fbi will not want to get it wrong. they will rather be slow than wrong. >> mark o'mara, is that 90 days, is that enough time to prepare for a case like this? >> absolutely not. and the problem with it is we have sort of a dichotomy between the people who want something done now, because this is when emotions are at their most raw. they look at it and say how can you not be doing something. how can there not be an arrest today. but what i say to you is look, in florida and in missouri and in the federal system, there are

time dates from the date of arrest to the date of trial. rushing it now is actually counterproductive. >> so rushing an arrest. >> yes. >> because there is a time limit. everyone is saying arrest, arrest, arrest, but is that necessarily what people want? >> if what they truly want is justice defined by having an adversary process address this issue and resolve it properly, give the prosecutor time to build their case. let them do it. because if they do it rushed, if they go to the grand jury tomorrow just because people want them to and they're not ready, then some criminal defense lawyer six months from now is going to say you didn't do it right. >> okay. did you guys know that? were you guys aware of this? does that change your mind if this police officer should be arrested? does that change your mind at all? >> no. >> all right. we'll talk more about that. martin king. let's talk about this. you dealt with this. your father did.

you witnessed it a lot in the 1960s. what do you look at when you look at nischelle's story there, what does 2014 look to you, race in america? >> well, it certainly looks challenged. but we -- if we compare this to 50 years ago, we certainly have made incredible strides. however, i would like to think that had my dad and robert kennedy and others lived, this nation would be a totally different nation, and we would certainly be further along. dad wanted to eradicate the triple evils. he called those triple evils, defined them as poverty, racism, militarism and violence. >> is this a part that you think has not been addressed because it's probably the least of these? many times this happens to people who don't have resources. this is -- it's not just about race, this is about class as well. correct? >> well, yes. absolutely. absolutely. but race is the predominant factor. and what i mean by that, it

should be clearly known that the treatment certainly of young african american males is different than the treatment of young white males. as it relates to justice in america. >> okay. the amens are going off in the audience here. hallelujah, amen. okay. so linda is saying, this is a question, this is an audience question from linda. where is linda? >> here. >> hi, don. my question is that what if the officer who shot michael brown was black, how would that have changed the course of this conversation? >> kevin? >> i think you can ask it a couple ways. i don't believe it would have changed the conversation much. to be honest with you, i think a lot of people in the black community would have called him a sellout. said he was a turncoat going against his own people and a lot of things like that. i think the dynamic would change if the victim had been white and the cop had been black. you would have then seen a lot of black people talking about we got to let this black cop get

his justice and so on and so forth. and that's the problem in america is we are so colorized that we can't just say a tragedy has happened for two people. i'm going to tell you something. that cop is struggling with this, whether people want to believe this or not, he is struggling with this. and he is upset -- you can say what you want. i don't know him, by the way. i'm only speculating. but you can't kill a human being and just go to sleep at night and think everything is cool. so we got to look at both of these things and stop colorizing and say look, let's get to the bottom of it. i feel for michael brown's family. i want justice for him. but i won't do it at the sacrifice of letting this man's story come out. >> when you talk about would have been called a sellout and a number of other names, a man who is in charge of this, the response now is an african american man, is a black man, and has lived his entire life in that community. he has dealt with discrimination

his entire life. he is being called a sellout. he is being called an uncle tom. he is being called a coon. what do you guys think of that? because he is a police officer and he is not necessarily carrying the narrative that people m people in the community want him. is that right? no. why does that happen? we'll talk about that as well. stay where you are. we'll have the latest from the protest in ferguson as it happens. and we have a lot of tough questions to get to tonight. questions like are police targeting black men? what do black parents tell their sons to keep them safe? and more importantly, what do we have to do to stop the violence? we want you to be a part of the conversation at home. make sure you tweet us your questions using th the #fergusoncues. we'll be right back with our live town hall.

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now you see the reaction here in the community and the real distrust of the police officers. >> is that what is the new normal now if there is no ceasefire deal? >> we're flying over isis' front lines. >> here they come. welcome back, everyone, to our live town hall, "black and white in america." ferguson police in missouri. they've been criticized harshly for the ongoing response. this is what is happening on the streets. it looks to be a different story than it was last night. fingers crossed, right, everyone? we certainly hope so. so back with us now, our studio audience, darryl parks, tom fuentes, martin luther king iii, tunette powell. it looked like a lot of key

moments. do you see this as an extension of the rights of the civil rights movement? >> well, i would say that it is civil rights, but human rights. because how we -- and in fact my dad began to change in the mid-'60s from civil rights to addressing human rights. it's a basic human right hopefully to have a decent job, to have the best education, to have health care, to have justice. and is really where we are at this point. >> okay. let's talk about the police. tom, i spoke with the missouri highway patrol captain. he talked about his response. he defended the police department's response last night. he said his officers were screaming for help and felt threatened by guns and molotov cocktails. what were the officers supposed to do? >> i think last night they did what they had to, which is to go in and surgically remove the hooligans that have put themselves in the middle of decent protesters and are trying

to stir up the police. what they're trying to do is get the police to launch the tear gas, to launch the aggressive tactics against the peaceful protesters. and agitate the whole system. and this is something that, you know, the police have seen this in many other rallies. they've seen it across the board where hooligans travel in to cause trouble on purpose. and in essence, use the community leaders in a sense as human shields, that you have these decent people in the community that want the answers and want to honor michael brown and all of the events, but there are some hooligans that go in there, the ones that do the looting, that they could care less about michael brown. >> quickly, you thought the force was appropriate? >> as i saw it. i didn't think it was inappropriate. >> someone said hmm. no? >> there were a couple. >> you didn't think so? do we have a microphone? i want to see why she thought it was inappropriate. you bring that microphone over here? why did you think it was inappropriate?

what's your name, by the way? and why did you think it was inappropriate? >> because from where i'm sitting, i saw the police coming as occupants of the community. and i felt that they were provoking. i saw many instances where people weren't doing anything and police officers really carried on. >> thank you. you said ajuba? >> yes. >> thank you. >> tom? >> that may be true in a general sense that the overall presence was too aggressive. but with these individuals that decided to throw molotov cocktails and shoot bullets at the police, that's a different story. and i don't think the police, their presence alone, whether it was too militaristic or not is responsible for that. these guys went to ferguson to cause trouble. and it had nothing to do with whether the police were out there, driving military vehicles or golf carts. it was going the happen in their mind. >> okay. let's move on. i want to talk about retired general russel honore. i have family from louisiana. i grew up in louisiana. i got to witness what he did

during hurricane katrina and how he got the city back together. i had him on my show not long after this began, and here is what our conversation was about. take a listen. >> and it's not the job of the police or any service of the armed forces to threaten people with weapons. you're there to protect people. and be prepared to deal with people who may break the law. but you are there to protect the people. and they need to sense that from you. but when you have an officer, as we saw in the last 24 hours, setting there, looking through a scope into a crowd, that sends the wrong message. >> what message, gerald, does that send to the people? >> i think in this situation, you and i were out there last night, and we saw a very peaceful rally that all of the sudden had a drastic change in less than an hour. we saw a dark mood come across the whole area. and it was very clear that there were a group of people who had come in with a specific idea. it became extremely dangerous for everyone there.

>> but do you think the force was excessive? >>, no it wasn't. for example, you and i were standing there when the first person was arrested. >> right. >> and they went in. they were very strategic. >> so you were fine with the military -- the way police moved in. you're okay with that? >> maybe it's unfair, but i've been up close and seen it personally every day. >> okay, great. question have an audience question from brandon. do we have the microphone? >> right here. >> okay. there we go. >> given the incidents that we've seen recently, what policies or safeguards are there out there that we can enact to prevent the tendency for officers to overreact when dealing with black men? >> we talked about it earlier, that the simplest solution is put cameras on all the officers. the first thing that happens when a camera comes on, if we were having a conversation in the green room and i turned the camera on, you and i both know that the dynamic changes just a bit. and as an officer, if you've had a bad day, let's face it. well don't know what these guys have run into all day long. you think i'm a good guy.

why are you pushing up on me? well, you don't know who he just met. with so if there is a camera, he knows he's got to check himself. and if you know an officer has a camera, you also have to check yourself. >> and it also may change the kind of person who becomes a police officer if you don't want those things caught on tape. >> i would not be a cop. >> i'm going to be honest with you. last night, one of my producers said that they -- i won't say if it's a he or she, said they came in contact with one of the members of the national guard. and that they said you want to get out of here because you're white, because these n-words, you never know what they're going to do. true story. i kid you not. 2014, a member of the national guard. and my producer doesn't lie. it is a true story. stick around, everyone. everyone stay with us. up next, we're going go back to ferguson and see what is tlapg tonight. and we'll take a look at the response of the officials after the local, state and federal levels. are they making things better,

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look at the live pictures in ferguson, missouri. you see officers on the scene, and you see protesters. we like to call them peace marchers as well because it seems to be peaceful tonight. we're back with our town hall, black and white in america. chris cuomo is in ferguson, missouri. chris, what schaaping there right now? >> hey, don, how you? thank you very much for using that term peace marcher, because i really think it's appropriate tonight. right now we're on canfield drive. the scene behind us, this is the scene that is driving so much of the emotion here in ferguson, and to be honest around the country, because all eyes are on this city right now. this is where michael brown was shot by a police officer and killed. and over the course of let's say two weeks since august 9th, the night that this happened, there has been so much drama. there has been so much attention, especially on the street, but not tonight. tonight there are solemn moments of slow drives by as people are taking photos in front of the

sight. some prayerful reflection going on. some people who live here are walking by. and there is not a celebratory atmosphere, obviously, but people are talking. they're talking what they want for their community. they're talking about each other. and it's so interesting to me that there is no other media here tonight. this has been a place where everybody came to pay attention when things were going wrong. but tonight when it's peaceful, we're the only ones here, don. but this is the site tonight. this is where michael brown was shot. these are the people who live here, who have to live with what is going on here. and tonight they are praying for peace at the site of the killing. >> two reasons are. one, there has been so much corralling by law enforcement there. and number two, quite frankly, many people in the media were afraid to go into the neighborhood because they think it's a, quote, bad neighborhood. but i'm glad you were there for us tonight, chris, and you're showing us in many ways otherwise. i want to bring in van jones who is the host of cnn's "crossfire." van, you are this in ferguson. what is your experience there? what has it been so far?

>> well, you know, i have a chance to talk to some of the people who are the leaders, the young activists. not the ones you see doing all the screaming and the yelling sometimes. but the people who are literally two blocks from here, who are meeting tonight. they're strategizing. these are very sophisticated, smart young people. they understand that this over incarceration of their generation is holding them back from getting the jobs that they want, the education that they want. and when holder comes here tomorrow, if he is willing to meet with these young people, he is going to hear a very, very wise reasoned argument from both why policing has to change in america, but why opportunity has to change for these young people. this has become i think a defining moment for a generation. look, in 1992 when the rodney king happened, i was a young guy. that changed my whole relationship to my country for ten years because i was afraid maybe america was not on my side if i had black skin. we should not let these young people go through that kind of estrangement there is a moment here as things have gotten peace

wrfl we can reach out to this generation, listen to what they want. they want black lives to matter. they want to be able to go to school. they want to get a job. they want the cops to be on their side. the stuff they're asking for is just liberty and justice for all. if we can get past some of the theatrics and listen to what these young people want, i think america will be proud of these young people, troud proud to stand with these young people and proud to give them a better shot in this country. >> van, i want to talk a little more about eric holder. you mentioned him. he will be in ferguson tomorrow. he published an op-ed with a message to the people of ferguson. and i won't read it. because it's quite a long message here. but what do you think eric holder and other officials can do to fix this? >> i think there are two issues here. one has to do with the specific case. i think until this officer is charged and given a chance to present his case to a jury of his peers, i think people are going to feel there is a double standard.

this is no unarmed person in america can be shot six times, including once in the head and nobody goes to trial. they think has to happen. that is a specific case. but the general capes of the sense that if you're a young african american, if you're a young latino, if you're a young person of color, that you're kind of guilty until proven innocent, not innocent until proven guilty that has to be addressed. and one of the things that i'm very interested in is this whole idea of cognitive. we have come to a point, and you said it so many times, don, where in our conscious mind, everybody is with dr. king. nobody consciously wants to be a racist. you very few people feeling that way, and they're going away. they're graying out. but what is being shown now by the science, don, it is our subconscious minds where when you put the wires on people's head and show them a picture of a black youth, even people who don't want to be racist still have that fearful reaction, including some african americans. until we can have that deeper conversation, that subconscious bias, i think we're going to

have these kind of scenes play out over and over again. i would love to see the justice department and the obama administration talk about the fact that we have come a long way as a country when it comes to consciously wanting to do better. but we still have those fears. >> van, okay, we want to get to our panel. thank you very much. we appreciate your thoughts on that how many of you think that racism is better? he said graying out that is the term people used. >> no doubt. >> i think it's better. >> absolutely. >> you think it's better. okay. show of hands from the audience. let me see. visibly show of hands. no. you don't think it's better? who has a microphone in here. give me the microphone. hand me that microphone. i'm going to stand up here. i'm going drive my producers crazy. you said no. why is that? hang on. why is that? >> just more undercover. you may see the face of someone and they may say that they're not, but then you get that look. and you know that it's there.

it's seething underneath. and that's the way it's going to be until someone brings it out. we all have to get more conversations like this. >> all right. show of hands. who thinks it's better or graying out? >> i think it's better, but not enough. >> say again. >> i think it's better, but certainly not where we should be. >> explain yourself. >> if something like this can happen, then we're certainly not ahead of getting better. but i do think it is better, because i grew up in the '50s where schools were segregated. and i had a black friend. and it was like i was killing somebody in the neighborhood. >> they were like what is wrong with you. >> that's right. and they blamed it on my parents. >> i just went home to do a story in my hometown. and we were driving around with the people who were tracing my ancestry. and my mom and i drove by the school she went to, her junior high school there was a black high school and a white high

school and they were on completely separate sides of town. and that was back in the 1950s. it hasn't been that long ago. it hasn't been that long ago. when we come right back, we're going to do more with our live town panel. the challenge for black parents. how to raise young black men in america and keep them alive. [ woman ] the cadillac summer collection is here. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] during the cadillac summer's best event, lease this 2014 ats for around $299 a month. hurry in -- this exceptional offer ends soon. ♪ hurry in -- this exceptional offer ends soon. save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.d everybody knows that. well, did you know pinocchio

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you're looking live at the scenes in ferguson, missouri. we're keeping a close watch on that, and hopefully that. >> remain peaceful. everything remains peaceful there. so we're back with our live town hall, "black and white in america". in the wake of the shooting death of 18-year-old michael brown, a lot of black parents in this country are having uncomfortable conversations and worry mortgage than ever about their children. tunette is here. you have a daughter. you have a daughter of a drug addict father, right. and you have kids. they've been suspended. they're young kids. what is your concern for them? >> well, i think first i want to point out when i watch the news and all these other segments, it

seems like we always get away from the fact that a teenager was murdered. and i think as a mother, that's what is troubling for me, because we don't stay focused on that. >> the reason i mention that, you were labeled a troublemaker. >> absolutely. >> and now your kids are going through the same thing. >> and they are. that's what really brings up the questions are where can nay go? the education system doesn't want to work with them. the police department and that justice system doesn't want to work for them and with them. then there are very few options of places that will take them in and love them. we're loving them at home. but hen they go outside of those walls, there is nothing for them. >> did you know that was a theme? did you know that kids as young as nursery school. >> absolutely. 3 years old is my youngest son. >> could be suspended. did you know that? >> 3 years old. >> and the rate of african american kids, and that continues, that becomes -- it snowballs. >> absolutely. and it tells, you know, when you see white kids with the same behaviors staying in class and

not being suspended, it says we're willing to work with you. but we're not willing to work with you. and when you tell a kid that at 3 and 5, it dust does affect them. >> so you have to have that conversation with your kids and try to convince them that they're not bad. >> absolutely. you want to teach them that teachers are not bad and neither are the police. >> there is michelle where. is michelle in the audience to talk about? there she is right there. michelle, you're afraid for your boys to go out? >> yes. good evening. i'm a mom of a young black male. i'm a wife of a black man who is in the -- he is an auxiliary police officer, and i'm an educator to middle school and elementary black boys. and i won't say i'm in fear because i pray. but i'm in angst every day. >> did you have the talk with them about how to conduct themselves? >> absolutely. there are times in the classroom and certainly at home the conversation has changed. this is what you do. you have to walk with id. when the police tell you to

stop, stop. put your hands up. talk to them a certain way. don't be disrespectful. and it's really, you know, the summer is one of the hardest times for me, because my son goes out. my husband goes out. i pray they get back home. but i wonder what students are going to come back in september. >> it's not necessarily from police officers. it's also because they can be killed in their own neighborhood. >> absolutely. so we're dealing as parents, as black mother, we're dealing with a double edged sword. it's not only the community that is against them, they're against each other. but it's police and the law enforcement as well. >> martin, is this a vision you had for a young black man? >> absolutely not. it's not a vision that probably anybody has. i don't think anybody wants to see this vision being manifested. there is a vision of -- dad wanted to create what he called a whole community. i hope that what i'm trying to work on. >> can i hear your response? >> we can't have our cake and

eat it too. we want more young black men to become police officers because when you were a kid it was cops and robbers, right? and you wanted to be the cop. but we have f the cops in our neighborhood. so then jesse jackson says you need more diversity. well, where am i going to be a cop? so you that aspect. you the aspect of if -- i'm going to be the pink elephant in the room, or the black elephant. the fact of the matter is we know what is going on in our neighborhood with teenagers, with black teens. i've raised four. i have three that are men and one that is a little boy. and i'm going to tell you, it's a difficult situation to raise black teens there is a lot of fatherless black teens who are rogues out there. >> you do have a point when it comes to cops, right? because the officer, the outstanding young man in ferguson, missouri, who is now heading up this, ron johnson, is being called everything but a son of god by members of his own community.

>> yeah, i hadn't heard that until you said it. >> he talked about it today. >> did he? >> he said i'm a man, and i'm a black man and i'm an officer. but it's hurtful to him, because if you conduct yourself in a certain way, then you have somehow defied your race because you don't fit the narrative. do you find that at all, darryl parks? >> you find that sometimes. i mean -- you still have to speak truth to power in all situations and stand for right. i think without question, i think people of good will see that johnson has done an incredible job. he has put himself on the line. his reputation on the line. not only should missouri be proud of him, all of america should be. >> absolutely. coming up next, does anyone have a solution to the problems facing black and whites in america? how do we stop the conflicts? and we're going to get a live update from the latest on the streets of ferguson, missouri. that's coming up next. [ applause ]

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live now, you're looking at pictures of ferguson, missouri. obviously somebody out there getting their workout and

protest on at the same time. i want to put up tweet. this person on twitter said, and i'm paraphrasing here, i'd love to be able to talk more openly about race, but i've seen the disdain when i've tried. how many of you are afraid to open to talk openly about race? nobody. >> i'll say yes, and here is why. because i'm white, and i'm going to screw it up somehow and when we try and talk about race and i have these built-in insensitivities that are seen by the black community, anything that i say is going to come across my filter and it's going to be seen possibly badly. so am i afraid. i'm afraid of screwing up, but i want to have the conversation. >> before the show, i told the audience, how many of you before the george zimmerman that mark o'mara spent his entire year fighting for civil rights and for young black men. did you guys know that? context is everything. you didn't know that. you take one aspect of someone's life, and you judge them by it

completely. are you afraid to talk about race? >> in certain places, yes. >> why? >> because today i said to a policeman i'm glad that i see a police presence. and a man standing next to him, and it was a black policeman said that's because you're white. and that made me very uncomfortable. >> you know, i'd just like to say that if white people feel uncomfortable talking about race, they need to talk about race with other white people. they don't need to talk about race with black people unless you're friends or want to be friends or your work together or go to school together. white people need to talk among themselves about race. >> does that -- but does that help 23 you only talk amongst yourselves? >> they should be able to talk to anybody about race. >> go ahead. >> first of all, you can't legislate hate. so talking amongst yourself is not going to solve anything. >> you could learn. >> people need to have the

courage to dialogue openly with people of all different nationalities. and truthfully about the pain that has existed in this country for a century after century after century. >> and you knew she was passionate, because she grabbed the mic. and i'm not letting go. i'm going to over here. what did you want to say, sir? >> i think the question is are we afraid to listen about race? i think we're so busy talking about it. but we have to have empathy. and i think that's one thing miss when we talk about race is empathy. >> not everything, though. not every time white people talk about race, right, and you have to learn something when you're doing it. you have to have an open mind. i came back from the beach and someone said i didn't know you got a tan. and i thought it was the weirdest thing. and it's someone who works with me and i could have been oh, my gosh, we're racist. instead, we went to the bar across the street and we talked about it. so it seems kind of silly in 2014 that no one know that. i'm not going call him out on national television. >> but you can, by the way.

>> hello, supposedly i got darker makeup or i was trying to become blacker so i could fit in. a whole bunch of things. thank you, guys. we'll be right back. don't go anywhere. so i can reach ally bank 24/7, but there are no branches? 24/7 it's just i'm a little reluctant to try new things. what's wrong with trying new things? feel that in your muscles? yeah... i do... try a new way to bank, where no branches equals great rates.

so i'm going to give the last word to the most boisterous

person before the show. maciel thompson, what is the last word on this? >> i think in america we need to sit down black and white and bring this thing in the open. stop pushing it under the table. black and white for all these years. well need to stop this, put it in the open. let everybody know that blacks and white, they don't get along. let's try to get along. but bring it on top of the cover. stop hiding it. black folks hiding it. white folks hiding. >> thank you, maciel thompson, we appreciate that we're doing this because of the death of an unarmed teenager on the streets. many people believe he was gunned down. we should let the investigation play out. but we should also remember that we must be respectful to the family and honor the memory of a young man. thank you, everyone, for joining us. thanks to my panel. thanks to my audience. we appreciate it. that's it for us tonight. i'll see you live from ferguson, missouri tomorrow. "ac 360" live from ferguson starts right now. >