What was/were the root cause(s) of Michael Westerman's death?
Seems to me, that it was simply the fact that Westerman's killer was always told in some way that he needed to hate what the Rebel flag stood for. He clearly states that he doesn't know the complete history of the flag, all he knows is that he hates it, even in Westerman's case, it's apparent that he doesn't fully understand what the confederate flag means "The flag was a symbol of him. He was a rebel, a darefevil, outspoken. He'd do anything." So the end result is a dead rebel, and a confused black youth. Westerman and his killer are the ones that created the incident, the German desk clerk is a helpful perspective from the outside. While the author is also an outside perspective, he is required as a journalist to keep an unbiased and open mind.
Challenge: In a natural and thoughtful manner, connect the dots between this reading and the readings/topics that we have covered in the past month (for example, we have already seen that Madison's concept of representatives in Fed. 10 is present in the middle school meeting).
If I had to guess, I'd say that it boils down to the fact that people, as an individual or a whole, aren't able to make a completely unbiased opinion/decision. Which is why we have a combination of group collaboration and individual opinions for the house of Representatives, while still "unfair" to a certain degree, offers the least amount of bias in a decision involving a large group.
