That is the best way I can think of to describe it. I'm struggling to understand the current ideas surrounding rioting and violence as a means of breaking the system. As a white woman, I was raised to believe all violence is bad. Even with reason, it was not to be accepted as a way to express dissatisfaction. I see the anger in so many in the current protests and police killings and question that for many reasons. I see why keeping the laws that the cops have in place is a way of maintaining the status quo and supporting POC being kept silent or deprived of resources and opportunities due to the system in place. What I struggle with is not withholding judgement, but understanding, empathizing, and supporting the effort to break outside of this system by way of violent means. What I do understand is I have probably been exposed to media, word of mouth, or portrayal of "criminal activity" with the intent (of the speaker) to put blame on POC. I am becoming more aware of this, though, as I know fully well that the KKK and other such organizations also exist and are active and present. I can also very much see the current developments of judging rioting as something that should not happen that WOULD not happen, if we would leave well enough alone. Based on the perspective I have seen of how much true reform needs to happen to actually achieve equality, I can't condemn those rioting for wanting to change things. I do, too. It is not my intent to offend or minimize anyone else's perspective, but to question what I have learned in my raising and try to reconcile the differences in what I am seeing now, versus what I have been taught. I would love thoughts on this from others, as my brain is really trying to understand and form new beliefs.
This is a question that I've been having too, and I've been having some discussions regarding it. A lot of the rioting that has been happening is not within many of the protests. The protests that I've been to have specifically stated that they are non violent. There seem to be a few causes of the violence that have been targeted as caused by the protesters. This is a thought I'm forming and if I am speaking incorrectly or if I've missed something, please please inform me!
The violence that is being shared on social media and the news is in response to police violence, whether directly or indirectly, or frankly being perpetuated by this narrative that police are there to protect. There have even been instances of police messing up their own police cars and blaming it on protesters, and there have been instances of police walking up to people who are trying to get home to meet the NYC curfew and getting beaten, In the same way that there is propaganda of this idea of the 'Good Cop' being shared, there is also propaganda being shared that the violence is coming from the protesters in forms of police brutality and rioting. Also the word rioting is very interesting, and it's been used a bunch when talking about these protests. Rioting is a word that refers to a random act of violence or uprising. These protests are not random, they are in direct response to violent acts that keep being enacted upon black people.
It seems like there isn't really a way to get people of authority to listen when other 'non violent' efforts have been made. After 6 days of protests during the Civil Rights movement that included behavior that history books might've called 'violent', the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed. Even looking into the history of the acts that the United States was founded on, which included tar and feathering other individuals, seemed to be the only thing to get people to listen. I would love to hear thoughts on this.
I watched a video of Trevor Noah speaking, and he put it really beautifully. I am going to try to rephrase it, but I encourage you to look up his remarks. He basically states that there is a social contract that we all have, and if that you or I commit a crime, then the authority comes in and fixes the situation. But the people in authority are the ones who put a knee on George Flloyd's neck. So now that contract is formally broken. The contract was broken after Jim Crow laws were put in place to keep black people from the same rights that white people have. So even though we may not be handed the amount of violence that black people have faced in the United States the same way we were handed parts of white history, the violence is not unfounded in these protests.
I hope this all made sense and I hope that I've spoken in a way that is clear and not judgmental! I have a lot of questions regarding what you've said, Brittany, and would love to hear from more people who are better versed in this subject than I am!
This is a really thoughtful comment, and I have/had similar long-held views on violence. I am coming to realize that there is only so long people can be oppressed, murdered without consequence, and discriminated against before they retaliate. I sincerely cannot blame them. It has been HUNDREDS OF YEARS. What else can someone do after consistently being disregarded?
As well, this makes me think of the video that talked about seeing whiteness and properness as the natural and just way of things, and that anything outside of that is seen as criminal. It's not up to the unoppressed to dictate how the oppressed protest.
I also want to point out that there have been reports that A LOT of this looting and violence has been at the hands not of folks fighting for this movement, but others using it as a way to create havoc and further their own movements and opinions. We must be vigilant and look out for that.
Thank you for your thoughtfulness and engagement. <3
Jessica, you explained the reasoning for the looting much better! It is those not involved in the cause itself but rather using it as an excuse to steal/destroy property/harm others often intervening adding yet ANOTHER layer and reasoning for these actions. It confuses those that are not sure what to think of the cause for protesting in the first place! It definitely adds to the mess of the dismantling of law enforcement as the ones to uphold what is "right". Scout, you nailed it when you said the social contract was broken, and now those that are supposed to be "fixing" it are the ones who have just killed a man brutally (and for what?!). I believe it is still taking a moment to absorb your explanation because I'm dumbfounded at how this system is broken, and how it was taught to me growing up as a white woman. It just STILL makes no sense to me that the social contract put in place to protect the general public was violated in order to keep people that look different from having the same rights! Just, why?! That's so frustrating and angering!