rioting

An acquaintance posted a picture on Facebook. The top half showed a march with MLK, with the words "this is a protest." The bottom half showed a photo of looters carrying stuff out of a store, with the words, "this is a crime."

My reply:

This is a distraction.

Black people get so angry at the treatment of their people that they go out and hold legitimate demonstrations. And others get so angry that they don't know what to do. Their anger finds an outlet, and it's not a good one. And rather than talking about the source of the anger, or what we can do about the problems they face, or even the peaceful demonstrators, you compare the problem rioters with MLK. Don't spread this crap.

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Now this one is interesting. Someone else recently posted "No one hates bad cops more than good cops." Previously, he posted this:

"I've been quiet about this. But I don't think I should be any more. I was a cop. For a very....very long time. But I'm not any more. So maybe I don't have a say any more. As they say, I've got no skin in the game. I will never justify or condone what those officers did. I watched the video. They killed him. Pure and simple. However, I want to understand the justification behind looting businesses, assaulting the elderly, burning down a police station and an apartment building as an appropriate response to what happened. I'm not posting this to be controversial. I just want answers. From both sides."

Answers:

DJ: What is going on here is a community that, for whatever reason, always finds themselves holding the sh*t end of the stick. Their own fault, your fault, the systems fault, that presently doesn't matter, as along with being on the sh*t end of the stick they now regularly see black men killed by police in incidents that seem unjustified and this last one was flat out cold blooded murder, to anyone with eyes.
They are furious. FURIOUS. Image a tea kettle, getting hotter and hotter until it boils and scalding hot steam is shooting out of it. This is fury, it is a force of nature. It does not pause and ponder, it punishes. That is what you are seeing. Fury. You do yourself a disservice by mistaking it for anything else.

TH: When the government kills someone for no reason that is considered tyranny. The constitution obligates it citizens to stand up to a tyranny government. This why they should be doing what they are doing. This is also why we shall never give up our guns.

RO: I understand rage and the need to do something but looting a business... [no you don't!]

KH: There is no justification. People just get really really angry, and have no outlet for that anger.