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So, black people looting black people stores is a protest against the white system? I truly appreciate the huge mental gymnastics going on there.

dalke 10y ago
Most protests are made of a mix of people. Many do so peacefully, including those whose actions might be illegal, as in cases of civil disobedience. Some are angry, and express their anger through violence. Some feel that despite a lifetime of struggle and anger, peaceful means don't seem to be working. Some feel the only way to change the system is to tear it down and start over again. It's easy to do a web search and find people saying things like http://www.amerika.org/social-reality/the-revolution-has-failed-tear-it-down-and-start-over/ http://www.amerika.org/social-reality/the-revolution-has-fai... : > Do your part — get out there and help tear [liberalism] down. If it’s part of this social fabric, destroy it. Debunk it. Subvert it. Vandalize it. Overthrow it. For some, there is power in destruction, when there is powerlessness otherwise. Still others are opportunists. They see a protest and decide to profit from it, or simply vandalize and loot for the lulz. Unless there is a powerful internal leader, as there was with MLK, it can be hard to figure out who is who during a protest. It can be all too easy to look at the worst and attribute their actions to the whole. Which you appear to have done.
- jbmorgado 10y ago
  > And I must say tonight that a riot is the language of the unheard. All nice and dandy if it weren't for you quoting this as a part of your justification for the unjustifiable. It's not about attributing the violent behaviour of a minority to a group (like you are now trying to change the discourse), it's praising that violent minority behaviour as a fight against the system as you just did.
  - dalke 10y ago
    MLK was neither praising nor justifying those who riot. Here's the context before and after the quote I gave earlier: > ... it is not enough for me to stand before you tonight and condemn riots. It would be morally irresponsible for me to do that without, at the same time, condemning the contingent, intolerable conditions that exist in our society. These conditions are the things that cause individuals to feel that they have no other alternative than to engage in violent rebellions to get attention. ... > And so we must still face the fact that our nation's summers of riots are caused by our nations winters of delay. As long as justice is postponed we always stand on the verge of these darker nights of social disruption. The question now, is whether America is prepared to do something massively, affirmatively and forthrightly about the great problem we face in the area of race and the problem which can bring the curtain of doom down on American civilization if it is not solved. Nor do I praise nor justify riots. The goal should be to understand why riots occur, in order to avoid having them in the future - and hopefully by improving justice and civil rights, vs. some of the more horrific solutions that humans have tried before.

dalke 10y ago

Most protests are made of a mix of people. Many do so peacefully, including those whose actions might be illegal, as in cases of civil disobedience. Some are angry, and express their anger through violence. Some feel that despite a lifetime of struggle and anger, peaceful means don't seem to be working. Some feel the only way to change the system is to tear it down and start over again. It's easy to do a web search and find people saying things like http://www.amerika.org/social-reality/the-revolution-has-failed-tear-it-down-and-start-over/ http://www.amerika.org/social-reality/the-revolution-has-fai... : > Do your part — get out there and help tear [liberalism] down. If it’s part of this social fabric, destroy it. Debunk it. Subvert it. Vandalize it. Overthrow it. For some, there is power in destruction, when there is powerlessness otherwise. Still others are opportunists. They see a protest and decide to profit from it, or simply vandalize and loot for the lulz. Unless there is a powerful internal leader, as there was with MLK, it can be hard to figure out who is who during a protest. It can be all too easy to look at the worst and attribute their actions to the whole. Which you appear to have done.

jbmorgado 10y ago
> And I must say tonight that a riot is the language of the unheard. All nice and dandy if it weren't for you quoting this as a part of your justification for the unjustifiable. It's not about attributing the violent behaviour of a minority to a group (like you are now trying to change the discourse), it's praising that violent minority behaviour as a fight against the system as you just did.
- dalke 10y ago
  MLK was neither praising nor justifying those who riot. Here's the context before and after the quote I gave earlier: > ... it is not enough for me to stand before you tonight and condemn riots. It would be morally irresponsible for me to do that without, at the same time, condemning the contingent, intolerable conditions that exist in our society. These conditions are the things that cause individuals to feel that they have no other alternative than to engage in violent rebellions to get attention. ... > And so we must still face the fact that our nation's summers of riots are caused by our nations winters of delay. As long as justice is postponed we always stand on the verge of these darker nights of social disruption. The question now, is whether America is prepared to do something massively, affirmatively and forthrightly about the great problem we face in the area of race and the problem which can bring the curtain of doom down on American civilization if it is not solved. Nor do I praise nor justify riots. The goal should be to understand why riots occur, in order to avoid having them in the future - and hopefully by improving justice and civil rights, vs. some of the more horrific solutions that humans have tried before.