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Because “riots”, “mobs”, and “chaos” are racially charged words that are used in lieu of the proper terminology—protests. See: https://www.theguardian.com/comm

Because “riots”, “mobs”, and “chaos” are racially charged words that are used in lieu of the proper terminology—protests. See: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jun/10/protest-black-lives-matter-police-activism https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jun/10/protes... Also, Jason Stanley’s book, “How Fascism Works” also has a write up on this usage of language too.

ThA0x2 6y ago
>Because “riots”, “mobs”, and “chaos” are racially charged words that are used in lieu of the proper terminology If "riots", "mobs", and "chaos" are considered "racially charged" to you, then you may need to see a mental health professional since you're experiencing delusions that are extremely divergent from reality. Portland Police have on multiple occasions in the past few weeks legally declared these riots as... Riots: https://mobile.twitter.com/PortlandPolice/status/1286202408201154560 https://mobile.twitter.com/PortlandPolice/status/12862024082...
- disabled 6y ago
  This is from Jason Stanley’s book, “How Fascism Works”: Politicians who describe whole categories of persons as “criminals” are imputing to them permanent character traits that are frightening to most people, while simultaneously positioning themselves as our protectors. Such language undermines the democratic process of reasonable decision making, replacing it with fear. Another salient example in the U.S. context is the use of the term “riot” to describe political protests. In the United States in the 1960s, the civil rights movement included black political protests in urban areas against police brutality (most famously in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles and the Harlem district of Manhattan). These protests were regularly described in the media as “riots.” As James Baldwin wrote at the time about the media description of these protests, “when white men rise up against oppression, they are heroes: when black men rise, they have reverted to their native savagery. The uprising in the Warsaw ghetto was not described as a riot, nor were the participants maligned as hoodlums: the boys and girls in Watts and Harlem are thoroughly aware of this.” 2 Such misrepresentations allowed Richard Nixon to run for office in 1968 on a “law and order” platform. Nixon’s administration is generally viewed as laying the groundwork for the subsequent mass incarceration of black American citizens. In 2015, widespread protests by largely black crowds against police brutality occurred in Baltimore after the killing of Freddie Gray by police. In an article for Linguistic Pulse in April 2015, Nic Subtirelu compared different media outlets’ use of “protest” versus “riot” to describe the Baltimore protests. Subtirelu found that Fox News, the United States’ far-right media outlet, used “riot” in its coverage of the Baltimore unrest with more than twice the frequency of its use of “protest.” CNN, by contrast, used “riot” with only slightly more frequency than “protest,” and MSNBC used “protest” with only slightly more frequency than “riot” in its coverage of the unrest in Baltimore. 3 The misrepresentation of political protests as riots was a factor in the election campaign of Donald Trump, whose campaign had strong echoes of Nixon’s. Nixon, however, campaigned at a time of rising rates of violent crime. Trump’s successful “law and order” campaign took place under the conditions of some of the lowest rates of violent crime in recorded U.S. history. Discussion that uses terms like “criminal” to encompass both those who commit multiple homicides for pleasure and those who commit traffic violations, or “riot” to describe a political protest, changes attitudes and shapes policy. A good example of what can result when language that criminalizes an entire group of people distorts debate and leads to unreasonable outcomes is the mass incarceration of American citizens of African descent.
  - ThA0x2 6y ago
    Fixed and replied.
    - non-entity 6y ago
      > When disagreeing, please reply to the argument instead of calling names. "That is idiotic; 1 + 1 is 2, not 3" can be shortened to "1 + 1 is 2, not 3." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
  - throwmehaweh 6y ago
    > when white men rise up against oppression, they are heroes Except most of the "peaceful protestors" are white. One must be ignorant to claim that the Portland "protests" are peaceful, and not reasonably described as a riot. I've watched the youtube live streams, seen the extensive property damage, vandalism, and general aggressive nature of the anarchists torching the city. It seems that the book you quote as scripture has it's own agenda to discredit ordinary language, while excusing the criminal behavior of many people.
  - ThA0x2 6y ago
    >Politicians who describe whole categories of persons as “criminals” are imputing to them permanent character traits that are frightening to most people, while simultaneously positioning themselves as our protectors. What category specifically is the Portland Police describing as "criminals"? They are specifically calling those partaking in a riot "rioters". None of this is race related, and as a matter of fact, the vast majority of these rioters are white. >Such language undermines the democratic process of reasonable decision making The decisions have been made. Defacing and burning down buildings and assaulting officers is illegal. Partaking in this illegal behavior in large groups is what rioters do. >Another salient example in the U.S. context is the use of the term “riot” to describe political protests. No one is describing the peaceful protests as riots. The riots are described as riots. The rest of your post is full of illogic and is clearly not describing what we're seeing in Portland. By no legal definition is what's going on in Portland now considered a "peaceful protest". >Discussion that uses terms like “criminal” to encompass both those who commit multiple homicides for pleasure and those who commit traffic violations Homicides are criminal, many traffic violations are decidedly NOT CRIMINAL, and instead are civil infractions. Much like riots are criminal and protests are civil. Perfect example actually, thanks for proving my point.
lawnchair_larry 6y ago
> Because “riots”, “mobs”, and “chaos” are racially charged words No, they’re not. What a ridiculous stretch to further broaden and water down what is considered racism.

ThA0x2 6y ago

>Because “riots”, “mobs”, and “chaos” are racially charged words that are used in lieu of the proper terminology If "riots", "mobs", and "chaos" are considered "racially charged" to you, then you may need to see a mental health professional since you're experiencing delusions that are extremely divergent from reality. Portland Police have on multiple occasions in the past few weeks legally declared these riots as... Riots: https://mobile.twitter.com/PortlandPolice/status/1286202408201154560 https://mobile.twitter.com/PortlandPolice/status/12862024082...

disabled 6y ago
This is from Jason Stanley’s book, “How Fascism Works”: Politicians who describe whole categories of persons as “criminals” are imputing to them permanent character traits that are frightening to most people, while simultaneously positioning themselves as our protectors. Such language undermines the democratic process of reasonable decision making, replacing it with fear. Another salient example in the U.S. context is the use of the term “riot” to describe political protests. In the United States in the 1960s, the civil rights movement included black political protests in urban areas against police brutality (most famously in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles and the Harlem district of Manhattan). These protests were regularly described in the media as “riots.” As James Baldwin wrote at the time about the media description of these protests, “when white men rise up against oppression, they are heroes: when black men rise, they have reverted to their native savagery. The uprising in the Warsaw ghetto was not described as a riot, nor were the participants maligned as hoodlums: the boys and girls in Watts and Harlem are thoroughly aware of this.” 2 Such misrepresentations allowed Richard Nixon to run for office in 1968 on a “law and order” platform. Nixon’s administration is generally viewed as laying the groundwork for the subsequent mass incarceration of black American citizens. In 2015, widespread protests by largely black crowds against police brutality occurred in Baltimore after the killing of Freddie Gray by police. In an article for Linguistic Pulse in April 2015, Nic Subtirelu compared different media outlets’ use of “protest” versus “riot” to describe the Baltimore protests. Subtirelu found that Fox News, the United States’ far-right media outlet, used “riot” in its coverage of the Baltimore unrest with more than twice the frequency of its use of “protest.” CNN, by contrast, used “riot” with only slightly more frequency than “protest,” and MSNBC used “protest” with only slightly more frequency than “riot” in its coverage of the unrest in Baltimore. 3 The misrepresentation of political protests as riots was a factor in the election campaign of Donald Trump, whose campaign had strong echoes of Nixon’s. Nixon, however, campaigned at a time of rising rates of violent crime. Trump’s successful “law and order” campaign took place under the conditions of some of the lowest rates of violent crime in recorded U.S. history. Discussion that uses terms like “criminal” to encompass both those who commit multiple homicides for pleasure and those who commit traffic violations, or “riot” to describe a political protest, changes attitudes and shapes policy. A good example of what can result when language that criminalizes an entire group of people distorts debate and leads to unreasonable outcomes is the mass incarceration of American citizens of African descent.
- ThA0x2 6y ago
  Fixed and replied.
  - non-entity 6y ago
    > When disagreeing, please reply to the argument instead of calling names. "That is idiotic; 1 + 1 is 2, not 3" can be shortened to "1 + 1 is 2, not 3." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- throwmehaweh 6y ago
  > when white men rise up against oppression, they are heroes Except most of the "peaceful protestors" are white. One must be ignorant to claim that the Portland "protests" are peaceful, and not reasonably described as a riot. I've watched the youtube live streams, seen the extensive property damage, vandalism, and general aggressive nature of the anarchists torching the city. It seems that the book you quote as scripture has it's own agenda to discredit ordinary language, while excusing the criminal behavior of many people.
- ThA0x2 6y ago
  >Politicians who describe whole categories of persons as “criminals” are imputing to them permanent character traits that are frightening to most people, while simultaneously positioning themselves as our protectors. What category specifically is the Portland Police describing as "criminals"? They are specifically calling those partaking in a riot "rioters". None of this is race related, and as a matter of fact, the vast majority of these rioters are white. >Such language undermines the democratic process of reasonable decision making The decisions have been made. Defacing and burning down buildings and assaulting officers is illegal. Partaking in this illegal behavior in large groups is what rioters do. >Another salient example in the U.S. context is the use of the term “riot” to describe political protests. No one is describing the peaceful protests as riots. The riots are described as riots. The rest of your post is full of illogic and is clearly not describing what we're seeing in Portland. By no legal definition is what's going on in Portland now considered a "peaceful protest". >Discussion that uses terms like “criminal” to encompass both those who commit multiple homicides for pleasure and those who commit traffic violations Homicides are criminal, many traffic violations are decidedly NOT CRIMINAL, and instead are civil infractions. Much like riots are criminal and protests are civil. Perfect example actually, thanks for proving my point.

lawnchair_larry 6y ago

> Because “riots”, “mobs”, and “chaos” are racially charged words No, they’re not. What a ridiculous stretch to further broaden and water down what is considered racism.