Middle class people generally aren't risking their status by rioting. I'd have to imagine that the sort of people firebombing random businesses and police cars

Middle class people generally aren't risking their status by rioting. I'd have to imagine that the sort of people firebombing random businesses and police cars probably don't feel like they have that much at stake. As far as risking status by protesting, by that logic, no one should have boycotted segregated institutions. "Separate and unequal, but adequate", would have been the mantra.