As protests continue to gain traction and media attention, it’s important to be mindful and discerning when reading/watching what’s going on through the lens of news organizations and narratives being constructed for nefarious or even ignorant reasons. The way the term “riot” is thrown around, which seems to be a way to frame the protests in a way that’s reductive, is utterly clumsy.
Rioting is what’s going on for sure, because the definition of riot according to Merriam Webster is, a violent disturbance of the peace by a crowd. However, the people inciting the riots aren’t necessarily the protestors and not every protest ends with a riot. Have you been seeing videos circulating of the way police have been treating protestors? Lest we not forget why these protests are happening. This started as a protest for George Floyd, and has evolved into a protest for all black lives. Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery are the most recent names that come up when talking about homicidal police, but there are so many more lives we are fighting for. The protests are happening because law enforcement has not been upholding its duty to protect its citizens. People in uniform have been using it as a cover to terrorize black communities and kill unarmed black people with impunity. This same violent energy didn’t dissipate once the protests started, instead it’s being harnessed to “quell the crowds” or “keep peace.” Guess what that means in police terms:
As for all of the accusations flying around about black people not respecting their neighborhoods and decrying that looting is derailing protests, I pose the question, how does property damage in this instance differ from the ones when white folks “celebrate” a sports win? This video below was made in 2015 and continues to hold true in the media today.
Listen to the language used. They’re so calculated with the words they choose covering these recent protests. Look at this clip of a woman clearly grabbing some goodies to go and what the newscaster says. Also, in many of the instances where looting is occurring it’s not solely people who are protesting injustice. In all of this chaos there are a few different ideologies joining the ranks who have different visions on how to get their points across and also just randos taking advantage of a chaotic situation. I also want to point out that some of these people might be affiliated with hate groups who are looking to cloud the optics of the peaceful protests. Organizers and fellow protestors have been pleading with people who are looting to stop. Sure, in some cases the protestors might be looting, but there is always more to the story. In all honesty, I cannot with any sort of clear conscience say I don’t understand how these protests escalate into an explosion of emotion that turns into breaking things. Revolution is never clean and it’s never simple.
While I do hope that people are being selective about at least not hurting small/medium businesses that serve the community and/or are black-owned, I can’t understand the rage people have in defense of these larger more established corporations, like Target that definitely have insurance and a multi-million dollar backing. When I see conversations around looting they don’t seem to be worried as much about what’s being taken but who is taking it. I can’t help but to feel there’s something else stirring beneath the surface of those self-righteous opinions. Yes, we all understand that taking things that aren’t yours is bad, but in this larger context, the message isn’t plainly about destroying property or taking lip balm, the message here is why this is happening. Why are people looting? Why are people smashing things? Why are people angry?
People are upset because taking things that aren’t yours is exactly how this country was built and because of this sordid history, there have been years of injustice and violence geared towards black people. People are upset because when an unarmed black person is shot, instead of getting the benefit of the notion “innocent until proven guilty” their past is put into question, their morals are put into question, their actions of the past 10 years are put into question as if that’s a justification for them being murdered at a routine traffic stop, or walking home with a pack of skittles. People are upset because it has taken so much time to get this type of attention and physically smashing capitalist mainstays which support systemic racism with their policies, with the politicians they support, with the type of advertising they decide to use is getting the attention of people in high places.
Property is never more important than people’s lives. There was a time where WE WERE CONSIDERED PROPERTY, so I’m sorry (not sorry) that looting is upsetting people, because everything we have now as a country, as a society, everything that we’ve built was built on the backs of my ancestors. Their blood, sweat, and tears are what made America, and our blood, sweat and tears are what makes America today. I cannot fathom being concerned with how many Gucci bags were taken from a store when people are being nearly run over by police and pelted with rubber bullets.
I want to reiterate how complicated this all is, and how little nuance translates in a tweet or a quick comment. Now is the time to be careful and direct with how you are communicating online because your vapid plea to stop looting also sounds like your tone-deaf dismissal of the pain pulsing throughout this entire movement.
Feel like donating to help protesters? Here are some resources.