Rioting

Why do these idiots riot in the neighborhoods they live in?

Once again a cop shoots an unarmed black man.

You are black. Throughout your whole life you have seen the police as a hostile arm of institutional oppression. You have seen the consequences of selective enforcement of agenda driven laws (crack v cocaine sentencing for example). You hear stories from your elders of Jim Crow and white society’s hegemonic control via the police and the criminal justice system. You want to believe things have changed but not a week goes by where you do not hear a friend talking about being harassed by the police.

But you think, maybe your outrage over this harassment is mitigated because the victims of these abuses did something wrong at some point. They are only criminals anyway. Sure the police mess with them a little now, but they are just going to do something illegal shortly thereafter. They can deal with a little harassment and then go on with their day. Who knows, maybe at some point they will be scared into doing the right thing with their life.

But someone died. In police custody. And you realize, what is the difference between that guy and me? The profundity is clear. An entire group of people walks around with the knowledge they are one police officers’ bad day away from being killed. Killed. This is 2009. Fuck.

I am attempting to come up with a similar situation white people face. Maybe being the only white person walking into a black club? Has this happened to you? Honestly, how comfortable were you? Imagine your friends only like this club and it is the only one they are willing to going to. You hear it is dangerous, but they tell you not to worry because they have never seen a fight there. You begrudgingly go, and you end up having a pretty fun time for a few hours. You even got some respect from the brothers because you took the time to learn the crip walk from youtube. Then all of a sudden, a black guy rolls up on you and punches you in the face. Shit.

No big deal. Incidents happen. He was probably drunk. The next weekend your friends want to go again. You go. End up having a great time. Maybe this place is pretty fun after all.

You show up the next night. This time something seems different. It is not as comfortable as the night before. Oh well, you convince yourself; I am just making a big deal out of nothing. Bam! Punched in the face again. As you use your knee to prop yourself up from the floor, you look to your right and see another white guy getting punched in the face. What the hell? What is going on here? Why are only white people getting punched? You don’t see any black people getting jacked. Fuck this place. You tell your friends you do not want to go anymore because believe it or not, you do not appreciate a fist in the face for no apparent reason. They reply, “Oh come on. This is the only club in town. People getting in fights is just something you have to accept in order to be able to have all of this fun. Plus, the guy that hit you doesn’t really go there very often and nobody else is like that.”

Since this is the only place to have fun in town, you keep going. The same guy who hit you does it again a few weeks later. Every few times you go, you see a black dude beating the hell out of a white guy. What do you think at this point? How would you feel if your friends kept telling you you must have done something wrong in order for someone to punch you? What about the fact that you see the same face punchers every week even though the owner said he is going to crack down on bellicose patrons? Does it matter that you heard of a black guy getting punched in the face at a club a few cities over? Hell no. All you know is what you see. White guys are getting punched in the face at black clubs for no apparent reason.

Now imagine wanting to do something about it. What can one person do? Imagine every measure you take ends up with someone saying you are wrong because they have never been punched in a club. In fact, they have heard complaints from people like you for years now. In their opinion, you simply have a victim’s mentality now. Get over it. Sure, white people used to get beat up in black jazz clubs years ago. But those people are gone. The black people around now never beat anyone up in a jazz club.

Now think of going to the club again a year later. Now there are several clubs around town. Each one owned and operated by black people. You go with a racially mixed group to the first club and get a couple drinks. Just like clockwork, someone rolls up on a white friend of yours and punches him in the face. Fuck this place once and for all. Go to the next club. Bam. Punched in the face again. The next spot. Your group walks in and your best friend gets stabbed. What. The. Fuck. This is the angriest you have ever been. You take a step outside and all you see are black owned clubs. All you can think of are the many times someone walked up to you and punched you in the face for no damn reason. You think of the same happening to your friends. You tried to get people to listen to you but nobody cared at all. They even claimed your behavior led to it! Someone hands you a rock. Are you rational?