Wanting To Riot Is Completely Understandable

October 5, 2020

The day Breonna Taylor's murderers were let off without a conviction -- only one of them being convicted for endangering the next-door neighbors rather than actually killing Breonna -- I came across a Twitter post that said, in as close to exact words as I can remember, "I hope they burn that whole city down."

The Tweet was later deleted, likely due to harassment and possibly even threats. Even if I remembered the name of the person who posted it, I wouldn't share it here out of respect for their privacy and safety. But the words stuck with me.

Before it was deleted, I retweeted it with a caption that stated, "This is the natural sentiment to be feeling right now" -- and I stand by that.

Even if you wouldn't resort to rioting yourself, I find it incredible that people can't understand why this rage is justified, why feeling this overwhelming, fiery wrath is the perfectly normal and rational response to such injustice.

If someone you loved was hurt... for example (borrowing from something white men love to brag about) if your teenage daughter was molested by a pedophile, wouldn't you feel a burning, uncontrollable rage? What if your child was kidnapped? If it was something that affected you personally and was as heinous as those acts, I'm sure you'd understand that absolute, all-encompassing anger. And if you were a white man who was just protecting or even seeking revenge for his little girl, most people would understand, even if you went as far as murdering the person who abused them. Although this does not seem to apply to certain minorities, such as black girls who kill their rapists (see: Cyntoia Brown).

If a man killed someone who had raped his child, would the murder be justified? Some would say no, that vigilantism isn't an answer, while others would enthusiastically say that they would have done the same thing. There are strong opinions on both sides of such an issue, but no matter what side you fall down on, you can probably easily admit that it's understandable why someone would be so angry under that circumstance. You would be able to agree that the rage would be justified, even if not the action. Because obviously, feelings and actions are two different things.

You can condemn the destruction of property -- though I will not do so, because as someone who will never directly be a victim of racism, I don't feel it's my place; additionally, I will always prioritize human lives over property. But even if you think the actions taken are wrong, you have to understand the anger that leads to them. I can't imagine being so devoid of empathy to not understand that.

The thing is, it's easy to say what you would do in a certain situation when you've never been in it. And most people criticizing others for rioting over racial injustice have never been and will never be in a situation where they are affected by racial injustice. Let's be honest here. An overwhelming majority of people I've seen expressing that opinion have been white.

Now, in reality, we already know that a large percentage of riots are actually instigated by people on the opposite side of the issues, for the purpose of framing BLM and antifa as violent looters. Many are white supremacists, right-wingers, and even police officers, such as the "umbrella man" who broke the window of an Auto Zone in Minneapolis. We also know that much of the looting that people love to emphasize has nothing to do with the actual protests and is committed by opportunists who just want a way to get away with stealing, such as that douchebag from YouTube, or that white guy who was photographed leaving Target with some kind of Star Wars Lego set (or something) while the chaos of civil unrest erupted around him.

However, let's just pretend for a moment that those opportunists don't exist and that all of the rioters are actually doing it for BLM and similar causes. Imagine that all of those people have lived their entire lives repeatedly experiencing racism from their schools, where they work, in personal relationships, and in public places; they came from families that had once been enslaved; they have grandparents who weren't allowed to drink from the same water fountains as white people; and they have always lived in fear of the police after seeing people who look like them, possibly even family members, being unfairly gunned down by them. They know the history of how this country has treated people with their skin color, and even if they aren't old enough to have experienced all of it, several hundred years' worth of anger is built up in them. They are likely exhausted from merely living their day-to-day life.

What about people like Breonna Taylor herself? An award-winning medical professional who did absolutely nothing wrong, killed in her sleep, and then refused emergency medical services that could have saved her life as she lay there bleeding to death -- there are reports that she was alive for at least five minutes and yet no medical care was rendered. And then for her murderers to be let off without any punishment? How can you not be outraged by this?

If you said you would understand a man killing his daughter's rapist, but not a city rioting over the heinous murder of one of its first responders... Why?

Your go-to response will probably be that when people riot, innocent people are harmed by the destruction of their property. On the surface, that's an understandable concern, but I've found it's pretty rare for anybody's place of residence to be damaged unless that person was directly involved in the violent act being protested. If a residential area is targeted, it's likely an area where a very bad person lives. Breonna's murderers should probably be worried about their homes being destroyed; the average person should not, despite what the news and right-wingers might tell you.

Small businesses and minority-owned businesses are also not typically targeted, and when they do get damaged due to their proximity to places of interest, the community usually comes together with donations to help those small business owners out. "Let my building burn," one restaurant owner famously said; "justice needs to be served." His building did burn, and the community supported him through it. (Ruhel Islam is the man's name, and his new restaurant endeavor is called Curry In a Hurry, if you'd like to support him further.) No one wants to hurt small business owners, especially minorities and allies who are in the same fight with us. There's a method to the rioting, and targets are usually chosen for a reason. The Target store in Minneapolis that was made the focal point of many news channels was selected because it had refused to sell milk, water, and medical supplies to protestors who had been tear-gassed. And if you're worried about the Target corporation recovering financially, well... save yourself the worry.

People who are anti-protesting like to paint BLM and antifa protests as burning down entire cities. I literally saw somebody comment on Twitter (near the end of September) that "Democrats have been destroying entire cities every night since May." Think about that for a minute. Entire cities. Every night. For four months. My response to that was, "Damn, how are there even any cities left?"

Rioting can be a valid form of protest, just like voting, marching, sharing on social media, creating art or music, wearing it on your clothing, and many other things. Even on the BLM side, some agree with it and others don't. But just because someone's form of protesting is different than yours doesn't make it invalid. People aren't rioting because their sports team lost (or won), but because people are being killed by the systems their own nation has put in place. Yes, occasionally innocent people can be affected by the losses, and that's unfortunate, but in the long run, human lives are more important than buildings.

Would I riot myself? Probably not. Again, I don't feel it's my place, as I am just an ally to these communities, and even among leaders and advocates for black lives, there are differing opinions. Many leaders specifically request that protests be kept peaceful, including all of the ones I've been to so far; and I'll always respect their wishes. I'm here to support them, not to take things into my own hands.

For that same reason, however, it is not my place to tone-police others or tell them how they should or shouldn't protest. Whatever they feel they need to do in order to bring about change and get the attention these causes deserve -- after being ignored for so long -- is okay with me. Unfortunate? Yes, it's unfortunate that it's come to this. But we need to make sure we're putting the blame on the correct people. If we're looking for someone to blame for any loss of property that results from rioting, the proper place to put that blame is on the perpetrators of injustice who are ultimately responsible for this situation existing in the first place.

The fastest way to stop all rioting would be to give the people what they are demanding, which in this case is something very simple and easy to give: justice. The fastest way to stop protesting is to stop doing the thing people felt the need to protest. Stop committing injustice, stop killing people for the color of their skin, stop letting cops who kill innocent people get off with just a warning... and all of the protesting and rioting will stop.

Until then, consider the words of Martin Luther King Jr., since so many who are against rioting seem to love quoting him for some reason. He said that a riot is the language of the unheard. So if you want to put an end to rioting, start listening to people's concerns and doing something about them. Years -- decades -- of peacefully protesting for racial justice has changed nothing. The people aren't being heard. That's why we're in the situation we're in now, and it isn't the fault of the oppressed, but of the system that oppresses them.

tags: racism, black lives matter, blm, protests, riots, breonna taylor