Isn’t it rather hypocritical for well-off white people to state, “Rioting is unacceptable!”

Yes it is

Of course. But the racist whites won't ever see that.

Why? Who wants riots?

No. Most well-off white people are just participating in the system, they didn't create it. Attacking them is a distraction that the government wants you to feed in to because it keeps you from attacking the people who really created the conditions: the government. Making the people fight amongst themselves is a centuries old trick to quell rebellion, and it works like a charm. That's why this summer the Black Lives Matter people destroyed businesses and apartments instead of going to government buildings or the houses of government figures and wreaking havoc. Riots that don't target the local areas of the people rioting aren't called riots, they're called revolutions. It's only a riot if you're harming yourself and not the system.

Of course, OP, the oppressors create the situation and always feign ignorance and blame those who they victimized for the problems that they, the oppressors, created.

Let's just say rioting is not helpful or productive.

Making the classes fight amongst each other is how the government that created those classes in the first place is allowed to stay in power. There will never be a modern American revolution because they'd rather riot and attack each other than actually change things.

Perhaps.......

OP, do you have any black friends or associates? How many adult black people approve of rioting? Not many. You must live in some fantasy world.

"Rioting" is a word used to discredit protest or civil disobedience.

No one "riots" unless some action happens that turns people violent. That is the whole point of shows of force by police--they want to provoke a riot since that is the most effective way to disable a movement.

I’m mixed race and not well off and guess what? I don’t fucking approve of rioting and no one needs to steal shit at Balanciaga or Macy’s or Sleepys in protest . Thats bullshit.

Calm down, R11. No one approves of rioting.

No one goes anywhere to riot either.

I don't care about rioting is long as it doesn't come into my neighborhood. Call me racist, classist, whatever, but if black people want to set fire to businesses and loot shoe stores, be my guest, but do it in your own goddamn neighborhood. I only have a problem with it when stuff like what happened this summer happens, people going into areas and neighborhoods that aren't theirs and wreaking havoc on the people who live there.

The fact that they called it "protesting" makes me vomit. Call it what it is, domestic terrorism.

R12 yes people go to riot and loot. You have no idea what you are talking about and shove your calm up your silly living in a bubble ass.

Nobody has a problem with rioting, they have a problem with rioters coming into their neighborhoods. The mobs are mistaking people outraged by the riots this summer with conservatives, when really they're just people who don't want their communities burnt to the ground. Nobody has an issue with rioters rioting as long as they riot in their own goddamned areas. Burn down your house if you want, but if you try to burn down mine we have a problem.

Well-off white people are the ones rioting, OP.

Everyone else is stuck BEGGING them to stop because, being well-off white people, they face no consequences for the destruction and harm they're causing.

Maybe if everyone stood up and said that it was wrong to kill black people, that excessive force is a crime even if committed by cops, or even just acknowledged that all human life is valuable--maybe incidents could have been avoided.

But when you cannot trust the "legal" authorities it is hard to have any restraint on behavior.

Just a thought.

R17 Black people aren't asking for this, these are rich kid riots.

How long did it take to get rid of the Confederate statues?

How long did it take to move public opinion on excessive force by the police?

How long did it take for white people to acknowledge the indignities black people face everyday? (Did they really need so many viral videos before they admitted what was going on?)

And would any of this have happened without the "riots?"

My question is, do we need more?

R19 The riots killed support for BLM.

A British historian famously argued that riots were the avenue of political expression for the poor. He was writing about 18th century England. In 1971. Some of you would do well to get off Twitter and read a fucking book.

R21 The poor aren't rioting.

Can we have your stuff OP?

“the oppressors”. lolllll

[quote] A British historian famously argued that riots were the avenue of political expression for the poor. He was writing about 18th century England.

This is not 18th century England.

If people oppose being rioted on they are obviously fascists. They deserve being rioted on to level everything out. That creates a state where everyone lives in conditions like the liberated area of Portland or Seattle or wherever the hell it was. Which is where the most justice is.

Sorry, I don't follow underclass issues and recommend you don't either.

People are welcome to riot as much as they please, as long as they recognize that rioting kills any hope at actually discussing the reasons behind the riot. What started as nationwide protests against a police state ended with images of neighborhood Wendy's restaurants being burnt to the ground for no reason and homeless people getting beaten up by chaotic thugs.

Rioting is fine if you're willing to sacrifice the cause behind the riot to do so, but it's hard to get people to listen to you voice your political opinions as you burn down a neighborhood, because they won't see someone voicing their political opinions, they'll just see someone burning down a neighborhood. Actions speak louder than words, which is where riots fail. The act outweighs the justification of said act.

Please, protests aren’t riots.

The rioting / looting accompanying protests are:

1) instigators - right-wing anarchy

2) opportunistic petty criminals

Only in a white majority country where it is coincidental that the people who are the cause of the oppression are white because most people there are white.

Just like it would be hypocritical for asian people in say China to state that rioting is unacceptable.

Or black people in Eastern Africa to state that rioting is unacceptable.

Etc. Etc. Etc.

[quote]This is not 18th century England.

Not much difference.

r16 is right, at least about Portland, Or.

What is the oppression that these groups are benefiting from R30? And who is it against?

You leave off the most important part of the analogy.

These is not a white person who ever went on a job interview, raised their hand in a college class, got pulled over by a cop, or even just tried to hail a cab, who has not recognized the advantages their race gives them. Coincidental or not, whether it is our fault or not, we are the beneficiaries.

So please finish the analogy!

It’s also hypocritical for rich people of any race to support the riots. It’s not like their gated communities are getting destroyed and they’re part of the problem.

Not all rich or well off people live in gated communities. They also live in cities, where anyone who wants can waltz on to their block if they want. Those are the people who are worrying about rioting, not the gated community ones, the ones who are well off but have no gate to protect them.

Tell the rabble to be quiet; we anticipate a riot

This common crowd is much too loud

Tell the mob who sing your song

That they are fools and they are wrong

They are a curse, they should disperse

No one supports rioting except those who do it. There is a major difference between rioting and civil protest.

R37 This thread in a nutshell.

As a well off shire person, I say yes. Yes it is.

Burn it down.

Any well off people who still live in the city despite what they saw this summer are foolish. Move to the suburbs or the country.

yes it is

Where does this fit in, OP?

R17 That would never happen. There are actual racists out there and there always will be. You can’t force those people to change their minds by destroying their property; you only make them more convinced they’re right. If your only way of being persuasive is through violence, the outcome is never positive or true. Persuasive argument is why MLK was so successful. George Floyd is now the face of BLM when no one actually want a criminal like him living in their building or coming into their store. I think that approach has set BLM back.

Also, what about destroying the stores of other POC? How is that OK? Another tactic which has worked against the movement.

R18 Unfortunately, video captured and posted on Twitter shows otherwise.

And yes, there are also rich white college students participating and hope they are also held accountable.

R26 Riots don’t “level” anything. The rich suburbs are still protected. The only people who suffer are those who still have to live in the cities where the riots take place.

R40 And what happens to the poor in NYC if that happens?

[quote]YOU WHITES AS A GROUP MADE ME STEAL THOSE CELL PHONES AND BEAT THAT WOMAN!!!!

[quote] Most well-off white people are just participating in the system, they didn't create it.

Hilarious. Of course they created it.

Rioting is what poor people do when they can't take repression anymore because they don't have police and armies at their disposal to do their dirty work.

Gays rioted.

Blacks rioted.

Irish immigrants rioted.

Slaves rioted.

See a pattern?

In US history, most riots were AGAINST blacks by whites.

It is unacceptable when the worst damage done around Melrose/Beverly Hills/The Grove was by sociopathic white girls and boys covered in black starting and inciting the worst damage.

"Now O.J. will see how white people riot." - Dominick Dunne

The problem with the riots of the summer is that there isn't just one race behind them. It's not a simple issue. Because of how everyone united the riots were being done by white people, black people, hispanic people, asian people, men, women, gay, straight, etc.

That's why the summer was so chaotic. The chaos was not done by one group. It was mass hysteria.

Most of the people protesting (certainly not rioting) for BLM in our wealthy white community were paid spoiled white college brats who were also bored during Covid. They parked in the lot of the local Methodist Church and someone made note of the out of state tags on their Audis and BMWs. I'm sure there was a long line at Starbucks once the protesting was over. I felt sorry for the small percentage of legitimate protestors as I'm sure it was offensive to them.

Also the riots of this summer should not be misinterpreted as outrage over George Floyd's killing. Most of the people rioting were not rioting over race related issues, but rather because of COVID. They were angry, going insane in lockdown, and outraged at the state of things. The riots that happened were the result of boredom, being cooped up in the house with nothing to do, and the insanity that happened as a result of the isolation of COVID.

Don't be mistaken about WHY people rioted. If George Floyd had been killed at the same time but without COVID I doubt the riots would have left Minneapolis. The reason BLM took the world by storm this summer is because COVID eliminated all distractions. If things had been normal and people had school, jobs, and various other obligations and things to do it would not have taken the world by storm in the way it did. People would have been too busy living their own lives to care. COVID eliminated that, so they found something to care about.

R56 If Floyd had died at a different time, Hennepin County officials would not have tried to pretend that someone who died of a drug overdose was crushed to death by a police officer.