"A riot is the language of the unheard." Martin Luther King Jr. said that at Stanford University in 1967. It's been quoted repeatedly this week. If you're more appalled by the riots than by the murder of black men and women whose lives have been so callously destroyed, you might ask yourself: Why did police meet peaceful unarmed protestors with tear gas canisters and billy clubs, with rubber bullets and riot gear, when they managed to stand with such equanimity in the face of white supremacists waving Nazi flags and packing assault rifles when they stormed state houses not even a month ago? Why was a white cop in street clothes caught on camera methodically breaking the windows of Auto Zone, the first store to burn in Minneapolis, despite the efforts of locals to stop him? And why were white men with hammers and walkie talkies filmed breaking
store windows and setting fires in Oakland last night, only to have the destruction blamed on Black Lives Matter demonstrators today? Why did white allies feel a need to form a line in front of black protestors, creating a wall between them and police mobs brandishing clubs and guns? Why were two black cops in uniform the only ones trying to de-escalate the fevered anger of the crowd in Brooklyn last night, as white plain clothes cops—identifiable to each other by the white armbands they wore—pulled weapons on protestors and knocked them to the ground? When have matching armbands of any color ever been a good omen, or brought peace? "When the looting starts, the shooting starts," Trump tweeted in the midst of the justifiable anguish and rage. It was a dog whistle to his base. As commentator Keith Boykin put it: "America is a tinderbox ... and Donald Trump is an arsonist carelessly flicking a lighter."
Photos from top:
1. Carlos Barria/ Reuters
2. Julio Cortez/ AP Photo
3. John Minchillo/ AP Photo
2. Julio Cortez/ AP Photo
3. John Minchillo/ AP Photo
Minneapotlis is my beautiful home town. Thank you for the post. We can't expect anyone to wait for justice while they watch the privileged treated differently in every aspect of their lives day in and day out.
ReplyDeleteI am white and stand with the Minneapolis protestors.
This morning he called on his maga proud boys to attend. And I hear they are organizing on Facebook. I believe we are on the verge of civil war.
ReplyDeleteSending all our love be safe my dear friend.
Rebecca
I was watching Trump talk about this tragic situation and wondered if he's actually had a Lobotomy.
ReplyDeleteWhite people need to wake the hell up. You've got to be really out of touch to clutch your pearls at the protests yet remain silent about the murder of George Floyd and so many others. There was a great cartoon illustration a few years ago of Drump at a rally -- the participants were little black bombs with their fuses sticking up and he was a giant match stick on fire.
ReplyDeleteI think Trump is the one spreading the kerosine, his box of matches at the ready.
ReplyDeleteI have no words. I keep thinking this is as heartbreaking as it get, except I know something worse will always be just around the corner. Instead of trying to calm things down, the lunatic fans the flames.
ReplyDeleteWatching from afar, there is lots of coverage on our news. Lost for words.
ReplyDeleteRead this from Bernice King's twitter:
"Don’t act like everyone loved my father. He was assassinated. A 1967 poll reflected that he was one of the most hated men in America. Most hated. Many who quote him now and evoke him to deter justice today would likely hate, and may already hate, the authentic King."
The unraveling of America for all the World to see... too much has been ignored and left to fester... then an incendiary Lunatic is dismantling Democracy and trying to establish his Lunatic Fringe demented New World Order. That is why he isn't even trying to Unify the Country or Right Generational Wrongs, he is as Diseased as any Virus with the Hatred he inflicts, the moral fabric of Society has been rent from top to bottom. No longer can there be a pretense of not knowing about the marginalized members of our Society, the injustices and inhumanity inflicted, the degradation of Human Beings. If they ignore this Outrage of Citizens... and the Pandemic... America could be destroyed.
ReplyDeleteI think the US is done. He's going to fan the flames of violence, declare martial law and cancel elections. It's a fairly out there view, but I will not be surprised if/when it happens. What the hell has happened to the police departments? Seattle, the liberal bastion of liberalness, had police dragging people to the ground and punching them in the head. Who DOES this?
ReplyDeleteAll I can do from here is stand in solidarity with you and that I do with all my heart .
ReplyDeleteFrightening. Appalling. And Trump hasn't got the brains of a turnip. He is truly unfit and a danger to your country. There are too many days between now and the November election. I can't imagine what monstrous things he will do with all that time. And I still can't understand why so many Republicans bow to him. I do not understand it.
ReplyDeleteThere has been no sun here today. Mirroring the events unfolding, the sky has been filled with dark clouds and rain. We had one of our rare thunder and lightning storms this morning. Sending love.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it already a civil war when the police are killing us and killing us and killing us?
ReplyDeleteThe country is imploding...
ReplyDeleteWhy, indeed. These are the questions that need to be asked, answered honestly, and acted upon.
ReplyDeleteJesus wept. I know how he felt.
ReplyDeleteRacism is the virus that will ultimately destroy us all.
ReplyDeletethe Magats put him in office to burn the house down and he's doing it.
ReplyDeleteDear Ms. Paddington, When I mentioned fulmination in a recent post, I was not referring to you but to the general media. Many outlets paint racial unrest and injustice as people burning their communities. I see it as something bigger, collective and built up rage fueled both by recent racist police actions, which are continuing today, economic and social oppression and an underbelly of white supremacy which the orange intestine and his base have made politically obvious.In my email today was an article from Tikkun suggesting that white racists infiltrating Minneapolis hope to de-legitimize the struggle for justice by African Americans. I did not mean to sound flippant or like I was blowing this off. I believe that if things do not change, we are done. It is frightening and alone with a cat, housebound, I can either pray or cry, neither of which feels like it does any good.
ReplyDeletee, I didn’t take it personally. Also, I know you’re not flippant about these things. The truth is I have been fulminating. I’ve been able to think of little else this week, to the point that I’ve been unable even to focus on my work, which is unsettling because work is often my refuge. It’s a hard time, and it’s so important to hold the good souls like you close. I’ll never forget you sent me a card when my mother died. I was so touched. I know your good heart. It is indeed scary right now. Be well, dear friend.
DeleteThank you, you and your beautiful family as well.
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