Riots Racism and Police Brutality: A Never Ending Cycle

The BART shooting and the subsequent violent protest was far from the first time police brutality provoked a riot. What is about police brutality that provokes the inner city poor to react by destroying property and causing chaos?

When police, the government agents who are supposed to protect and serve the community, assault, kill, harass and discriminate members of a disenfranchised community all ideas of law, order and justice are thrown out the widow.

Usually police brutality is not the primary cause for a riot but it is often the straw that breaks the camel's back. Usually poverty, discrimination, disenfranchisement and neglect combined with a symbolic incident of oppression lead to the anger, chaos and lawlessness that provoke riots.

While the USA's police brutality-infused riots of the 60's and even the 90's have been well documented, similar incidents have been occurring all over the world, from Greece to France to Canada. In most of these cases, class, religion or race and discrimination created an atmosphere of anger and resentment against the government that explodes when members of their community are unfairly brutalized or killed.

In 1965 in Los Angeles, three members of a black family were arrested for protesting the arrest of their brother. Animosity in the community, already fueled by racial discrimination, unemployment, poor schools and housing discrimination erupted and people began to loot, vandalize and clash with police and white motorists. The riot lasted for six days and 34 people were killed, 1,032 injured, and 3,952 arrested. Police commissioner, William Parker, helped escalate the situation by saying that the rioters acted "like monkeys in a zoo"

A gubernatorial commission found the causes of the riot to as high unemployment, poor schools, and other inferior living conditions.

In 1967, police raided a after hours party in Detroit and wound up trying to 82 people who were celebrating the homecoming of two soldiers from Vietnam. This resulted in a neighborhood protest that lead to looting, vandalism and arson. Once again the national guard was called in and after five days of rioting. At the end of the riot, 43 people were dead, 1189 injured and over 7000 were arrested.

The Detroit Free Press cited the causes of the Detroit riot as racism, economic inequality, and poor housing.

Riots with roots in racism and police brutality are not unique to the USA. In 1976 during the West Indian carnival in Notting Hill, London. West Indian youths revolted against arbitrary mass arrests and began clashing with the police, throwing bottles and other objects at police and their vehicles. The causes for the riot are cited as an occupational police presence and unemployment among the West Indian youths.

One of the most consequential riots of the 20th Century was the 1992 riots sparked by the acquittal of four officers in the videotaped beating of Rodney King. After the officers were acquitted, African Americans in LA began to protest at the LA County courthouse and LAPD headquarters. A large group convened at the corner of Florence and Normandie confronted a group of officers who retreated because they were outnumbered. By the evening people began on Florence and Normandie began looting and attacking white motorists, including Reginald Denny.

Looting, arson and violence continued and eventually the National Guard was called in and later the Army and the Marines. The riots wound up killing 53 people and causing more the one billion dollars worth of damage.

The Christopher commission sited the causes of the LA Riots as high unemployment, racial profiling and police brutality.

The recent riots in France also were caused by police brutality, racism, unemployment and economic inequality. In October of 2005, two teenagers were chased by police into a power station where they were electrocuted. Protests and unrest subsequently ensued. Civil unrest spread to poor housing projects in other parts of France including violence, arson and clashes with police.

Almost 9,000 cars were burned and 3,000 people were arrested and 126 policemen and firefighters were injured. The BBC listed the causes of the riot as unemployment and discrimination against immigrants.

So we see that the causes of riots are often discrimination, poverty, and police brutality. Rather than blaming the poor and disenfranchised who riot, countries should attempt to eliminate the poverty, discrimination and police brutality that cause them. If not the cycle of the poor and discriminated succumbing to violence and chaos will continue and expand.

Check out a gallery of police brutality riots

Watch Footage of the Watts Riot

Watch a History Project on the Detroit Riots

Watch a Program on The Notting Hill Riot

Watch Footage From The LA Riots

Watch a Report on the 2005 Riots in France

Comments

[ThePeacemakers]

It's way past time for psychological re-evaluations for determining our police force.
Apparently, something about the job promotes FASCIST behavior, with little resistance from those within the system who knows it stinks.
There's got to be a way to weed out racists and sociopaths in our police force.

[ohioan73]

cont...Furthermore there is never a reason to riot in America. This is not a Dictatorship or a Fascist government. The constitution clearly states that you have the right to peacefully assemble and organize your community to make changes in government and law enforcement. When you're black, it seems that you are a second-class citizen and you feel powerless sometimes, but never forget that the entire system of Jim Crow was brought down by a non violent resistance movement community organization and the cooperation of an entire city of blacks who used the constitution to shame the south, not rioting or violence. Violent resistance simply will not ever work. Check out Palestine/Israel. They will never stop fighting because the notion of non violent resistance will never be considered. What if we had never had an MLK Jr.? Stop the violence.

[ohioan73]

Rioting results in nothing but the banks redlining your neighborhood which means they cut off home and business loans to your neighborhood. After a while, banks begin to set up sub-prime lenders to service your area and pretty soon, there are even more abandoned buildings on your street. Don't ever riot and give banks an excuse to cut off service to your neighborhood. Sub prime lending is a big part of what broke the economy. Its not the people's fault they got duped into a sub-pime loan, but rioting gave the banks an excuse to create the sub-prime lending arms. Get together and protest productively. Have an agenda and get a community organizer to do it the right way. Peacefully show up on the lawns of political crooks and bankers and don't go away until they meet with your leaders. When the police arrive, cheer them and chant "police need a raise!". The police are amused and help the negotiations. Call the press. Talk to the crooks neighbors in a peaceful crowd of hundreds. I have done it and its a great rush. It resulted in an anti-predatory lending law passed in my city. The same techniques could be applied to police issues, unemployment, bad schools, factory farms etc... Its a blast!

[pollwatcher123]

IF that is what works, then keep doing it. You have my full support pursuing peaceful means to change. But if that doesn't work, and people rise up, they also have my full support.

[Casey Gane-McCalla - Huffpost Blogger]

I was giving the sociological and political reason for riots. If you want to stop riots put an end to poverty discrimination and police brutality. Pverty is not the only reason for rioting but usually is a factor.

I am not making excuses for anyone but as a society there are certain things we can o to prevent this behavior.

Two wrongs don't make a right but often a wrong leads to another wrong.

[ohioan73]

I agree and I love your articles. I was only adding a footnote to your article because I know there are people frustrated enough to burn down their own neighborhood and they are not altogether wrong in their passion, just misdirected in anger. Just offering an alternative. In a perfect world, we would all get together and peacefully assemble our way out of injustice. Its the only thing proven to work.

[pollwatcher123]

Hitler not only imposed LAW and ORDER, but he was also a master of EFFICIENCY (another Conservative "value" that is highly prized). He made the TRAINS run ON TIME.

Like I say below - LAW and ORDER are not the same thing as JUSTICE and GOODNESS.
LAWS used to promote EVIL must be undone. I prefer a lawful and peaceful way to undo those laws.

BUT, in America, it has become painfully obvious that LAWS used for EVIL are nearly impossible to undo lawfully. When judges are bought, family wealth trumps justice, and police become the personal extensions of the wealthy elite, it is obvious that the least empowered among us will resort to the only means left to them - PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF OUTRAGE.

Sadly, that public display of outrage actually is the ONLY thing that finally works. It finally awakens the masses of good-natured people, who were unaware of the abuse of law. Those people then VOTE and ELECT CHANGE.

What is America? Is it just? Or is it a degenerate, selfish, brutal society? Too often, it is the latter. Don't be surprised that evil is opposed by those who have nothing left to lose but life itself. Give them liberty, or give them death. Have we forgotten why AMERICA was formed in the first place? A nation that forgets its REASON FOR BEING is a nation that deserves to no longer exist.

[pollwatcher123]

LAW and ORDER is not the same thing as GOOD or JUST or MORAL or ETHICAL.

History is replete with tyrants and dicatators who used LAW and ORDER and EFFICIENCY to destroy millions of innocents, conquer nations, obliterate JUSTICE and bathe the land in blood and wrath.

America has deciced to put LAW and ORDER and EFFICIENCY ahead of JUSTICE, MORALITY, and ETHICS.

When whole communities of people see the LAW used to OPPRESS them, and they see that those who execute the law, the police, are given a FREE PASS to ABUSE the LAW to kill them, imprison them, harass them, and disrupt their lives on a daily basis, they see the LAW for what it is: EVIL.

Once a civil government decides to draft, uphold, execute, and defend EVIL LAWS, then that civil government should expect its LAWFUL citizens to rise up, and tear it down. And if some people resort to RIOTS to do this, it is because the LAW has denied them all recourse. EVIL LAWS do not allow for LAWFUL changes for GOOD. The LAWS are constantly rewritten to empower EVIL and deny GOOD.

So those, like myself, who strive to see LAWS that enable GOOD find it hard to condemn those who riot under such circumstances. LAWS used for EVIL deserve to be undone. Legally, and peaceably if possible. But if there is no LAWFUL way to undo an EVIL LAW, then expect lawfully minded people to find ALTERNATIVE ways to CHANGE THE LAW.

[Indie2008]

When looting was occurring after Katrina, a well known New Orleans resident said in a TV interview, in effect: "If I had never had anything, I'd probably want to steal a big screen TV too"! If poverty was an accepted reason for lawlessness, we would have total anarchy. Societies of people have maintained dignity and morality, even in spite of "poverty", The "I deserve it" mentality, when used as an excuse for rioting and lawlessness, trivializes the underlying discrimination and police brutality as causes that you correctly identify

[RoloTomassi]

That's a shallow understanding of the poverty element of this equation; the dimensions of poverty here in the US have always been a RESULT, and only a small percentage of all poverty is a result of apathy.

Apathetic folks in poverty due to their own apathy aren't prone to rioting. BUT large sections of the population who are experiencing poverty primarily as a RESULT of backward social norms, discrimination, and government policies worsen inequality, those people are very PISSED OFF, and rightfully so.

[oldugly]

which doesn't escuse the rioter burning down my store or stealing my stuff....
it is as clear as two wrongs do not make a right.
This article does not show wisdom just a rehash of faulty self serving logic withourt giving any solutions or sugestions.