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I heard the news last night... oh boy
Apr. 28th, 2015 07:01 pmBeen watching/reading the news out of Baltimore about the protests, the looting and the unanswered inquiries into the death of Freddy Gray while in police custody. I hear a lot of folks from a wide spectrum of society saying that violence is not the answer. That the riots are counterproductive to the goal of justice. That the inequities of the United States have never been solved through destructive behavior but rather through peaceful resistance to the status qua,
And I'm sorry, I just don't believe that to be true. Our country was born of revolution. It's in our national DNA, as we didn't hunger-strike or stage sit-ins to win our independence from England.
In a way it reminds me of how I used to feel living at the Witch House a block shy of L5P and seeing all these signs in my neighbors' lawns with a dove on it and the message - "WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER".
Sure, I know these were a response to then President Cheney's disastrous Iraq invasion, but nevertheless I couldn't help but finding myself disagreeing. Because sometimes, unfortunately, war is the answer. Not all the time, not even most of the time, as far as American foreign policy goes - but in cases like, Hitler and Nazi Germany I would have to say that war was the only answer after awhile.
Which is not to say the Baltimore police department are the equivalent to the Nazis or even closely analogous, but the amount of coverage I witnessed about Mr.Gray's death before the riots and afterward tells me that only when citizens have reached a boiling point does the issue get any significant media attention.
So while I don't think destroying the city one lives in is a viable solution to the woes of any given community, I do understand that there is a point when said community can no longer be preyed upon by the authorities while also being ignored until blind anger and something dangerous ignites.
And sometimes when it does, with the eyes of the world focused on the cause of the riots, something does get done.
To be honest it's a little weird for me. Again I don't hear any of the 2nd amendment enthusiasts on Fox News saying better access to firearms would help act as a check against racially motivated police oppression. I also don't hear liberals admitting that at times once peace has been given a chance to no avail, then it's opposite needs to have its say or else tyranny will mute the issue.
The Haymarket riots that led to the 8 hour work day come to mind, the Stonewall riots that launched the beginning of the Gay Rights movement as well.
I don't know, maybe this is all the result of my own experiences, and the discovery in my early teens as a nascent punk rocker that my getting my ass kicked every day didn't seem to stop until I started kicking some ass back.
And I'm sorry, I just don't believe that to be true. Our country was born of revolution. It's in our national DNA, as we didn't hunger-strike or stage sit-ins to win our independence from England.
In a way it reminds me of how I used to feel living at the Witch House a block shy of L5P and seeing all these signs in my neighbors' lawns with a dove on it and the message - "WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER".
Sure, I know these were a response to then President Cheney's disastrous Iraq invasion, but nevertheless I couldn't help but finding myself disagreeing. Because sometimes, unfortunately, war is the answer. Not all the time, not even most of the time, as far as American foreign policy goes - but in cases like, Hitler and Nazi Germany I would have to say that war was the only answer after awhile.
Which is not to say the Baltimore police department are the equivalent to the Nazis or even closely analogous, but the amount of coverage I witnessed about Mr.Gray's death before the riots and afterward tells me that only when citizens have reached a boiling point does the issue get any significant media attention.
So while I don't think destroying the city one lives in is a viable solution to the woes of any given community, I do understand that there is a point when said community can no longer be preyed upon by the authorities while also being ignored until blind anger and something dangerous ignites.
And sometimes when it does, with the eyes of the world focused on the cause of the riots, something does get done.
To be honest it's a little weird for me. Again I don't hear any of the 2nd amendment enthusiasts on Fox News saying better access to firearms would help act as a check against racially motivated police oppression. I also don't hear liberals admitting that at times once peace has been given a chance to no avail, then it's opposite needs to have its say or else tyranny will mute the issue.
The Haymarket riots that led to the 8 hour work day come to mind, the Stonewall riots that launched the beginning of the Gay Rights movement as well.
I don't know, maybe this is all the result of my own experiences, and the discovery in my early teens as a nascent punk rocker that my getting my ass kicked every day didn't seem to stop until I started kicking some ass back.