Why Do Black People Riot?

OK I’ll admit the slightly clickbaity headline, but it’s a question that has popped up in my social media mostly from white people, quite often middle class. It’s not as bluntly put, but expressed via criticisms and tutting over the looting, rioting and protests over the death of George Floyd.

The implicit criticism is ‘why can’t they protest peacefully?’.

Well, that ignores they fact that minorities DO protest regularly and we get ignored. Maybe pay more attention next time, rather than expecting people to protest in a corner somewhere without any disruption so you can easily ignore it?

And as Kimberly Latrice Jones puts it in this excellent video, they have been on that starting block, the ‘Go’ panel of Monopoly for years, never allowed to own anything, never allowed to keep anything when you do (Tulsa – remember Watchmen TV series? That was real life, as well as Rosewood and others). Then you kill and abuse black/BAME people, stick them on ‘Jail’ for long periods in larger numbers than others, break the social contract, and then they become wage slaves working for white corporates and companies? That’s if they have a job, unemployment is many times higher for non-white people. Which is partly why people do illegal things to survive, desperate people have few options…another trap feeding the prison factory, another enslavement.

Of course they tear it down, it’s the only thing they CAN do. Everything else is blocked to them. The system is built to do that, keep them trapped. It is the only option – and the only thing that gets white people talking. When they trash THEIR businesses they aren’t allowed to run or own.

Even looting – imagine how desperate you have to be to get something during a riot – when you could be attacked or killed yourself – because otherwise you’ll never have it? Tut about looting and destruction all you like, but it does seem many are more concerned about some statue (go Brizzle! Go Canal and River Trust!) than the lives of people like George Floyd or Christopher Alder or Breonna Taylor or Sean Rigg.

Not heard two of those names?

Might be because they are from the UK. We are not innocent of this either. We have other statues linked to slavery and colonial empire, and a complex Black history not often taught in schools. I mean for instance I just found out we have a statue of Jan Smuts, the apartheid racist in London. And that’s along with the Cecil Rhodes statue in Oxford, which like the Colston statue was asked to be taken down years ago. Why are these still here? I mean when Piers Morgan is more radical than Keir Starmer, something is very wrong.

And on that note, I am going to announce the next two podcasts are devoted to anti-racism, Pride, Black Lives Matters and uplifting queer & black/BAME voices, and remembering those names, here, in the US and elsewhere. We all need to do better, the podcast has always been about diversity, and although I’ve had my issues with some of the BLM strategy which I think backfired (Toronto Pride for example) I have never had a problem with the fight.

Black and white unite and fight. It’s simple.