Riots in America.

[Dawn.]

As everyone knows, there have been a lot of riots in America due to the killing of George Floyd. What are your thoughts? Are you safe?

[Arabesque- golfing girl.]

This was not okay to do. I don't like it when you have a police officer who does this because it puts a bigger target on all of them. I have a police officer and Detective in my family and now not only do they have to worry about this, but other people who are too. They are the ones who protect us, not hurt anyone.

[Ennui.]

As mjuch as I want to discourage riots, sometimes people have to take extreme measures to effect change. So I don't know fully how to feel. Either way there needs to be systematic changes to prevent deaths such as this. There was no reason for George Floyd to die.

[Storyteller.]

The quote I've seen most frequently being passed around during this situation, credited to Martin Luther King Jr, is that "a riot is the language of the unheard". This wasn't a sudden response to a single incident, this was a reaction to deep-rooted, long-term systemic issues that have been ignored or dismissed by those with the power to fix the system. If those in charge won't address the issues after calm conversation and peaceful protests, they shouldn't be surprised when those calling for justice and equality are forced to escalate.

Well said and we can all turn to Martin Luther King Jr. for Civil Rights Movement quotes. What he and so many others started fifty/sixty years ago are still struggling even today. What's happening in Minnesota isn't an isolated incident, African Americans all over the country have been struggling to be heard for years. It's really upsetting how these people are being called names and treated like criminals when it was just a few weeks ago those who were breaking the law by defying quarantine orders and protesting at state houses were being called heroes.

It's not a matter of being safe or sound, it's a matter of checking your privileges and being proactive.

Originally Posted by Counted Heart.

The quote I've seen most frequently being passed around during this situation, credited to Martin Luther King Jr, is that "a riot is the language of the unheard". This wasn't a sudden response to a single incident, this was a reaction to deep-rooted, long-term systemic issues that have been ignored or dismissed by those with the power to fix the system. If those in charge won't address the issues after calm conversation and peaceful protests, they shouldn't be surprised when those calling for justice and equality are forced to escalate.

This summarizes my thoughts and this quote is one I've been pointing out to people condemning the riots.

[Ennui.]

Yeah, my mom kept complaining today about how the riots aren’t peaceful and I basically kept saying that well, people are listening now. There have been years of people peacefully or quietly protesting. This has been building up for as long as ever and nothing has been changed. Maybe now people will listen.

[Fanatic]

I dont approve of the riots AT ALL. Extremists don't fix the problem they make it worse for others. Praying for everyone's safety in all this and for the ones making trouble to get arrested and locked up. There's a better way than this.

Originally Posted by Fanatic

I dont approve of the riots AT ALL. Extremists don't fix the problem they make it worse for others. Praying for everyone's safety in all this and for the ones making trouble to get arrested and locked up. There's a better way than this.

What you need to understand and this goes to the quotes of Martin Luther King Jr. He was an activist in the Civil Rights Movement and endorsed peaceful protest to recognize the rights of African American. But his efforts proved futile when he was killed by an extremist who hated what he was doing.
Around the same time, we have the Stonewall Uprising by the LGBT+ community and the Kent State peace rally by those who opposed brutality in the Vietnam war. Both of these started off peacefully, and ended in what we now know as:
Stonewall Riots
Kent State Shooting, the fiftieth anniversary of which was just a few weeks ago.

Even today, the LGBT+ community, particularly Black LGBT and Latinx, struggle to be heard because they are POC and LGBT+. But enough efforts have been made where their rights (for the most part) are offered—again, a white privlege—and they don't have to worry about creating another Stonewall Uprising.


However, the African American community has been struggling since long before Martin Luther King to be heard. To be focused on how these riots committed by so-called extremists is worse than the fact they've been oppressed and victims of police brutality for most of ten years (and beyond) is alarming.

Prayers won't do anything. Check your privileges, be mindful of your words, and become proactive.

[Resilient]

I think it is perfectly okay to protest but I’ve seen videos of major violence towards police and bystanders by rioters. There was a video I saw of rioters pulling innocent people out of their cars simply because they were driving past. As well as rioters going after police that are trying to keep the peace by using very minimal riot control. Now, when the police use tear gas and such at peaceful protests then I get angry, but if the rioters are being violent to the police then they have a right to try and break up the riot.

Hate on this post if you want, but really, violence to stop violence?

I just don’t agree with some of the ways the police AND rioters are both going about this.

[Everglow.]

I dont live in america but in 2011 we had some riots in the uk too for a similar reason. I would ordinarily not support violence that endangers life, but peaceful protests dont work. It isnt right that Black people should need to fear for their safety every single day because the system makes them threats. The reality is, property is replaceable but black lives arent. The places they're burning can be rebuilt, the lives of all the people murdered because of their skin colour cant be mended. If this is what it takes for people to hear them and hold the handful of cops who dont value black lives accountable then I'm all for it.

[Resilient]

Originally Posted by Everglow.

I dont live in america but in 2011 we had some riots in the uk too for a similar reason. I would ordinarily not support violence that endangers life, but peaceful protests dont work. It isnt right that Black people should need to fear for their safety every single day because the system makes them threats. The reality is, property is replaceable but black lives arent. The places they're burning can be rebuilt, the lives of all the people murdered because of their skin colour cant be mended. If this is what it takes for people to hear them and hold the handful of cops who dont value black lives accountable then I'm all for it.

What about the innocent officers and innocent people that get killed? Is that justice?

I have very mixed feelings about this. On one hand, I understand the anger and frustration, and I absolutely condemn the officers who killed George Floyd. His death was senseless and cruel, and that video was almost impossible to watch; I found myself averting my eyes at certain points because it was too much. With that said, as Court mentioned, innocent people have lost their lives and livelihoods. I saw a news report that featured a small business owner, a black man himself, in tears because he had invested his life savings into his business and then had it looted. I pray that he is able to recover from it.

So, I will say that I understand and support protests, but I don't personally support the riots. I think the Martin Luther King, Jr. quote is very eloquently put, but I also heard that King said this: "Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars... Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."

Now, I'm no expert, so if this is mis-cited, please feel free to correct me.

Originally Posted by Spoons

Yeah, my mom kept complaining today about how the riots aren’t peaceful and I basically kept saying that well, people are listening now. There have been years of people peacefully or quietly protesting. This has been building up for as long as ever and nothing has been changed. Maybe now people will listen.

One thing that I think is important to consider, though, is that there were also riots following Ferguson, and I believe there were smaller-scale ones following other shootings, like that of Philando Castile. To play devil's advocate: if it didn't work then, why should it work now?

These are just my personal thoughts and I appreciate others' perspectives as well.

~Kylie

UPDATE: Dr. Bernice King, the daughter of Martin Luther King, has spoken out against the riots.

[Dawn.]

I think what certain individuals (no-one on Teenhelp) need to understand is that, yes damaging buildings and looting will damage the economy even further, but at the end of the day, this was long time coming. There has been a build for ages about the way the African American Community have been feeling.

[Rivière]

Back when I was at college studying Psychology, the 2011 England riots had happened. We ended up using it as a case study and it was actually quite interesting to understand the dynamics of how a riot emerges, develops, and ends.

They're often started with a catalyst, such as the murder of Mark Duggan in the UK, and now George Floyd in the US. The catalyst is an issue related to something many people have had a problem with for years and years, yet goes untreated. It's like when someone is being bullied at school and they bottle up their emotions for so long, and eventually they just can't take it anymore and they end up reacting in a certain way, sometimes violently, towards their bully. This is similar to what happens in a riot, but on a far larger, more violent scale.

What started off as a smaller group of people targeting their anger towards their bully (in this case, law enforcement, even if they're innocent) becomes more and more violent. More people join the 'cause' and more violence ensues. Soon, even more join in, but it's at this point that not all of the rioters are actually rioting because of the catalyst in question, but because they see the riot as an opportunity/excuse to loot, vandalise, steal, and whatever else. They're the ones that are the most dangerous because they're the ones who care not for the cause, but for the chaos the initial cause ensued.

Unfortunately whenever there's a riot, everyone is tarred with the same brush. Rioters = bad. However, not all people who begun the riot were bad. They were angry because they've been facing a problem, the same problem, for years and years, no one will do anything about it, so they took matters into their own hands. Would anyone really like it if their family members were killed the way George was? I doubt it. You would feel angry. You would want justice for the person who brutally murdered your family member in such a disgusting, twisted manner.

There's an endless cycle between people being unnecessarily being killed by police officers (even when the suspect has surrendered and is on the floor bawling their eyes out) because they tarred individuals all with the same brush.. and innocent police officers being killed because of the minority law enforcement who took things too far.

I think what a lot of people don't realize is that while the riots and looting are bad, the issues that led to them need to be acknowledged and then we all need to come up with a way to resolve those issues. The murder of George Floyd was a catalyst after years of trying to protest peacefully and being condemned. Look what happened to Colin Kaepernick, he tried to peacefully protest police brutality and systematic racism and he was told "Not that way." Essentially, he was condemned. There are other examples of people trying to protest peacefully and being ignored or condemned.


While I don't like the rioting and looting, I can't help but understand it. If any issue, big or small, is continually ignored and brushed under the rug, you're going to see an explosion. This is true even for me, when I ignore my problems or my stressors I end up getting so overwhelmed until I finally explode. Right now, we are seeing the explosion. Peaceful protesting would be great but for years those peaceful protests have been ignored.

Thank you for your post, Sarah! It was incredibly informative and well written.

I still can't personally bring myself to support the riots. Even Obama and the brother of Floyd have condemned them. I absolutely, 100% agree that the problem needs to be addressed and that significant changes need to be made, but I don't feel that this is the way.

Former president Barack Obama decried the looting and burning of American cities in response to the death of George Floyd, saying it was “compounding the destruction” of inner-city communities and “detracting from the larger cause.”

Obama pointed to a viral video of an elderly black Minneapolis resident brought to tears by the situation after rioters and looters wrecked her neighborhood. The woman, weeping in an interview, said the destruction happened “for no reason” and that “it’s not going to bring George back.”
...
“Let’s not excuse violence, or rationalize it, or participate in it. If we want our criminal justice system, and American society at large, to operate on a higher ethical code, then we have to model that code ourselves,” he argued.

The former president concluded by stating that “justifiable anger” must be channeled into “peaceful, sustained, and effective action.”
...
Obama’s response comes after several days of nationwide protests turned into violence across the country. On Sunday George Floyd’s brother Terrence urged those involved to “channel your anger elsewhere.”

“Don’t tear up your town. All of this is not necessary because if his own family and blood is not doing it, then why are you?” Floyd told ABC News. “If his own family and blood is trying to deal with it and be positive about it and go another route to seek justice, then why are you out here tearing up your community? Because when you’re finished and turn around and then you want to go buy something, you done tore it up. So now you messed up your own living arrangements. So just relax. Justice will be served.”

I agree that brushing issues off will often cause an explosion, but that doesn't necessarily make that kind of response okay. While the anger is absolutely justified, I feel we all need to be careful about where we direct our anger at times, myself included.

[Proud90sKid]

So many of my liberal friends were vehemently posting on facebook about how we need to keep all businesses closed, destroy our economy,etc. because of the virus. Now they are gathering in large crowds to ransack cities—including mine.

Me trying to find a job to support myself: not ok
Breaking social distancing to loot and arson: totally encouraged.


All of the social distancing that led to people being put out of jobs...social distancing measures that primarily LIBERALS want to be even stricter- could be undone by the crazy protests and their tendency to have 50 people in a shopping center at once(to loot) ,throwing Moktov coctails into occupied police vehicles,etc. If the liberals cause a second wave with this it will be so ironic and so angering at the same time. There were many tens of people gathering around the ATM at my bank
and breaking into it down the street from me. Is that six feet?

What happened to George Floyd was simply unacceptable. He was legally defensless- if be tried to defend himself would be charged with a felony assault on officer. But this is not the answer. My town got ransacked- buildings burned. People who just got back to work are now laid off again because their business went up in smoke,etc

[Blackwing]

I feel the civil rights issues were never fixed just put temporary fixes to the problem
Police departments should have a civilian panel to monitor police actions.

[Dawn.]

Has anyone actually been directly affected by the riots?

[NeuroBeautiful]

I attended a peaceful protest. it was 100% peaceful. Nothing happened to me. There were mostly white folks, some people of color non black and some black. The protest represented somewhat of what my neighborhood is but I wish more people attended. More non Black people of color especially. No one got arrested. I was scared to be seen on camera and I have fear as an ethnic minority would but not to the extent that Black people have because they are the most likely to be targeted.
Then I find out in my students' neighborhood which is a predominantly Black community. It broke my heart to hear that there were peaceful protests just like the one I sent to but there were over 100 arrests, tear gas, police hearing up the protesters (aka fellow citizens) There were not even enough space in the holding cells in that county so the police took some of them to the 2 nearby counties. My students are in 6th grade. They're children. Protests are supposed go be child friendly, family friendly. My heart breaks. I feel sad, angry, loss, like I will never feel at home in America.

[Dawn.]

Originally Posted by ~Radio Flyer~

I attended a peaceful protest. it was 100% peaceful. Nothing happened to me. There were mostly white folks, some people of color non black and some black. The protest represented somewhat of what my neighborhood is but I wish more people attended. More non Black people of color especially. No one got arrested. I was scared to be seen on camera and I have fear as an ethnic minority would but not to the extent that Black people have because they are the most likely to be targeted.
Then I find out in my students' neighborhood which is a predominantly Black community. It broke my heart to hear that there were peaceful protests just like the one I sent to but there were over 100 arrests, tear gas, police hearing up the protesters (aka fellow citizens) There were not even enough space in the holding cells in that county so the police took some of them to the 2 nearby counties. My students are in 6th grade. They're children. Protests are supposed go be child friendly, family friendly. My heart breaks. I feel sad, angry, loss, like I will never feel at home in America.

I'm glad to hear that the protest you attended was peaceful.

[Proud90sKid]

Originally Posted by Omen.

Has anyone actually been directly affected by the riots?

Not directly-but nearly all businesses on my street were either burnt or looted . I am a medical marijuana patient and my dispensary ( a few blocks away) was looted. Now I have to drive 30 minutes to another dispensary where Im made to wait 30mins for my order and then drive back. Also cant go to my bank still because they havent replaced the ATM yet.

Id say I havent been directly affected -just an inconvenience for me- but there are literally those who have lost jobs over this. Those at the businesses on my street are now out of work. That really sucks for them. I know some of them...

[Dawn.]

Originally Posted by Proud90sKid

Not directly-but nearly all businesses on my street were either burnt or looted . I am a medical marijuana patient and my dispensary ( a few blocks away) was looted. Now I have to drive 30 minutes to another dispensary where Im made to wait 30mins for my order and then drive back. Also cant go to my bank still because they havent replaced the ATM yet.

Id say I havent been directly affected -just an inconvenience for me- but there are literally those who have lost jobs over this. Those at the businesses on my street are now out of work. That really sucks for them. I know some of them...

It would definitely be an inconvenience!

Originally Posted by Proud90sKid

Not directly-but nearly all businesses on my street were either burnt or looted . I am a medical marijuana patient and my dispensary ( a few blocks away) was looted. Now I have to drive 30 minutes to another dispensary where Im made to wait 30mins for my order and then drive back. Also cant go to my bank still because they havent replaced the ATM yet.

Id say I havent been directly affected -just an inconvenience for me- but there are literally those who have lost jobs over this. Those at the businesses on my street are now out of work. That really sucks for them. I know some of them...

I'm so sorry to hear this. That's awful! I truly hope everything recovers and that everyone is able to figure things out.

[MWF]

I would care about the riots if the police didn't respond to these protests by attacking innocent people. I don't endorse rioting, but if American police weren't constantly abusing their power, people wouldn't riot. There are instances of the police marching with the protesters, which is great. But there are a TON of instances of the police acting like an occupying army, attacking innocent people for trivial reasons.
I dont think ALL cops are bad, but in America, police culture has such an "us vs. them" mentality that they stick together even through obvious atrocities. Two officers in Buffalo were arrested for pushing a 75 year old man and cracking his head open (he's still in a wheelchair). 57 cops resigned to protest their arrests. That's insane, but I would feel much safer without those cops on the street anyway.
I'm not somebody who would say to totally abolish police, but they need to be significantly defunded. They have too much money, too many weapons, and far too much power.

[Blackwing]

This is why police need better training in dealing with communities..
No more injustice

[Dawn.]

Originally Posted by Blackwing

This is why police need better training in dealing with communities..
No more injustice

I've had these type of argument with an acquaintance. I think that the police don't need 'better training' as such because the police aren't trained to kneel on someone's neck when making an arrest. The police officer who did that would have known he was doing the wrong thing especially there were so many people around him telling him to stop.

[Flexderec]

I've been pointing out to people condemning the riots.

[Dawn.]

Originally Posted by Flexderec

I've been pointing out to people condemning the riots.

Are the riots still happening? I don't live in the US.