This is less about the riot in Ferguson - which is over, for the record - and more about people who have been criticizing it this week. Part of the problem with protest and riot criticism - aside from the fact that people are being really selective about when to apply their criticism - is that people act like riots are largely premeditated. There is zero evidence of that in the case of Ferguson. There is PLENTY of evidence in this riot - and in most riots - that they are largely emotional, reactive affairs. So comparing a riot almost anywhere to planned, premeditated protests is inappropriate. Its like telling people how you would have reacted in a scenario in which you are unlikely to ever find yourself, pure apples to bullets. The other major problem with most criticism of riots is timing. I get why this happens, most notably due to the ease with which even the least politically educated can access avenues of public communication, frustration by some about having to contend socially with an unpleasant issue yet again, and outright fear. At the same time, most of this criticism couldnt come at a worse time. If you are able to recognize that a hardcore injustice has occurred, and that it is just another in a long list of injustices visited upon a particular group of people, then you should be in empathy mode first and foremost, following the lead of the tide on when its time to mourn, when its time to heal and when its time to problem solve. But you dont walk into someones funeral, step up to the pulpit, and start talking about how the person in the casket was really bad at their job. Now, I expect to hear from OPPONENTS of violence, from people for whom violence is something that they actively work to stamp out in people and society. But thats not what most critics of riots are. Theyre armchair critics, after the fact sociologists. They dont post or activate about violence much at all in general. They dont organize anything around the dissolution of violence. They dont read books or articles about how to curtail violence. They dont seem particularly politically concerned about violence at all...except now. They dont litter their Facebook walls or Twitter feeds with developments in stories like what lead up to riots. They only concern themselves with reacting to people who they suddenly find they disagree with out of politics or fear (which is becoming increasingly redundant to separate these days). Whatever merit their criticisms might have on people who actually engage or live with these issues on an ongoing basis is lost because theyre either not honest, poorly conceived, or ill-timed. Consider if your criticism of other peoples activism - be that a riot, a protest or a post - meets any of those base considerations. If it does, dont say anything. Its not like your position isnt already supported by the media, the police and the government. You can literally say nothing at all and youre still winning in real, concrete ways. Arguing on here is not only offensive to people who may be suffering, but is also - and Im sure this is more important - a waste of your time.
Posted on: Sat, 29 Nov 2014 12:04:04 +0000
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