May 31, 2020
I’ll have to Agree: Rioting isn’t the Answer. It’s Actually the Question.
And the answer to the question, is an obvious one.
As various towns and cities across America erupt with protesters, tired and frustrated with the common milquetoast response of police officers who continue to murder unarmed, Black men, women and children! while immune to anything looking like proper consequences in regards to criminal justice, a common phrase is stated: “rioting is not the answer”.
“Rioting, is not the Answer.”
It is a profane thing to say to those who are oppressed “rioting is not the answer”. After all this time. After every complaint launched against every corrupt, maliciously violent police officer fell on deaf ears. After every “peaceful” protest was ignored by whites, with White America commonly more concerned with how a protest marginally annoys them versus paying attention the reason of the protest. With every blame white America places on intelligent, diligent black people who with profound patience tried to explain why these protests occur; like clockwork accusing us “the real racists” for “bringing it up”. For every debate on online forums and social media with White America more concerned with the tonality of a black person’s statement versus the subject, devoid of concern for the black person’s sociological trauma due to systemic racism. For every hateful complaint concerning Colin Kaepernick’s knee during a song prior to each football game. For every run to the HR department in order to silence black men and women in the workplace. It’s a profane thing to do; to tell black people that physical confrontation, isn’t the answer. To tell them that acquisitioning items from businesses who failed to use their political/economic capital to lend an ear to their valid concerns. To essentially to tell Black America to never get frustrated at being ignored. Being ignored, begging for our lives.
The audacity of a white person’s mindset.
Hell, I get angry getting ignored in regular conversations, if it were to ever occur. Imagine stochastic terror which includes police — those who claim to protest and serve — killing, maiming, mutilating you if they merely felt like it?
I know I might get a little slack with what I’m about to say:
They are right. They are correct, accurate — rioting isn’t the answer.
But the part they aren’t including is telling what rioting actually is — it’s the question.
Riots are actually a Thousand Questions
Riot, or what I call modern day rebellion or revolt, is actually a question, not an answer.
The question each and every “riot” that concerns racial strife in America is simply this: why in the world have you not listened the first fucking time?
Every rebellion — riot as you may call them — is asking America a very specific question. In fact, each rebellion (riot as you may call them) actually demand answers for numerous questions.
Why haven’t you listened the first time we stated there is a problem?
Why didn’t you let us protest peacefully, as we were doing prior?
Why do you lie about history and engage in historical revisionism so much, especially concerning civil rights leaders you assassinated?
How can you demand a peaceful protest when even those receive a very destructive backlash from White America?
Why you demonized Colin Kaepernick kneeling? When we asked you “isn’t that a peaceful protest”, you refused to answer. Why?
Why are you now deleting that racist thing you just said online? Why are you attempting to make your racism invisible from the reality of accountability?
Why do you use our friendship to leverage us into being silent about this? What does friendship means anyway, if you do not share my sociopolitical concerns? What am I, a token black object in your life story?
Have you engaged in any form of self-reflection and realized how racist you are when you refuse to hear us out?
Why do blue lives matter stickers and paraphernalia exist? Do you, white guy, enjoy cops killing us needlessly?
It is said that if a peaceful protest is impossible (and yes, you, White America, have made it so) then a violent one is inevitable.
Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable. ~ John F. Kennedy 35th U.S. President of the United States
Conclusion
You, White America, gave folks no choice. While employing police and even military to beat up, injure, cut, club, stomp over, arrest and prosecute oppressed people is of your playbook and these effects are painful to endure, when you stand up systems of selective corruption to murder, maim, mutilate and humiliate a mass group of people for a very long time, after a while nothing matters. If you frequently murder Black people — outsourced to police or with armed bigots — you give us no choice, no space to live. And if there’s no space to live, as if we will be killed anyway by your white supremacist institutions, then we have to choice to rebel until we die. Because you’re killing us anyway. It’s not like peaceful protests worked for you; only destruction does. If one should beware of the rage of a desperate man, imagine what that may mean for a population who is already considered expendable Americans?
You, white guy, may think you don’t hate Black people, but hating Black people speaking up is hating Black people.
We have no choice but to rebel.
The next time you think of a riot (read: rebellion) take your advice and don’t think of it as an answer; think of it as a question. Many questions.
Painstakingly, I believe you will duck those questions in the same manner you ducked the first peaceful protest in the first place.
