The Cellar - baltimore

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My eight year old, this morning, asked me what was going on there.

I had the tv on when he stumbled into the living room and the talkin’ heads were -- for the umpteenth time -- foisting up 'Baltimore'.

I thought about it then asked him this: 'If *Mr. George did sumthin' that pissed us off and we, becuz we were pissed off, burned our own house down, what would you call that?'

'That would be crazy, Uncle’.

I said, "that's what happening over there, Monkey...somebody did sumthin' that pissed off some folks and now those folks are burning down their own houses.'

'But that's crazy, Uncle!'

'Yes, Beast, it is.'

'nuff said.

*a neighbor

Parents needed to get control of their kids. In the pictures I saw, there were too many kids out there doing this shit.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/...liance/391640/

Ta-Nehisi Coates:

Quote:

Rioting broke out on Monday in Baltimore—an angry response to the death of Freddie Gray, a death my native city seems powerless to explain. Gray did not die mysteriously in some back alley but in the custody of the city’s publicly appointed guardians of order. And yet the mayor of that city and the commissioner of that city’s police still have no idea what happened. I suspect this is not because the mayor and police commissioner are bad people, but because the state of Maryland prioritizes the protection of police officers charged with abuse over the citizens who fall under its purview.

The citizens who live in West Baltimore, where the rioting began, intuitively understand this. I grew up across the street from Mondawmin Mall, where today’s riots began. My mother was raised in the same housing project, Gilmor Homes, where Freddie Gray was killed. Everyone I knew who lived in that world regarded the police not with admiration and respect but with fear and caution. People write these feelings off as wholly irrational at their own peril, or their own leisure.

I am sorely tempted to quote the linked article entirely.

To answer yer 8-yr-old: what's going on in Baltimore is a bunch of people demonstrating that the rest of the country only pays attention to how dire their situation is when they are burning shit.

Burning out the pharmacy where your granddad gets his medicine is the equivalent (to me) of burning down your own house.

Craziness.

I can completely understand why they are rioting, and I agree that the police in many parts of the country need to be cleaned up. But it's still incredibly stupid and self-defeating to burn down your own neighborhood. Who's going to rebuild it for them? Nobody.

That video of the mom smacking her son for throwing rocks at police is both horrifying and awesome at the same time. It's great that she's trying to get control of her kid, but it's also clear who he learned his violence from. But she's doing the best she can, and she's trying to be part of the solution.

This is a complex issue, but one thing that is crystal clear is that the riots are only going to make it worse.

[quote=gvidas;926888]http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/...liance/391640/

Quote:

Ta-Nehisi Coates:
I am sorely tempted to quote the linked article entirely.

To answer yer 8-yr-old: what's going on in Baltimore is a bunch of people demonstrating
that the rest of the country only pays attention to how dire their situation is when they are burning shit.[/QUOTE

Excellent article, gv.

Quote:

Over the past four years, more than 100 people have won court judgments
or settlements related to allegations of brutality and civil rights violations.
---
And in almost every case, prosecutors or judges dismissed the charges
against the victims—if charges were filed at all.
<snip>
When nonviolence is preached as an attempt to evade the
repercussions of political brutality, it betrays itself.
When nonviolence begins halfway through the war with the aggressor
calling time out, it exposes itself as a ruse.
When nonviolence is preached by the representatives of the state,
while the state doles out heaps of violence to its citizens, it reveals itself to be a con.

And none of this can mean that rioting or violence is "correct" or "wise,"
any more than a forest fire can be "correct" or "wise."

Wisdom isn't the point tonight. Disrespect is. In this case, disrespect for the hollow law
and failed order that so regularly disrespects the community.

Does it make sense to burn down one's own neighbourhood? No. But raw outpourings of emotion are rarely founded on what is sensible.

Rather than mocking the stupidity of those who riot - we need to see the raw pain that ignites such a response.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanaC (Post 926893)

Rather than mocking the stupidity of those who riot - we need to see the raw pain that ignites such a response.

You can do both. It's not either/or.

Two things:

1. This guy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by henry quirk (Post 926883)

My eight year old,...

...'That would be crazy, Uncle’.

2. Your son calls you "Uncle"?

When is the last time white people rioted in America?

Srs question.

Upon a second's worth of thought, prolly after Kentucky got beat in the NCAA playoffs.

:(

"mocking"

Who's mocking?

#

"raw outpourings of emotion"

I understand passion and violence extending out from passion. I don't understand visiting it on yourself.

Borrowing from my anecdote above: George does sumthin' that truly, righteously, pisses me off.

I can...

...be a pussy and keep my mouth shut, do nuthin', let my grievance fester.

...march myself over to George's and seek redress (perhaps burning his house down).

What I will not do is burn my own house down because George pissed me off.

#

"Your son calls you "Uncle"?"

My nephew lives with me...I could not love him more if he were my son...he's not the fruit of my loins but he's mine.

Jesse Williams on the baltimore riots, quoted in full b.c. twitter is a rough medium for complex thoughts:

Quote:

If you don't actually care about Black people having equal protection under the law, why are you making suggestions to those who do?
— jesseWilliams. (@iJesseWilliams) April 28, 2015

What are the critical elements that constitute a "riot" and when do riots offend you?
— jesseWilliams. (@iJesseWilliams) April 28, 2015

If we view rioting as a mass temper tantrum expressed through violence & property damage, white sports fans do that monthly. #Tradition
— jesseWilliams. (@iJesseWilliams) April 28, 2015

1 group can burn & loot when a team scores less points than another but when paid public servants kill citizens, we gotta be BaggerVance?
— jesseWilliams. (@iJesseWilliams) April 28, 2015

Where are all the think pieces & coverage of the pathology of white culture every time white frustration vents violence & destruction?
— jesseWilliams. (@iJesseWilliams) April 28, 2015

There is nothing "black" about rioting. How do you think we got all this land?
— jesseWilliams. (@iJesseWilliams) April 28, 2015

Historically riots have been tools for intimidation; destroying populations, taking land & valuables. #BlowingOffSteam #BoysWillBeBoys
— jesseWilliams. (@iJesseWilliams) April 28, 2015

Whites rioted throughout the early 1900s, slaughtering, burning & looting entire thriving black townships, just because of the adjective.
— jesseWilliams. (@iJesseWilliams) April 28, 2015

You've watched hulking bullies w/ badges, robes & money brutalize, kill & cage human beings every yr of your entire lives & said nothing.
— jesseWilliams. (@iJesseWilliams) April 28, 2015

So Exactly What Kind Of Violence Don't You Like?
— jesseWilliams. (@iJesseWilliams) April 28, 2015

Police & policies have been rioting on our bodies; destroying people & property every single day of your lives. But here you come...
— jesseWilliams. (@iJesseWilliams) April 28, 2015

...When the beaten, marinated in centuries of trauma, pain & distress, manage to muster a response, here you come, squealing; revealing.
— jesseWilliams. (@iJesseWilliams) April 28, 2015

You seem to really hate when people do "things that aren't helping" like contextualizing issues based on empirical evidence. #UghTheWorst!
— jesseWilliams. (@iJesseWilliams) April 28, 2015

Things that "aren't helping" happen every single day though, which means you've had a million opportunities to research & contribute. #But
— jesseWilliams. (@iJesseWilliams) April 28, 2015

You have so much to say, yet we've never seen you out here you before. Who shows up after the event & criticizes the audience's reaction?
— jesseWilliams. (@iJesseWilliams) April 28, 2015

So tell me again, what kind of violence it is that you detest? I keep forgetting. ToWhom? FromWhom? HowOften? For how long? InOrderToWhat?
— jesseWilliams. (@iJesseWilliams) April 28, 2015

The reaction to oppression has always been spun & marketed as validation for the status quo.
— jesseWilliams. (@iJesseWilliams) April 28, 2015

Notice how the party slogan, no matter the font or cleche, always boils down to #NeverChange.
— jesseWilliams. (@iJesseWilliams) April 28, 2015

You want us to condemn black folks being violent against PROPERTY but you NEVER condemn police killing actual PEOPLE. #Explain #JustTry
— jesseWilliams. (@iJesseWilliams) April 28, 2015

@henry, w.r.t. to burning ones own home down, the vast majority of businesses in black neighborhoods in America are not black owned.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gravdigr (Post 926908)

When is the last time white people rioted in America?

Srs question.
:(

Of course these people were rioting for something really important ... QTwk-2fKT7o

Sumthin' else: (again, borrowing from my anecdote) George has pissed me off and naturally (for me) I want redress. I would, however, view with great suspicion the interest of strangers in my circumstance.

That is: I got cause to be pissed (just as the family and friends of F. Gray got cause to be pissed) but strangers have no cause to muck about in my affairs. All these folks out and about in Baltimore can't possibly be Gray's family and friends...no, they're strangers using a circumstance to further their own agendas and grind their own axes (axes having nuthin' to do with Gray's death).

#

"the vast majority of businesses in black neighborhoods in America are not black owned."

The vast majority of businesses in black neighborhoods service the folks who live in those neighborhoods (blacks who, in Baltimore, are burning and looting their own neighborhoods)...to burn out the pharmacy where you get your medicines, the grocery where you get your food, and the old folks' homes where your granny lives is craziness.

Nobody actually burned their own house, right? I'm everyone who was burning, was burning other people's houses.