They burn buildings, overturn cars, and smash the windows of buildings in their own neighborhood. They fill the streets with screams and chants as they’re watched over by the very thing they are protesting. The Black Lives Matter movement has moved from Twitter hashtags to destruction and even in some cases, violence. Though our gut instinct is to denounce these acts of violence and destruction, protests like these can be effective because violence is a part of our culture, breaking societal norms captures our attention, and similar protests have been effective in the past.
We can argue whether or not violence is a good outlet, but we cannot ignore that it simply is a reality of our life. There are more guns than people in the U.S. and on average, 12 people are killed each day by a gun. That’s twelve families and twelve communities who cannot simply ignore the violence that seeps into the fabric of our country. Our favorite national pastime serves as an outlet to cripple and disable the people who play it. When people choose to not participate or try to take the violence away, they are criticized and dehumanized with insults. Without fail, the top grossing movie list every year will include several films where its protagonists are subject to torture, explosions, or intense pain. None of those things exempt you from a PG-13 rating, which means we expose our children to it!
Another harsh reality of our culture is that inappropriate behavior has a much more lasting impact than appropriate behavior. As a teacher, one of the sad truths I’ve had to accept in my practice is that I spend far more of my time with the students who break the rules. The student who talks out, doesn’t do their work, and serves detention seems to get far more feedback from their teacher than the student who works quietly and hands everything in. The old saying “the squeaky wheel gets the grease” applies here and also applies to the Black Lives Matter movement. We’ve seen BLM do less violent rallies and the killings they were protesting still went unpunished. When something is not effective, it must be escalated to a more drastic measure. Clearly, silent protests and hoodie-clad rallies in response to police brutality was not enough, so the next step in their minds was rioting.
While many opponents of the movement argue that the movement should strive to be like previous non-violent Civil Rights Leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr., they ignore two things. First, one of King’s often forgotten quotes: “A riot is the language of the unheard.” Clearly, the BLM movement has reached a point where they know change will not come without intense action. When their protests in response to the first killings were met with silence from those in power, they demanded attention and are now receiving it.
Finally, we cannot ignore how rioting and violence has been an effective means of change our past history. In fact, the first shot in our country’s founding was not with a gun, but was with destruction of property in the form of the Boston Tea Party. Fast forward 200 years in the future and riots suddenly only become appropriate when a sports team wins (or loses) its sport’s greatest prize?
While safer protests have been effective in the past, it is vital we compare the Black Lives Matter movement to a recent protest – Occupy Wall Street. While the latter was lambasted for an unclear message and a lack of real impact on the communities it was a part of, the Black Lives Matter movement has escalated the stakes to a dramatic effect. We cannot ignore the impact and the risk involved, which is precisely while their protests are more effective.
We can argue whether or not violence is a good outlet, but we cannot ignore that it simply is a reality of our life. There are more guns than people in the U.S. and on average, 12 people are killed each day by a gun. That’s twelve families and twelve communities who cannot simply ignore the violence that seeps into the fabric of our country. Our favorite national pastime serves as an outlet to cripple and disable the people who play it. When people choose to not participate or try to take the violence away, they are criticized and dehumanized with insults. Without fail, the top grossing movie list every year will include several films where its protagonists are subject to torture, explosions, or intense pain. None of those things exempt you from a PG-13 rating, which means we expose our children to it!
Another harsh reality of our culture is that inappropriate behavior has a much more lasting impact than appropriate behavior. As a teacher, one of the sad truths I’ve had to accept in my practice is that I spend far more of my time with the students who break the rules. The student who talks out, doesn’t do their work, and serves detention seems to get far more feedback from their teacher than the student who works quietly and hands everything in. The old saying “the squeaky wheel gets the grease” applies here and also applies to the Black Lives Matter movement. We’ve seen BLM do less violent rallies and the killings they were protesting still went unpunished. When something is not effective, it must be escalated to a more drastic measure. Clearly, silent protests and hoodie-clad rallies in response to police brutality was not enough, so the next step in their minds was rioting.
While many opponents of the movement argue that the movement should strive to be like previous non-violent Civil Rights Leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr., they ignore two things. First, one of King’s often forgotten quotes: “A riot is the language of the unheard.” Clearly, the BLM movement has reached a point where they know change will not come without intense action. When their protests in response to the first killings were met with silence from those in power, they demanded attention and are now receiving it.
Finally, we cannot ignore how rioting and violence has been an effective means of change our past history. In fact, the first shot in our country’s founding was not with a gun, but was with destruction of property in the form of the Boston Tea Party. Fast forward 200 years in the future and riots suddenly only become appropriate when a sports team wins (or loses) its sport’s greatest prize?
While safer protests have been effective in the past, it is vital we compare the Black Lives Matter movement to a recent protest – Occupy Wall Street. While the latter was lambasted for an unclear message and a lack of real impact on the communities it was a part of, the Black Lives Matter movement has escalated the stakes to a dramatic effect. We cannot ignore the impact and the risk involved, which is precisely while their protests are more effective.