Here’s what I imagine the keyboard warriors pushing the “rage is justified” and “property damage is not violence” narrative believe about the LA riots in ’92:
They believe that the 63 people who died and the nearly 2500 people injured were all batoned by police in riot gear or the National Guard.
They believe that the $1 billion of property damage done was a result of the combined, unified, and justified rage of Black people.
They believe that the 12,000 people who were arrested were arrested unjustly for directing their rage at property, (which is only owned by rich people or the government, which is made of rich people, and both are exclusively white) and for looting, which was just Black people taking what was owed to them by the rich people and the government (and since all of the looted goods were taken from property, all of those goods belonged to rich people or the government, and so were fair game).
They believe that it was rich people and the government who paid to rebuild the property. They believe that the government and rich people had it coming to them. They believe that the government has money and deserves to have to pay for things. They believe that the government has money because it prints it.
They believe that, since it is tax dollars that pay for education, health care, and services, but rich people and the government who pay for property, that those services were not affected.
They believe that there was a fire that burned for a little while, but then the property evaporated. They believe that the new buildings appeared the day after the fires were extinguished. They believe that everything that was rebuilt made the lives of people better because they could finally move into better places, that cost less than the old places. They believe that everyone who lived and worked in those properties stayed at friend’s houses for a night and then returned to the new buildings the next day.
They believe that before the riots, the cops were bad. They believe that the cops were still bad after the riot, but not as bad as before. They believe that, after the riots, life got better for immigrants, people of color, and other marginalized communities. They believe that all of the tensions between different cultural communities evaporated in the cathartic and healing fire.
They believe that the LA riots were a big, glorious, cathartic party, where everyone who was not a cop, a member of the military, or the government, or rich people, were unified in directing their rage directly at the buildings owned by rich people and the government. They believe that were it not for the rage directed at property, more people would have died.
They believe that things got better in the days after the riots, but then they got worse, and now we need another cultural reset.
Why do I say that the keyboard warriors pushing the “rage is justified,” “property damage is not violence” narrative believe these things? Because this is what one would have to believe to amplify that narrative.
People!
Violence and property damage impact people of color and marginalized communities first.
The people who die as a result of violent protests are disproportionately people of color and people from marginalized communities.
Property crimes exact higher sentences than disturbing the peace, loitering, trespassing, and other indictments associated with public protest. Those convicted of property crimes are then processed through the prison-industrial complex, which is a for-profit industry funded by outsourcing dollars provided by the government–your tax dollars.
Properties damaged in violent events like the LA riots are disproportionately housing and small businesses owned by people of color and people from marginalized communities.
Often, unable to rebuild, these families and small business owners sell their properties to corporate landowners at reduced rates.
The money to rebuild comes from tax dollars, which are often diverted from education, health care, and other social services. And since corporations and the wealthy benefit from tax loopholes and government entitlements, that means that the burden of rebuilding rests disproportionately on lower-income people.
And that money goes disproportionately to rich corporate contractors, who have sweetheart deals with the government.
It’s starting to sound like those pushing the “rage is justified,” “property damage is not violence” narrative are actually working in service of the people who benefit from that narrative – corporate property owners, large building contractors and the government agencies who fund them, and the prison-industrial complex. They are actually the ones pushing for a cultural reset.
Don’t fall for it. Practice discipline. Work out your rage at the gym, or in a free anger management group funded by your tax dollars.
Practice discipline, and show up for people of color, people from marginalized communities, and small business owners when you protest.
Let’s do this, people! Learn from history! Practice civil disobedience responsibly! But do practice it!