[Peace-discuss] FW: [socialistdiscussion] Mobs and Riots against oppression and discrimination.

[David Johnson via Peace-discuss]

An interesting report from a friend of mine in Dublin Ireland and a posting about historical riots in the U.S..

 

David J.

 

  


Comrades,

last Wednesday Ger and myself were waiting at a Street junction in Dublin for Finn to meet us during the huge anti-water charges protest outside the Dail.
As I looked across the road I searched for a slightly newer building on the Georgian street-scape. I was looking for the repaired successor to the former British Embassy which was burnt to the ground by 'a mob' during the days following the murder of civilians in Derry on 'Bloody Sunday' in January 1972 and remembered that my Father was there, Sheila, my wife, and my brothers and sister were there also. So were over a hundred thousand of ordinary people of Dublin, friends, neighbours, political comrades, workmates who left in unity from factories, construction sites, and other workplaces to demonstrate their anger and contempt at the murderous and deliberately provocative atrocity in the North.
And now as then, when the flames engulfed the building, I felt no shame at being a 'member of a mob'.
We know that a riot is often an outburst of rage and not the end solution to problems or crisis, but there are times when no apology is necessary!

The following is a snippet from a 'do-gooder site' citing what it claims are five justified riots in America.
May be worth remembering for political work.
PS; The Gardai say that there were "more than 30 Thousand at the Right2Water demonstration. Some TCD students "using scientific methods" calculate in excess of One Hundred and Fifty Thousand, and on a mid-week work-day!

Fraternally, Jimmy.


5 Instances When Americans Supported Riots


*	by Lizabeth Paulat <http://www.care2.com/causes/author/lizabethp> 
*	December 12, 2014
*	11:30 am

Description: Image removed by sender. 5 Instances When Americans Supported Riots

 

Riots have always had an interesting effect on the American psyche. We’re kind of okay with protests, we love a bit of civil disobedience, but the second a garbage can burns, it’s over. It doesn’t matter who did what, you simply don’t loot. Such has been the case in recent riots across America, where our sympathies immediately drain when the windows break.

But this hasn’t always been the case in America. We’ve outright supported rioters in many numerous instances if we think the cause is justified. So for context on our current climate, let’s look at five times where we, as a society, have taken the rioter’s side.

1. The Chicago Haymarket Riots of 1886 <http://www.history.com/topics/haymarket-riot> 

Back in the late 1880s, labor unions and striking became a pretty popular way to contest corporate power. The eight hour work day (as opposed to say, 14 hours) was becoming a divisive rallying cry and unions in Chicago went on strike en masse on May 1st to support the measure.

The following days, strikes continued around the city but at one plant, The McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, scabs (or strikebreakers) were brought in to undermine workers rights. This led to violent confrontations and when the police fired on the crowd, further protests were scheduled.

On May 4th a rally of nearly 3,000 workers descended on Haymarket Square. Everything was pretty standard. There were speeches, some food, some debates and a peaceful atmosphere. Then police marched on the rally.

As police came forward, demanding the protesters leave, a bomb was thrown into the police line. That’s when police started shooting into the crowd and all hell broke loose. Shortly after, a badly botched public trial in which eight men were blamed for the bombing and sentenced to death caused further uproar, and turned the eight convicted men into martyrs.

Americans continued to rally for workers rights and the 8-hour work day, with the largest protests occurring on May 1st or May Day. The Haymarket ‘martyrs’ have been popularized and celebrated in subsequent May Days, although its recent incarnation of Labor Day has mostly seen a focus on white sales at Sears.

2. Stonewall Riots of 1969 <http://www.socialistalternative.org/stonewall-riots-1969/> 

It started with a fairly typical raid on a gay bar on June 28, 1969. Raids on gay bars happened frequently in New York City during this time. Oftentimes liquor was seized, bar patrons were lined up and humiliating arrests were carried out. Yet this time, the patrons refused to cower.

Rather, the crowd grew as they stood outside and although nobody is sure what ‘sparked’ the riot, though it seemed to be a series of incidents of police abuse, what we do know is that soon protesters were lobbing coins, bottles and a full riot was in swing.

Bricks were hurtled through windows, garbage cans were set on fire, and around 600 rioters taunted the police while shouting ‘Gay Power.’ The next night, riots emerged again, but this time protesters were in the thousands. They surrounded vehicles, climbed lampposts, destroyed police cars and caused general mayhem until about 4 am.

Various other demonstrations went on the following days, slowly petering out on the sixth day. The Stonewall riots have been seen as a pivotal role in the history of gay rights and the development of activist groups. Also this defiant tune, sung by a group called the Stonewall Rockettes, who belted the mocking chorus from behind police lines, “We are the Stonewall girls/ We wear our hair in curls/ We wear no underwear/ We show our pubic hair…/We wear our dungarees/ Above our nelly knees!”

3. 1969 Berkeley Riots <http://wiedel.photoshelter.com/gallery/1969-BERKELEY-RIOTS-Peoples-Park-California/G0000r_Fe.kdWvaU/1> 

In April of 1969, a group of students and community members decided to occupy a piece of land owned by University of California. It had been sitting vacant for years and the protesters, who were coming off the high of anti-authoritarian and free-speech protests of the 60s, decided to make it a park.

The school actually didn’t really seem to mind that much. They gave the students three weeks to come up with a proper plan and promised to consider it. But then Governor Ronald Regan, who ran on a platform of putting an end to protests and other such hippy nonsense, decided that these students, who were stealing land away from the state, simply had to be stopped. So at 4:30 am on May 15, he ordered the police to descend on the park, throwing out the rabble rousers and destroying any work they’d accomplished (yes, the police were tasked with ripping up plants).

As you can imagine, the students did not take kindly to this, and by noon that day 4,000 people rioted. Bricks, bottles and stones were thrown, a car was set on fire, fire hydrants were opened, tear gas was thrown, and basically it was a proper throw-down. The crowds swelled to 6,000 and anti-riot gear and batons started coming out. As crowds fled, buckshot was fired at the protestor’s backs. Dubbed ‘Bloody Thursday,’ one student died and 128 more were admitted to the hospital with gunshot wounds and trauma. The town was taken over by the National Guard on Regan’s command and soon protests disbanded. The brutality of anti-riot police helped spark a national dialogue on the use of lethal weapons in riot situations, effectively calling for their disuse.

Oh, and just in case you’re wondering what has happened to this space since: it’s a public park. Called People’s Park.

4. The 1946 Battle of Athens <http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/larry-pratt-gun-owners-action-league-on-battle-of-athens-121812> 

Imagine you’ve gone off to war and returned home only to find your town was full of ballot-box stuffing corruption. Might make you angry, right? So might constant harassment by a crooked police force that sought to penalize you for every possible offense. Such was the case in Athens, Tennessee where sheriff and legislator Paul Cantrell ran the town like a bad mafia movie.

The GIs organized their own opposition candidates and when elections came around on August 1, needless to say, things were tense. Squabbles broke out between the police and the GI poll watchers and threatened to overwhelm the elections. The powers that be, scared and determined to prevail, grabbed the ballot boxes and barricaded themselves inside the local jail. This didn’t go over well with the veterans, who ran home, grabbed their guns and dynamite and set about surrounding the building.

The siege lasted a couple of hours with shooting on both sides. However, when dynamite came sailing in, the deputies decided they had enough and emerged so votes could be counted. Turns out the GI candidates had won. They took office immediately and set about fixing the town, in the long run gaining their own made-for-television movie.

5. Occupy Wall Street Oakland Riots 2011 <http://www.oaklandmofo.com/blog/occupy-oakland-march-protest> 

During the height of Occupy Wall Street, various city squares across America were taken up by angry protesters demanding a change to banking systems and corporate bailouts. Aligning themselves as the 99%, and rich businessmen as the 1%, protestors in Oakland took to the streets in the thousands for a march.

The protests were fairly peaceful for a time. However, not long after, confrontations with police that included tear gas, pepper spray, and alleged use of rubber bullets began. It wasn’t long after that police cars and stores were vandalized, Whole Foods had its windows smashed and Bank of America and Chase buildings were damaged.

Although many protestors contend that the vast majority were peaceful and that it was only a few anarchists who were making trouble, it seems that when we look at riots throughout American history, that has almost always been the case. Yet we don’t absolve them of being riots. Stating that a small percentage caused damage does not differentiate you from Ferguson, Los Angeles or even global protests from Cairo to Paris.

A riot is a message; it is a scary and destructive message, but an act of communication all the same. If we refuse to listen, to plug our ears and yell “La, La, La, I can’t hear you!” we become hypocrites, ignoring our own history of positive social change resulting from civil unrest. Riots will occasionally happen, but dismissing them does us no favors as a society. We need to focus on how to resolve the root cause, rather than wringing our hands about what is, at the end of the day, nothing new here.


Read more:  <http://www.care2.com/causes/5-instances-when-americans-supported-riots.html#ixzz3LmehCTiW> http://www.care2.com/causes/5-instances-when-americans-supported-riots.html#ixzz3LmehCTiW

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