Author: ajackso4

While the class has largely been covering riots and their effects on communities, the class has just begun the discussion of why and how riots began. In the media riots are covered to be disorganized with no clear end goal, but the triggers of these events are usually forgot by the media coverage. Protests and riots are a form of civil disorder that is a reaction to a grievance ranging from living conditions, race or ethnicity, law enforcement, etc. Many of the riots that the class has read and discussed involve racial profiling, segregated housing, and police brutality. In both Baltimore and Ferguson, racial tension as well as inequality contributed to the shocking accounts that many minorities experience from law enforcement.

A major tending trigger that can result in riots and protests involve police brutality. Many articles that were read in class shared the history of racial segregation and the current racial profiling that is still apparent in many communities nationwide. The demographics of many segregated areas have a high minority population with a majority white police force. The communities were stereotyped and not properly represented, instead usually faced harassment from the police.  Many unarmed black men are being shot or wronging treated in police custody. On April 12, 2015 in Baltimore, Maryland, Freddie Gray was died in police custody after receiving spinal injuries and falling into a coma after his arrest. The medical examiner ruled Gray’s death a homicide but the police officers involved were only suspended with pay until the investigation. After Freddie Gray’s death, Baltimore broke out into civil disorder which began to turn violent on April 25^,, 2015 when the ransacking and burning of many local businesses began, resulting in a State of Emergency declaration (The Sun, 2015).

“I condemn the senseless acts of violence by some individuals in Baltimore that have resulted in harm to law enforcement officers, destruction of property and a shattering of the peace in the city of Baltimore,” U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in a statement about the riots in Baltimore, Maryland.

This quote is depicting the rioters to have randomly decide to loot in the city of Baltimore. There is no mention of the brutality that the officers have been inflicting on an entire community and it seems the death of Freddie Gray is not seen as a motive to start the protesting. Lynch blames the rioters for “senseless acts of violence” but that is exactly how many African Americans are being treated in police custody. The trigger for these violence acts were not exclusive to Baltimore, but can be seen nationwide. In Ferguson, Missouri an unarmed black man names Michael Brown was fatally shot by a white police officer.  This also triggered a strong reaction of riots and disruptions throughout the city.

Racial tension have continued to rise as more and more African American’s are labeled as ‘thugs’ and mistreated. Since many of these events, positions are currently looking for ways to fix the criminal justice system. As discussed in class, body cameras are being thrown in along with a multitude of other ideas (The Sun, 2015). But as we have seen in the past, videos containing important events and evidence can disappear when police are put in the hot seat. The social dislocation is a direct result of segregation and low incomes, more federal aid needs to be given to improve neighborhoods and employment opportunities (Joseph A. Palermo, 2015). Although the issues is beginning to gain recognition change will only happen when people let go of the negative stereotypes involving race and poverty.

 

Sources:

Huffington Post. “The Baltimore Riots, Inequality, and the Federal Inaction.” Huffpost, The Blog.  19 April. 2015. Web.

NPR. “Ferguson Businesses Struggle To Rebuild Post-Riots.” NPR, Around the Nation. 7 August, 2015. Web.

http://data.baltimoresun.com/news/freddie-gray/

 

In this past section there has been a large focus placed on riots and the reactions they get from city officials, police, and the community. Throughout US history there have been countless riots, but what is defined to be a riot? Riots brings violence to the street and is seen to have no end goal, whereas protests are seen as organized and purposeful to bring change to an ongoing issue. Non-routine events or actions, such as rioting, are seen to be acts of anger and spurred by strong emotions. What pushes people to rioting and is it seen to be an effective way to bring change?

In Breakdown Theories of Collective Action, Useem begin by explaining Breakdown Theory as being the classical sociological explanation of contentious forms of collective action. He claims that rebellions and riots only occur when the system has failed and begins to loose confining power. As time went on Breakdown Theory soon became replaced by a more modern theory, Resource Mobilization. It was replaced because the theory failed to see that the riots were more than just pent up anger and reacting to emotions.  The Resource Mobilization theory accepts that riots will occur when ties are weakened between social structures. These “outbursts” are seen as developing from preexisting societal problems and are deemed as having an achievable goal in mind.

After the death of Freddie Gray, who died on police custody, the city of Baltimore began rioting. But it was not just the anger and grief of Freddie Gray’s death that started the riots, although the Breakdown theory would portray it as that. There had been many preexisting problem that led up to the anger in the Baltimore society. Police brutality has been an ongoing issue for minorities across the country. This is what the Resource Mobilization theory would that the rioters were making efforts to raise awareness for the “Black Lives Matter” campaign and the truth behind police violence.

In From Peaceful Protests To Violent Uprisings, Here’s What History Can Teach Us About The Baltimore Riots by Kristina Marusic the question of whether violence does bring about social change is addressed. Almost all of the successful movements in American History have involved some level of rioting that, at that time, seemed damaging to the community (Marusic, 2015). It also brings attention to the issues that are causing individuals to protest. Without the media coverage of these riots, many of these issues would be ignored—and many still are. These disruptions in communities can either be protests or riots. When all white crowds began to “take to the streets” that is all it is, yet when blacks and other minorities try to show years of anger and oppression the media portrays them as thugs, who are mindlessly creating chaos. The media’s portrayal of the Baltimore riots showed “thugs” burning buildings and cars but nothing of what started this outburst other than one event, Freddie Gray’s death.

This section on rioting and on the two theories definitely show how diverse interpretations of social movements can be. The issues are often ignored in riots and do not focus on why people felt the need to be disruptive in the first place. Although violence isn’t seen as an effective way to bring equality and peace, it can be seen as a normal reaction through the Resource Mobilization theory.

 

Useem, Bert. “Breakdown Theories of Collective Action.” Annu. Rev. Sociol. Annual Review of Sociology 24.1 (1998): 215-38.

Marusic, Kristina. “From Peaceful Protests To Violent Uprisings, Here’s What History Can Teach Us About The Baltimore Riots”

In post-industrial cities, after the economic crisis, there has been long-term structural unemployment congregating in the Northeast and Midwest. The rust belt hold the country’s poorest cities, many residents collecting in Detroit, Cleveland, and Buffalo. The poverty threshold is the minimum level of income that is estimated for certain people in certain areas of the country and is measured yearly by the census bureau. Thirty percent of people living in these cities are below the poverty threshold for the country (Bartley, The Green Development Zone). There is not a national plan that is able to fix all aspects of an economic crisis that is nationwide, so many major cities are still facing issues that are the result of job scarcity and low socio-economic status.

In Buffalo, a community based organization, PUSH, was working towards the issues in the community such as lack of jobs and the declining neighborhood conditions by assembling a committee of residents with experience in organizing and management (Bartley, The Green Development Zone). Throughout this movement in the community, the board was able to provide work and on-the-job training to employ residents that could potentially be involved in crime or without work. Through different leadership and more awareness, the residents are able to fight against the poverty that was very prominent in their community. In the past, economic elites made the decisions that were only benefitting to themselves, but with the community taking control then benefits go right back into the community to work as an agent against poverty instead of redirecting it.

In New York City, government officials were fighting against graffiti in the subway.  What law makers didn’t think of when attempting to completely erase graffiti in the subways was that the crime would simply move elsewhere, as it did. Suddenly buildings and other public views were covered in graffiti, the crime was not stopped but moved in order to provide a safe and respectable looking city (Kramer, Moral Panics). This is what the decision making officials were doing in Buffalo with the poverty and neighborhood economy. Before PUSH nothing was being done to fix the problems that the community had been suffering with, but when corporation benefits are taken out of the equation then the community instead can began reconstruction their neighborhood economy.

Affordable housing is one of the big ticket problems that many face in large cities. Giving housing to the Buffalo community was one of the first and very successful plans that PUSH mobilized. The end goal was to rebuild the community economy and this project would not only provide homes but also promised jobs for the community residents. This provided facts and evidence that community organizers could make change and ties within the community and with the governing officials. Government ties with the community leaders would lead to more progression for the residents because the community based solutions were being seen as a new developmental directions that was proving to improve the economy.

There could be a connection made between Buffalo and New York City, both were trying to improve the conditions within the city by reducing crime. But how could crime be diminished with more regulations alone? The Buffalo community leaders provided jobs and training for residents (Bartley, The Green Development Zone). One resident claimed that without the construction job he would have been in jail. Changing the age that someone can legally buy spray paint will not lower the amount of crime within that city. For some reason graffiti is taken out of the category of art and seen as a “gateway” crime to more extreme crimes (Kramer, Moral Panics).

Struggling communities are often overlooked or replaced by large corporations and government officials that are trying to “clean up” cities. Some cities, such as New York City choose to place bans and extra regulations thinking that, as a result, crime and poverty will be diminished. Instead when the community leaders organized plans that are a true representation of what the residents need, like jobs and improved neighborhoods, many people that would have succumb to illegal activities are taken off the streets and provided with hope for the future. This address the problem with poverty and having too many residents below the poverty threshold. The economic issues are not cast away or replaced with a new stadium. PUSH gave the Buffalo community another chance to thrive through community based solutions.

 

In post-industrial cities, after the economic crisis, there has been long-term structural unemployment congregating in the Northeast and Midwest. The rust belt hold the country’s poorest cities, many residents collecting in Detroit, Cleveland, and Buffalo. The poverty threshold is the minimum level of income that is estimated for certain people in certain areas of the country and is measured yearly by the census bureau. Thirty percent of people living in these cities are below the poverty threshold for the country (Bartley, The Green Development Zone). There is not a national plan that is able to fix all aspects of an economic crisis that is nationwide, so many major cities are still facing issues that are the result of job scarcity and low socio-economic status.

In Buffalo, a community based organization, PUSH, was working towards the issues in the community such as lack of jobs and the declining neighborhood conditions by assembling a committee of residents with experience in organizing and management (Bartley, The Green Development Zone). Throughout this movement in the community, the board was able to provide work and on-the-job training to employ residents that could potentially be involved in crime or without work. Through different leadership and more awareness, the residents are able to fight against the poverty that was very prominent in their community. In the past, economic elites made the decisions that were only benefitting to themselves, but with the community taking control then benefits go right back into the community to work as an agent against poverty instead of redirecting it.

In New York City, government officials were fighting against graffiti in the subway.  What law makers didn’t think of when attempting to completely erase graffiti in the subways was that the crime would simply move elsewhere, as it did. Suddenly buildings and other public views were covered in graffiti, the crime was not stopped but moved in order to provide a safe and respectable looking city (Kramer, Moral Panics). This is what the decision making officials were doing in Buffalo with the poverty and neighborhood economy. Before PUSH nothing was being done to fix the problems that the community had been suffering with, but when corporation benefits are taken out of the equation then the community instead can began reconstruction their neighborhood economy.

Affordable housing is one of the big ticket problems that many face in large cities. Giving housing to the Buffalo community was one of the first and very successful plans that PUSH mobilized. The end goal was to rebuild the community economy and this project would not only provide homes but also promised jobs for the community residents. This provided facts and evidence that community organizers could make change and ties within the community and with the governing officials. Government ties with the community leaders would lead to more progression for the residents because the community based solutions were being seen as a new developmental directions that was proving to improve the economy.

There could be a connection made between Buffalo and New York City, both were trying to improve the conditions within the city by reducing crime. But how could crime be diminished with more regulations alone? The Buffalo community leaders provided jobs and training for residents (Bartley, The Green Development Zone). One resident claimed that without the construction job he would have been in jail. Changing the age that someone can legally buy spray paint will not lower the amount of crime within that city. For some reason graffiti is taken out of the category of art and seen as a “gateway” crime to more extreme crimes (Kramer, Moral Panics).

Struggling communities are often overlooked or replaced by large corporations and government officials that are trying to “clean up” cities. Some cities, such as New York City choose to place bans and extra regulations thinking that, as a result, crime and poverty will be diminished. Instead when the community leaders organized plans that are a true representation of what the residents need, like jobs and improved neighborhoods, many people that would have succumb to illegal activities are taken off the streets and provided with hope for the future. This address the problem with poverty and having too many residents below the poverty threshold. The economic issues are not cast away or replaced with a new stadium. PUSH gave the Buffalo community another chance to thrive through community based