the everyday

robot-heart-politics:

I just find the commentary surrounding the riots really fascinating. On the one hand, the global economy is a mess, and people of color and those who were already poor have been the ones most negatively impacted. Going on 3 years now, there have been predictions of riots due to the sort of extremes people are facing—extended periods of unemployment, reduced social services, etc.—and when people finally riot, the “official” response, and not merely from the government but also from the middle classes, is that it’s just “criminality” and “thuggery.”

I find this interesting because it’s been compared to anarchist riots, which I suppose due to their whiteness and their association with an educated middle class, are given somewhat of a pass by comparison. “At least those were political.” There have been repeated statements about how this doesn’t appear to be politically motivated—there has been limited organization, no sloganeering, etc.

But…how is this not political? Not only have there been numerous comments from the rioters about the police, but the cheering about “free stuff” and just taking things…you’ve developed a permanent underclass that for the last 3 years in particular has known nothing but privation. Taking shit? Destroying things? That’s a statement. Maybe it’s not accompanied by an eloquent, articulate philosophy, but I don’t think it needs to be.

I’m not supporting the riots at all. However, I find the language used to describe the rioters—by the government, by the media, by the “normal” people—fascinating, because when it comes to the poor and people of color, what should be immediately understandable as a reaction to ongoing social inequality and poverty has been turned into, “It’s just a bunch of criminals.” Because that’s how they are viewed regardless.

You left the fucking gas on in these communities for years, and you’re surprised that when you drop a match in them, everything exploded? And then you want to deny any and all responsibility for the situation by simply saying that it’s nothing more than common thuggery?

Again, I do not condone the rioters at all, but I find the degree of denial and classism in the language coming out of this situation to be completely and totally appalling.

(via screamingbrain)