I have been meaning to have input on COVID-19, but this year seems to be getting too shitty too fast, so I’m guessing I won’t have time to sit down and go over everything concerning that. Instead, since general public health safety is no longer relevant, let’s focus on what is: These protests.

First and foremost, I want to be clear on where I stand on this. Something has to be done with police brutality in general, and especially when it’s concerning a minority person(s). It’s a known fact that if people are given a position of power they will use it and abuse it. There is systemic racism integrated into our social justice platform, and we are in desperate need to change and eliminate that. There is no doubt in my mind about it.

So, in order to lay out my thoughts properly, I feel it’s important to define both a protest and a riot:

Protest

An organized public demonstration expressing strong objection to an official policy or course of action.

Riot

A violent disturbance of the peace by a crowd.

A protest is not inherently violent, and a riot is not inherently a protest. Riots have been ignited by sports games going the way a city wanted it to go, they’ve also started by sports games going the way a city didn’t want it to. Riots happen because there is a crowd of people, and a few of those people become violent and derail the rest of the crowd.

Protests happen because there is enough people in agreement that something is wrong. Whether it’s a system, policy, whatever. If there are enough like minded people saying that there is something wrong, protests can happen. Generally protests don’t happen until these injustices have gone on for longer than they should have. Especially in this particular circumstance, these protests are people who feel like there’s nothing else they can do in order to correct issue at hand.

So, riots are not protests. Protests are not riots. Think of them as adversaries, as they truly are in this case. People are supportive of the protest, and lash back at the riots. I’m also in this group. Rioting will not rectify anything, you are just burning your own cities down.

The problem is that there are people aware of this fact, and use it to sabotage the protesters. Take a look at what’s happened in these cities. Many of the people inciting riots and helping burn cities down are not from those cities. There’s evidence that it’s white supremacists, members of the Ku Klux Klan, hell, even police that are actively working to sabotage what starts and could very well stay a peaceful protest.

There is a proverb that comes from farmers, “One bad apple can spoil the bunch.” While that phrase can be taken literally, it’s more popular use is exactly what’s happening in this case. A few people becoming violent in a crowd can easily entice the rest of the crowd into becoming violent. There are people that are coordinating the inciting of riots at these protests, and they are doing it surgically, efficiently, and effectively. It is the perfect counter to a protest — which is what people resort to as their last effort for change.

If people’s last efforts to push for change are so easily countered by a few well placed people trying to start a riot, then this isn’t something that can be easily changed on a systemic level… This is something that needs to change on a human scale. Humans need to learn to not be racist, we need to learn to not abuse power, and treat humans truly equally.

We have beating around the bush on equality for generations. Let’s start at the slave trade. There were people who knew it wasn’t right, and they got together and protested. What does society do? Got rid of the slave trade, but keep the segregation and unequal human rights. Well, that wasn’t good enough, so again people got together and protested for equality and to put an end to segregation and they got it – almost. On paper, everything says that all people are equal, but whatever social fabric that we have still holds onto our past generations racism, and that is the fundamental problem. If we still have subconscious bias against colored people, there is no attainable resolve to these atrocities, and we will continue on with this mistreatment, and they will continue on, rightfully, protesting. Bringing me back to the point that if a protest can be negated easily and efficiently by inciting riots, protests are no longer a measure that can be taken to achieve a very much needed social goal. And. That. Is. Fucked.

So let’s talk about subconscious bias, as that seems to be the foundation for allowing these murders to take place. I would be a liar if I said I didn’t have any subconscious bias against other people. There is something in me that does fear colored people more than other people. There is also this feeling when I’ve interacted with police. It -feels- like a natural gut feeling sort of guard comes up, and I will become more cognizant of my surroundings. I don’t understand why it happens, but I absolutely hate it. It’s happening on a level that I cannot control, and I do my best to mitigate it. The fact that I can recognize that I’m having irrational reactions to another human is the first step to resolving my bias.

If you cannot identify this bias, but still have the same sort of guard around certain people, you should take a deep look at yourself and try to rationalize that feeling. If it’s not a race thing, please let me know what your thoughts are.
If you do not feel this bias, and react the same around everyone regardless of race, I need to congratulate you. You are the people that need to teach the others such as myself on how to be a better person.

This is the last point I want to make as well, as it also plays into casual racism and whatnot: Stereotypes.

In my history I have stereotyped people, I have laughed at stereotypes, and even laughed at racist jokes. I would like to think that the comedic side of those jokes takes precedence over the underlying racism and hatred… Sadly, my opinion is changing the more I see how bad our culture really is towards minorities. I love all forms of comedy, but it is exactly these stereotypes and racist jokes that are easily impregnated into the minds of others, especially children, and further the development of casual and formal racism.

Behind closed doors, people talk about how they truly feel, good or bad. Being behind closed doors with other people is a great social experience, because you get to know someone better than you previously did. Behind closed doors is where people act comfortable with one another, and bonding can take place. This is also where you can bond over acceptance and love, or hatred and racism. In my life, I’m seeing a lot more bonding over what people dislike a hell of a lot more than what they do like. Perhaps this says something about the people I grew up with, the people I’ve formed friendships with, and the people that I’ve dedicated my time and interests to.

I want to be clear here again. I support the protests and what they are attempting to achieve. I don’t believe those protesters are the ones forming riots. There are bad people seeded into the protests to incite riots, and protesters are caught up in the chaos and cave into it.
I also am not a role model human being, I have my subconscious biases, but I am working to eliminate them. I would like to pledge to not take part in forms of stereotyping, or racist jokes. I am not a trend setting person like a few of my friends are, but I would like to try and be one for this cause.

I also believe this is a change that needs to happen on a completely different level than a national reform of any kind. This is changing how humans have thought and learned from each other for generations. This is a huge cultural shift that needs to take place universally. My hopes are high, but my expectation is that we will fail repeatedly in this endeavor. I just hope we still have a functioning society in the end.

P.S.: Cause you gotta have a post script…
If you read this, and thought it was an interesting take, I have another building block to add. A few years ago, when we were upset about boarder patrol separating families who entered the country illegally, I also appended my thoughts on how it gets so bad in such a hurry. I blame it on the speed that we are able to send and receive data. If you’re interested in reading it, it’s here.