Anyone Still Believe Riots Are Not a Black on White Issue? (Baltimore: 2015, rentals)

[B.K.]

"Protests/Demonstrations" still in progress following Freddie Gray's funeral service and wake today. No pretense of a peaceful event gone wrong due to the influence of "outside agitators" today, however. The funeral procession was preceded by groups of illegal dirt bikes popping wheelies, blocking traffic, riding on sidewalks and generally terrorizing the populace on Liberty Heights and Pennsylvania Ave. This was followed by groups of Baltimore citizens hurling rocks and bricks at Police officers attempting traffic and crowd control along the procession route.
Hundreds of hoodlums gathered in and around Mondawmin Mall to run amok and raise hell. Local TV showed at least two bystanders dragged from the sidewalk and parking lot and stomped bloody for the crime of being white in Baltimore. A local news Network reports one of their cameramen was violently assaulted and taken away in an ambulance. So far, several Baltimore Police officers have suffered both minor and serious injuries.
Cars and vans, including police vehicles, have been overturned and set afire. Windows of businesses have been smashed out, and many have been vandalized. Looters are running rampant. Social media sites are encouraging participants to continue moving South towards the Harbor and Camden Yards to stage a larger and more violent re-enactment of yesterday's riots. Many of the streets into and out of downtown have been closed. Most businesses closed early. The Orioles game will probably be cancelled.
The mayor is nowhere to be found.
The Governor has said nothing.
Live footage showed Police Commissioner Batts' participation involved running from the mob, only stopping to retrieve his dropped cell phone.
School districts have announced trips (including Prom Hall rentals) into Baltimore City have been cancelled for the foreseeable future.
Me? I'm heading out once. Around the corner to grab a case of beer, and two packs of smokes. Then I'm hunkering down, doors locked, blinds drawn.
When my brothers down in Georgia call me again tonight, and ask,"Are you really sure you don't want us to get that S&W .38 up to you, this time?", I'm going to have to think, hard.

[Ellwood]

I was watching the aerial footage of the so-called "violent protesters" in Baltimore. IMO that isn't a protest, it is an excuse to rob and destroy the very businesses where people shop in their neighborhood. I saw people, male and female, in pink hoodies and black hoodies, carrying everything they possibly could out of stores. One common denominator, they were all black. If you think I am a racist, you are wrong. The people robbing stores, destroying police cars and property were all black. If they wanted to have a protest, walk arm in arm, with signs and shouting, go at it. But to deliberately harm, steal and destroy is not a protest, it is a crime and they should all be arrested or tasered.

[midgeorgiaman]

Originally Posted by Ellwood

I was watching the aerial footage of the so-called "violent protesters" in Baltimore. IMO that isn't a protest, it is an excuse to rob and destroy the very businesses where people shop in their neighborhood. I saw people, male and female, in pink hoodies and black hoodies, carrying everything they possibly could out of stores. One common denominator, they were all black. If you think I am a racist, you are wrong. The people robbing stores, destroying police cars and property were all black. If they wanted to have a protest, walk arm in arm, with signs and shouting, go at it. But to deliberately harm, steal and destroy is not a protest, it is a crime and they should all be arrested or tasered.

Exactly...this isnt a racism issue...this has turned into violent hoodlums taking advantage of the situation and screaming racism to cover their violence. How long will it take for your governor to put an end to this craziness.

[james777]

Originally Posted by midgeorgiaman

Exactly...this isnt a racism issue...this has turned into violent hoodlums taking advantage of the situation and screaming racism to cover their violence. How long will it take for your governor to put an end to this craziness.

It is not the job of the governor, it is the job of the mayor because the mayor has jurisdiction. If the mayor needs help, she needs to ask the governor. It is not the governor's place to rule the city or any other county, or provide any kind of help if the help was not asked for. Everything is up to the mayor or county executive, that is the elected official in charge of that county. Baltimore City is a county in itself. Baltimore had riots because the mayor refused to use force against the rioters and looters. Place the blame squarely where it belongs. No blame belongs on the governor.

[Infinite_heights77]

First, I could care less if you're racist or not! Second, your information on who did what, when and why is flawed and inaccurate. If you're getting sources of information from any of the mainstream media chickenhawks whether it's FOX, MSNBC, CNN or local media outlets, this goes without saying how skewed your perception might be. Thirdly, you're making blanket and general statements on a population most likely you have no understanding of and probably hate to the core of your being - so any objectivity you may have flies out of the window.

"Harm, steal and destroy is not a protest" Ok, is there a certified handbook for protestors and said rioters that I don't know about? Do you know anything these businesses that were looted and destroyed or the people who ran them, plus their interactions with community members?

Originally Posted by Ellwood

I was watching the aerial footage of the so-called "violent protesters" in Baltimore. IMO that isn't a protest, it is an excuse to rob and destroy the very businesses where people shop in their neighborhood. I saw people, male and female, in pink hoodies and black hoodies, carrying everything they possibly could out of stores. One common denominator, they were all black. If you think I am a racist, you are wrong. The people robbing stores, destroying police cars and property were all black. If they wanted to have a protest, walk arm in arm, with signs and shouting, go at it. But to deliberately harm, steal and destroy is not a protest, it is a crime and they should all be arrested or tasered.

[Calvert Hall '62]

Originally Posted by Infinite_heights77

your information on who did what, when and why is flawed and inaccurate. If you're getting sources of information from any of the mainstream media chickenhawks whether it's FOX, MSNBC, CNN or local media outlets, this goes without saying how skewed your perception might be.

MSNBC and CNN jumped into bed with FOX??????

At any rate, what you said is true. The unrest -- don't you love it when the media refers to thuggery as "unrest"? -- was caused by a mob of well-disguised Tea Partiers. You have to admit that their disguises were very realistic.

Yep, I read it in the only news source I trust: "The Final Call." It was an article by Malik Shabazz. You probably read the same thing.

[bus man]

Originally Posted by Infinite_heights77

First, I could care less if you're racist or not! Second, your information on who did what, when and why is flawed and inaccurate. If you're getting sources of information from any of the mainstream media chickenhawks whether it's FOX, MSNBC, CNN or local media outlets, this goes without saying how skewed your perception might be. Thirdly, you're making blanket and general statements on a population most likely you have no understanding of and probably hate to the core of your being - so any objectivity you may have flies out of the window.

"Harm, steal and destroy is not a protest" Ok, is there a certified handbook for protestors and said rioters that I don't know about? Do you know anything these businesses that were looted and destroyed or the people who ran them, plus their interactions with community members?

Unless you were personally present at the riot sites, or talked with people who were, you were getting your information from the same media sources as the rest of us were.

And what's this about the shop owner's "interactions" with the community? Are you blaming the store owners for the rioters looting and torching their businesses?

[Hamish Forbes]

I can tell you more about that disguise.

According to some of the posters who contribute regularly here, most of the problems in Baltimore are the result of my family having left Edmondson Village in the 1950s in response to blockbusting. What they don't know is that for years we would sneak back into the inner city at night, disguised just like today's rioters, so that we could break windows, knife and shoot people, release rats, spread litter and lice, sell drugs, sire illegitimate children, and so on. But the real zinger is that the rioters you see today are really my own extended family, in the same disguise, up to the same kind of mischief.

All told, it really doesn't make any difference, because all cultures are equally meritorious, and what you see in Edmondson Village and the like today is just fine -- and who am I to say anything different?

[lanhvtnymd]

Historian Says Don't 'Sanitize' How Our Government Created Ghettos : NPR

[Calvert Hall '62]

Originally Posted by lanhvtnymd

Historian Says Don't 'Sanitize' How Our Government Created Ghettos : NPR

Already been answered.