This is a breakdown of the social contract.
Why are folks willing and eager to destroy their own neighborhood.
While not surprising, it is sad and unfortunate that folks are willing to (literally and figuratively) feed the fire in intersections and buildings, rather than work together to put the fires out.
Do these people who are looting and even those observing and just “screwing around”….do they understand that they are responsible for holding their own selves accountable. That when a window is broken or a fire started in their neighborhood, or in Baltimore city proper, that they are the ones who should be first in line to fix that window and put out that fire. I understand that when seeing a fire or looting, they might say: where are the police and firefighters? But what they should realize is that they..as individuals living in a community...that they are the police and firefighters and that in a democracy, we grant others the power and means to take care of issues the need addressing. Firefighters and police are supposed to be an extension of our own selves…they are our representatives.
The Mayor is right - for some reason these school kids and older looters don’t understand that bringing in a CVS to their community is an asset, and then destroying that asset as a “protest” and in anger is actually supporting their enemies. And in fact, by destroying that CVS they are their own worst enemies.
It is clear, anyone who uses violence in this endeavor is a sellout. They are fools. They are doing as much, if not more, damage to blacks than any white supremacist or racist organization might do. Many whites AND blacks, both liberal and conservative, look at what the looting blacks are doing and say - look at those thugs, they are criminals and they are destroying the city. And then there are some liberals and conservatives who (depending on their perspective) likely see this for what it is….blacks unconsciously seeding their own demise and doing more damage (or inflicting more damage) than any anti-black group might imagine being able able to do on their own.
To be blunt - It is sad, in that blacks are doing more damage to the city, and to their own cause, than any white supremacy group could even imagine doing on their own.
So the question is why? Why don’t these individuals understand the social contract, even at a foundational level? Is the social contract so broken that they don’t even see its value in their OWN COMMUNITY? A thinking person, regardless of their formal education, should be able to understand that they have their own community and that they should be responsible for their own community? They are poisoned…or ignorant….or stupid….or intentionally crippling their own positions, and their own cause. As the mayor said….it’s idiotic. As the newscasts and leaders says, this is an embarrasment, and there are cowards out there, and any young adult or adult engaging in violence is the enemy.
This situation is due to a major lack of leadership. An absence…a leadership vacuum…that allows blacks to turn protests into violent opportunities to feed self-interested actions….looting, destruction, and a hijacking of a window of opportunity to make a real difference. There is a dearth of leadership that can proactively mobilize non-violent protests that appeal to young adults with passion and energy …. a passion that can energize and legitimize a non-violent and lasting protest but a passion that left undirected can quickly feed uncontrolled and destructive looting and violence.
Clearly, there was not any semblance of an organized or strategic organizing of stakeholders that included communities…meaning, peer leaders in schools, local communities, and “gangs” that maintain considerable social networks and social capital within urban communities. The question is…who has a direct line into the social networks within which young adults operate and communicate.
This could have been an opportunity for social networks to be more actively used.
But what is even more critical is leadership….someone like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr….. to take control of the protests and maintain a non-violent approach leading to real outcomes.
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