In his opinion piece, “Selective indignation” (Feb. 11), John Donegan tries to equate Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests/riots and the Make America Great Again (MAGA) protest/riots/insurrection (yes, it was an insurrection). He also tries to convince readers that the violent insurrectionists imitated the BLM rioters. Let’s look at this again.
First, the BLM protests: The goal of the protests has always been to stop violence. Stop the beating and killing of people in the hands of some members of law enforcement. A Harvard Radcliffe Institute article, “Black Lives Matter Protesters Were Overwhelmingly Peaceful, Our Research Finds” by Erica Chenoweth and Jeremy Pressman, describes a study that determined that the vast majority, 93 percent, of these protests were peaceful. It goes on to explain how most of the remaining demonstrations ended up violent. It found that most of the violence was initially caused by police or counterprotesters first directing violence toward the BLM demonstrators. Take for example the attack on the peaceful protesters in Washington, D.C., followed by Trump’s surreal and ghoulish display of the Bible in front of St. John’s Church.
Now let’s look at the “Stop the Steal” fiasco and determine the real cause: Hmmm … well, first you have to acquire groups of really gullible and oh-so-loyal people, aka Trump’s Perfect Subjects. Fox “News” and the like can help with that. Convince these people that the more loyal they are, the more patriotic and religious they are and vice versa. Encourage them to buy lots of red MAGA hats and lots of flags—really big ones to display on the back of their cars/trucks, so they can speed around and look real intimidating. Then, bombard them with lies about the election results.
Repeat, repeat, repeat.
The louder the better!!! Finally, set up a date and time for them to meet, like when our democratic presidential election is being certified. Hey, what a coincidence! Oh yes, remind them bring their stockpiles of ammunition, locked, loaded, and ready to go. At the last minute, provide them with just enough fuel to frenzy them up to attack our Capitol building. (I say “just enough” because one needs to have a defense later: It wasn’t me! All I said was to fight … figuratively. Hey, Trump may not be quite as stupid as his followers!) Anyway, that is the sequence of events, not MAGA supporters watching BLM protesters/rioters and thinking, “Gee, I want to be just like them.” Those MAGA people came to the U.S. Capitol to be violent, not to stop violence. That crazy train left the station years ago, not just after the BLM riots.
Again, I hope one can plainly see: BLM people are protesting against real, heart-wrenching and horrible events that have gone on for years. Those MAGA people were acting on the belief of events that never, ever happened. Ever. So yes, sometimes a riot is the language of the unheard, but this insurrection was not that. It was the action of idiots. That “Stop the Steal” violence was 100 percent unjustified, any way you look at it.
What “liberals” (or any decent human being) don’t understand is why white people discriminate against, repress, attack, and murder Black people just because their skin is darker than theirs. This is true senseless violence. Most of the BLM protesters who turned violent during the riots were reacting to this senseless violence, out of frustration and anger, as well as in self-defense. They reacted not always individually, but as a whole, and maybe not always in real time, but because of our times. Unfortunately, our country’s past has continued, in many ways, into our country’s present.
Susan H. Farbstein writes: “My concern is that the insistence on nonviolence may sometimes reinforce injustice. In certain circumstances, force may be the last appeal to human dignity and the last resort to realizing human rights.” (“Reflections on the question of when, if ever, violence is justified in struggles for political or social change”) When circumstances take a dramatic change for the worse, as they have since Trump was elected, people see violence as a last resort.
Yes, we should all be equally concerned about the increasing violence in our country. We can start by electing government officials, both locally and nationally, who advocate for human rights and promote justice for all. We can also not elect people who make up, believe in, or spread conspiracy theories and incite senseless, baseless violence on their fellow citizens. Δ
Kathy Riedmann writes to New Times from Los Osos. Send a response for publication to letters@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Outdoors 2021.
Hmmmm. Interesting premise . “I was just protesting peacefully, when the cops and people in MAGA hats attacked me, and forced me to burn and loot a Target store, and run off with a 75 inch HD big screen TV. And now the store won’t even honor the warranty on the TV. The fascists!”. And in justifying rioting when people feel oppressed and are upset, you forget that sometimes people riot over a false narrative. For example, they burned and looted Ferguson, and then the Obama administration’s Justice Department investigated and found that the cop acted properly. They found that Brown had just robbed a store, and that the forensic evidence showed that Brown was shot while reaching in tje police car and trying to take the cop’s gun, and not when he had his hands up as claimed. Of course, when liberals really, really love a particular narrative, they refuse to let the truth interfer with their indignation.
This author has articulately laid out her case against Mr. Donegan’s false equation between BLM protests and the insurrectionists who rampaged the capitol. I appreciate her factual reporting, supported by evidence, to back up her claims. However, I do not agree with the justification of violence if “it’s the last resort to realizing human rights.” Black leaders tried to disassociate themselves from Antifa and other radicals who burned police stations and otherwise wrecked havoc in Portland. The video of the murder of George Floyd under the boot of a police officer says it all. That’s what really “woke” white people.
What John “you forget that sometimes people riot over a false narrative” Donegan fails to understand, is that this is exactly what happened on Insurrection Day. MAGA’s have been fed a false narrative for over 5 years and it continues still. The twice impeached ex-president was just on Fox News yesterday repeating the same false narrative – that President Biden stole the election. This is a Big Lie and it is continuing to be spread around the country and the world even by elected officials. What happened on January 6th should terrify every American who believes in democracy and it should never be allowed to happen again.
@BarbieClark: I didn’t excuse the Capitol rioters, nor Trump’s assertion that the election was “stolen”. I merely pointed out that the Democrats excused THEIR OWN rioting, and maintained their own fantasies about the 2016 election being stolen.
White people are destroying my country. The end.
Reading between the lines of Donegan’s original article it as easy to see that he harbors much more visceral anger against leftist rioters, vandals & arsonists than he does with the fascistic Capitol insurrectionists. This is the same deal with Al Fonzi, the other Trump devotee who writes for New Times. Fonzi has raged against antifa but isn’t much bothered by neo Nazis. While both these guys made perfunctory statements denouncing the attack on the Capitol, it’s easy to see that Donegan & Fonzi are much more pissed at leftist violence than at carnage perpetrated by the radical right. It’s selective outrage, exactly what Donegan accuses liberals of.
jay…you crawled out of your drainage pipe house again…
Clark….your pic looks like a female
John Donegan: There has not been any “Democrat rioting.” That is a Fox News/Max fiction, and I am busting you for that. Spontaneous demonstrations draw all kinds of people, including right wing provocateurs and opportunistic criminals. I condemn all rioting while supporting the Black Lives Matter movement to stop police from killing unarmed black people and so does every Democrat I know. .
2016 election: many pundits and journalists have documented that (1) Hilary Clinton WON the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes AND (2) Russian intelligence and PSY-OPs used social media to spread misinformation about Clinton and voting procedures. These were designed to sway voters. Combine these with Republican voter suppression tactics in red states and the outcome of that election can be legitimately contested.
Jay…did you crawl out of you drainage pipe house to make this post?
Clark…are you female?
Jay..did you crawl out of your drainage pipe house to make this post?
Gorden you give the illusion of being an intellectual…but you post show you to be a moran
If liberals are the only decent human beings, then “decent” equates to looting, theft, bigotry, violent insurrection ( see Portland, Oregon), murder, rape, child molestation and anal rape (see ca senate bill 145), etc..etc. Boy! It must be tiring to be so damn “decent”! It sickens me and the vast majority of REAL decent people that you have the audacity to describe decency as what you prefer politically. Look up the word and see if it applies to most all people ( yes republicans too!…maybe some?) you know in America. I donate my time when I can to charity, I have never cheated on my wife, I listen and learn as best I can to most everyone that can make a cogent argument, I don’t kick my dog. Even if we don’t agree politically, aren’t those things decent? I’ll bet you can be fairly decent too. If someone tried to limit your freedom I would stand up for you against them, knowing full well that you think I’m not a decent person. I would do it because you are an American Kathy. I’m on your side, even if you will never be on mine. That seems a decent thing to me.
@Gordon Fuglie: If the rioters were just miscellaneous thugs, and not BLM sympathizers, then why did Kamala Harris raise bail money for them, and why did various political leaders acquiesce to BLM demands? And, of course, why is the DA being accused of anti-BLM bias for prosecuting our local rioters?
Keith, I don’t need any introduction in my own country. When I walk into a room I instantly emasculate you with my presence alone. My professional accomplishments and world renowned reputation speaks for themselves. If your trolling for drama, look elsewhere sissy tard.
Clara dsouza…are you wearing a clown wig?…lol
Keith Cambell is a soup sandwich. I don’t engage trolls. There are way too many who trolls reside in the cheesecake section of neighborhood news rags, ready to pounce on others for desert pudding. Never heard of you, don’t care who you are. You sound like a child.
Clara desouza…how long have gou been of the big house?