Disturbing The Peace? I Didn't Know We Had Any

I've referenced this here before: "A riot is an ugly thing, and I think it's about time we had one." Add the oomph of a thick German accent, and you've got "Young Frankenstein." Take away the silly voice, and you get some sad truth. We have been living on the edge of a riot for forty years, and surprise of surprises, it has come to pass. Here in Oakland, we have become used to the sound of breaking glass and somewhat immune to the sight of dumpsters set on fire and pushed into city streets. Our highways have been blockaded and the scent of tear gas still hangs in the air. The Bay Area doesn't pass up opportunities to express itself, and lately that has taken on the form of riot.

Another quote: "A riot is the language of the unheard." That one wasn't Mel Brooks. It came from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. A proponent of non-violence, what was it that King was saying? Are scenes such as Ferguson and now Baltimore inevitable? Perhaps as long as those voices go on being unheard. For so long, we believed that we had this whole racism thing taken care of. We elected an African American to the highest office in the land. What better indicator to the rest of the nation that men and women are now being judged by the content of their character, and not by the color of their skin? Answering that is as easy as taking a look at the Department of Justice's report on the Ferguson, Missouri police department. A quick scan of the table of contents gives all the clues we need. "FPD Engages in a Pattern of Unconstitutional Stops and Arrests in Violation of the

Fourth Amendment." "Ferguson Law Enforcement Practices Violate The Law And Undermine Community Trust, Especially Among African Americans." And it does go on. The response to the report's contents has been initially loud, and then silence as we turn our collective attention to the next riot.

It is certainly great theater, and even better TV, but when the response we see and experience is the National Guard being called in it does beg the question: What is the point? Violence generates violence, but are we asking everyone of all race, creed and religion to stand idly by while we try and catch up to the lofty goals of 1964? Where does all that energy go, if not into throwing rocks and bottles? The fires that are burning outside are the ones that have been burning on the inside for centuries. are now raging in Baltimore. Should we be surprised? Should we be sad? No and yes. In 1967, they called it "The Long Hot Summer," when one hundred fifty-nine riots broke out across the United States. Somewhere else it was called "The Summer of Love," but that's not the way it showed up in city after city that churned with racial tension after the assassination of the man who had a dream. You don't need a history degree to know that that wasn't part of Dr. King's dream. And neither is this.