>>(This suggests, by the way, that cops should spend more time protecting stores during protests, and less time policing the protesters themselves.)
I think this speaks to the fact that there's a rarely-questioned police prejudice against protesters - specifically, the assumption that looting and protesting are done by the same people.
Maybe it's just that I'm not in the 5% of Americans that watch TV cable news, or living under a rock in some other way, but I've literally never heard that before, that the "The George Floyd Protests were a Civil War".
If you can stand to, go look at what's on NewsMax or OAN. They definitely are portraying the BLM protestors as basically Leninist revolutionaries, insinuating that groups like CHAZ wanted to execute small business owners (because they hate Capitalism), etc. I _think_ the audience for that stuff is still relatively small, even compared to the slice that listens to Fox. The problem is that they're over-represented in a couple key places. For one, political junkies of both sides are extremely over-represented in municipal and state governments (and while lefty kooks can be a problem -- see the SF school board recall -- they tend not to be _as_ far out as the right). The key thing that could kick off a real crisis is right-wing extremist state legislatures (a few of which, like Wisconsin's, only exist because of gerrymandering) trying to over-rule their own voters. And I'm a bit worried that people listening to the worst of right-wing TV and talk radio may also be pretty over-represented in law enforcement.
> There are a few cities where riots appear to have outnumbered peaceful protests — most notably Portland (where all reported demonstrations were violent!),
I'm a Portlander, and this is a very irritating sentence. The Portland Police Bureau declared all the protests to be riots, yes. Many of those declarations happened just about the instant night fell, prior to any violence or property damage occurring, and were immediately followed by the PPB tear-gassing protestors to "quell the riot". Taking the police's classification of anti-police protests at face value is not responsible journalism.
Are you more suspicious about (a) the idea that a police department known for excessive use of force would develop a practice of labeling anti-police protests as riots which require the use of force, or (b) the idea of Portland being the only city in the nation to have exclusively violent protests?
Similarly, the Portland protests were indeed "prolonged" and "disruptive" - in no small part because the Trump administration was deliberately stirring them for political purposes by sending in federal agents, against the wishes of the local government, to snatch people off the streets and into unmarked vans! I would consider that important context to include before calling them "bizarre" for their intensity.
Speaking of remembering details as you do at the end of your essay. My recollection is that right wing figures were imaging there would be a civil war before the Floyd protests. Consequently, those same actors label those protests as a civil war. I believe that progressives ought to attempt to avoid violence. Elements of the right see male capability for violence as an essential element of masculinity.
>>(This suggests, by the way, that cops should spend more time protecting stores during protests, and less time policing the protesters themselves.)
I think this speaks to the fact that there's a rarely-questioned police prejudice against protesters - specifically, the assumption that looting and protesting are done by the same people.
Yep
Maybe it's just that I'm not in the 5% of Americans that watch TV cable news, or living under a rock in some other way, but I've literally never heard that before, that the "The George Floyd Protests were a Civil War".
Every time I tweet that "we're not in a civil war", some rightist tweets pics of the Floyd protests at me
Is this not more of a shouting class issue?
If you can stand to, go look at what's on NewsMax or OAN. They definitely are portraying the BLM protestors as basically Leninist revolutionaries, insinuating that groups like CHAZ wanted to execute small business owners (because they hate Capitalism), etc. I _think_ the audience for that stuff is still relatively small, even compared to the slice that listens to Fox. The problem is that they're over-represented in a couple key places. For one, political junkies of both sides are extremely over-represented in municipal and state governments (and while lefty kooks can be a problem -- see the SF school board recall -- they tend not to be _as_ far out as the right). The key thing that could kick off a real crisis is right-wing extremist state legislatures (a few of which, like Wisconsin's, only exist because of gerrymandering) trying to over-rule their own voters. And I'm a bit worried that people listening to the worst of right-wing TV and talk radio may also be pretty over-represented in law enforcement.
> There are a few cities where riots appear to have outnumbered peaceful protests — most notably Portland (where all reported demonstrations were violent!),
I'm a Portlander, and this is a very irritating sentence. The Portland Police Bureau declared all the protests to be riots, yes. Many of those declarations happened just about the instant night fell, prior to any violence or property damage occurring, and were immediately followed by the PPB tear-gassing protestors to "quell the riot". Taking the police's classification of anti-police protests at face value is not responsible journalism.
Why would the Portland cops do this when cops from every other city did not?
The Portland Police Bureau has a history of bad behavior, excessive use of force in particular. https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2021/04/feds-put-city-of-portland-on-formal-notice-of-non-compliance-with-justice-dept-settlement-agreement.html
Yeah but many other police departments do too...I'm very suspicious of the idea that the Portland department is nationally unique in this regard.
Are you more suspicious about (a) the idea that a police department known for excessive use of force would develop a practice of labeling anti-police protests as riots which require the use of force, or (b) the idea of Portland being the only city in the nation to have exclusively violent protests?
Similarly, the Portland protests were indeed "prolonged" and "disruptive" - in no small part because the Trump administration was deliberately stirring them for political purposes by sending in federal agents, against the wishes of the local government, to snatch people off the streets and into unmarked vans! I would consider that important context to include before calling them "bizarre" for their intensity.
Speaking of remembering details as you do at the end of your essay. My recollection is that right wing figures were imaging there would be a civil war before the Floyd protests. Consequently, those same actors label those protests as a civil war. I believe that progressives ought to attempt to avoid violence. Elements of the right see male capability for violence as an essential element of masculinity.
What's a good book (or 2 or 3!) on the Spanish Civil War?
The Spanish Civil War, by Antony Beevor, is my personal favorite.
I know that it is highly recommended but I found it a bit of a bore.