It is easy to condemn rioting, it takes much more effort to fix the conditions that lead to rioting

[Bjorn Against]

As a person who has participated in literally hundreds of non-violent protests I absolutely hating seeing riots. I know that nearly all protesters are non-violent yet we will all be blamed for the actions of a few who got violent.

It is easy to condemn the violence as I most certainly do, but as we condemn the violence let's not pretend that we can ignore the societal problems that led to this violence.

Baltimore is a city that has suffered a great deal from violence throughout their community. When people are exposed to violence they are more likely to become violent themselves. If we have a society in which the police use violence against the community then we should not be surprised when members of that community respond with violence of their own.

You can say that is no excuse and I would agree with you, it is not an excuse. We should not be looking for excuses however, instead we need to start addressing the root causes of violence so that we can create a society in which people don't feel the need to riot.

I will condemn the violent protesters, but I will support the non-violent protesters as well and I will be joining them in the street in the near future just as I have many times in the past.

I would recommend that everyone who says they support peaceful protest but oppose violent protest to get out there and peacefully protest. If you want to show the rioters a better way then get out there and show them a better way, there are already many peaceful protesters showing that better way and many of us are more than capable of joining them.

[daleanime]

1. K&R.....

[GGJohn]

2. +1000. eom.

[Ed Suspicious]

3. Why is it expected that the oppressed fight violence with passivity? I don't get it. We go to war

at the same time we are told violence is never the answer. We execute criminals while saying killing is never justified.

[Bjorn Against]

4. That is a good question

For me the answer is easy, I oppose violence in nearly all situations. I oppose war, I oppose the death penalty, I oppose guns, and I oppose police violence.

There are many others however that do support violence against oppressed populations yet condemn violence by the oppressed when they fight back. Those people deserve to be called out.

[gollygee]

5. We also seem to work very hard

at finding ways to justify violence by white police officers.