In Defense of Looting

[Teamster Jeff]

http://thenewinquiry.com/essays/in-defense-of-looting/

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For most of America’s history, one of the most righteous anti-white supremacist tactics available was looting.
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In the 400 years of barbaric, white supremacist, colonial and genocidal history known as the United States, the civil rights movement stands out as a bright, beautiful, all-too-brief moment of hope and struggle. We still live in the shadow of the leaders, theory, and images that emerged from those years, and any struggle in America that overlooks the work (both philosophical and organizational) produced in those decades does so at its own peril. However, why is it drilled into our heads, from grade school onward, in every single venue, by presidents, professors and police chiefs alike, that the civil rights movement was victorious because it was non-violent? Surely we should be suspicious of any narrative that the entire white establishment agrees is of the utmost importance.
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[RobertEarl]

1. Great power in non-violence

When the oppressors have the upperhand in the violence department and all you have is the Truth, then violence is useless.

Given that the whole capitalist establishment subsists on the threat of violence and looting, it is no surprise some of the younger folk take matters into their own hands and begin acting like little george bushes.

The PTB have nuclear weapons. They fooly support using the nuclear weapons as a threat against anyone attempting to join their club. The threat of violence is part and parcel of 'How things really are'.

It is to our shame that we educate our children to emulate the PTB.

[Teamster Jeff]

3. As the article states a definition of "violence" that encompasses throwing trash in the street...

and the murder of Michael Brown only serves the police and the establishment.

[jobycom]

2. Looting has always been a tool of rebellion

The Boston Tea Party, for example.

Most revolutions start off with protests that involve looting. Social historians have analyzed patterns and trends in looting and rioting and discovered patterns that are consistent wherever there is data to analyze riots, from ancient Rome through the Middle Ages and into the modern era. Revolutions, rebellions, and riots (which are different words for the same impulse, adjusted for the size and success of the action) usually start with protestors attacking, robbing, and/or destroying property of the force they are rebelling against. Often the property has symbolic value--it is seen as an outpost or example of the occupation, basically--and it also often has some significance to the rioters. In the French Revolution the Bastille was stormed, and noble manors were looted, as the people believed that these were symbols of their own looting and oppression.

The Quicktrip was a corporate business positioned in the community like an economic fortress. The money from the community went into the QT, then went to QT headquarters, never making it back into the community--a standard arrangement in poor communities, especially communities of color. Whether through gentrification (an attempt to move white people into the community to drive the residents out (think Christopher Columbus)), or through exploitation (where white corporate businesses set up run-down, usually barred and locked, businesses to syphon money out of the community), such businesses are often seen as invaders. It's a perfect example of oppression, of white supremacy. Thus, when anger erupts, it is a perfect target. Money or goods taken for the enrichment of individuals is secondary--the destruction of the invasive presence is the point.

The color lines are drawn by white society. We as whites define non-whites by color, we draw community boundaries that delimit not just residences but income opportunities, and we draw up the laws that favor our societal structures and oppress others. We still control what rights we allow non-whites to enjoy. And now, as opposed to the 60s or before, we allow a few more rights in exchange for more peace. But now and then, as in Ferguson, the white exercise of power becomes too blatant, and the victims rise up to protest. And some buildings of the oppressors get destroyed.

Right or wrong, it's ridiculous to expect anything different. Short of outright rebellion, it's the only tool left for underrepresented groups--oppressed, non-white groups, to get the attention of the overlords.

[bemildred]

4. The wealthy are just the most successful looters, or their descendants and hangers on. nt