Adrian Haymond If you’d like to discuss or just
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Observing the riots in Cincinnati, my mind drifted back
uncomfortably to a similar episode almost nine years ago. Burning
cars and looted stores brought back memories that were all too
real. Whether the conflagration was called a “riot,”
“rebellion” or “uprising,” it was, in any
case, very unsettling to see businesses I saw my entire life go up
in smoke.
Individuals you would normally see sitting quietly on a bus stop
or talking to friends about the next party or church service were
walking into stores to take groceries, televisions, cameras and
other items with impunity. I also remembered asking, while driving
past huge torches formerly known as markets and repair shops,
“Why are we destroying our own?”
Others have asked the same question. Depending on the
questioner, the reasons vary. Many feel a sense of superiority that
“those people” can’t do anything else but burn
their own businesses. Riots only serve to prove that minorities are
irresponsible and inherently violent, always asking for handouts
but unable to take care of their own.
 Illustration by Kristen Gillette Others, usually middle-
to upper-class minority business and political leaders, feel that
the rioters’ seemingly self-destructive behavior takes away
from all the good that others in their ethnic group have done to
present a picture of progress. Not only does the destruction set
back economic progress, it also betrays the efforts of others who
wish to see minorities depicted as well adjusted to mainstream life
in America.
Still others, namely those at “ground zero,” decry
the lack of law and order and wonder if they will ever feel safe
again. With their supermarkets ravaged and their thrift stores
burned, they realize that community revitalization will be slow to
come, if it ever comes at all, and they resent the rioters for
destroying their world.
Much time has passed since the Los Angeles riots of 1992 and the
civil unrest in Cincinnati. When driving through my old
neighborhood, I still see scars from the days and nights of burning
and destruction. Improvement comes at a snail’s pace ““
even today, there are entire lots abandoned and razed, seemingly
doomed to remain undeveloped and unable to serve a community that
needs the economic stimulation.
I shake my head because it’s frustrating to think that
many had to move away from the blight to witness any improvement in
their quality of life ““ and that many more are continually
subjected to the same factors that led to the riots, with no
apparent relief in sight. But I do not ask the question any
more.
I’ve finally realized that those who burned and pillaged
did not burn “their own.” True, the businesses were in
their neighborhood, but they did not own them. They spent their
dollars, their food stamps, their credits in these stores, but they
also knew that much of what these stores offered could not be
obtained in normal circumstances.
In many cases, the owners were of a different culture who did
not understand the populace and as a result engendered resentment,
even hatred by their actions. Even for those whose ethnicity
matched that of the community, their attitude (in many cases)
depicted them as “above” the scum of the inner city.
Some truly forgot what it was to struggle and treated their
constituents as little more than opportunity dollars, sinking
virtually nothing back into the community.
Of course, there were those rioters who used the unrest simply
as an excuse to rob others with a lessened fear of reprisal.
As important as economic stagnation, political
disenfranchisement also adds to the feeling of hopelessness that
must occur before a riot can take place.
In 1992, it was the acquittal of police officers accused of
beating Rodney King. In Cincinnati, it was the shooting of an
unarmed man. In both cases, people felt that they had no stake in
this country’s judicial system and tended to view law
enforcement as little more than an occupation army.
In this area, the news abounds with instances of shootings that
seem to indicate a lack of respect for the lives of minorities. The
killing of a young woman in Riverside, the Latasha Harlins murder,
the Eula Love shooting and the Ron Settles death in Signal Hill
only feed the flames of discontent and distrust.
In addition, many African Americans and Latinos have experienced
racial profiling, exposing them to humiliation and degradation as
police officers treat them as hardened criminals although no
wrongdoing has been done.
Although I do not feel that all police are corrupt and racist, I
can sympathize with those who do, primarily because law enforcement
officials have stopped me several times while driving through
predominately white areas. Once, I was even threatened with arrest
and my passengers were treated to a degrading search without as
much as an apology ““ because someone who drove a similar car
was supposedly involved in a robbery.
Although it was clear that my passengers and I had just come
from a church service (tie, suit, nice dresses, etc.), the
explanation I heard (as I overheard one officer threaten to
“take me down and book me”) was that I must have picked
them up as prostitutes.
As five or six police officers pointed their guns at my car, I
was left to wonder what I did to deserve the treatment I received.
Such actions tell the disenfranchised, who become angrier with each
poorly explained incident, that they will continue to be the dregs
of society, better off dead than as a constant reminder of what is
bad about our country.
When the UCLA Bruins won the NCAA basketball championship in
1995, people celebrated, crowded the streets, looted the stores and
destroyed cars and vans. Most people have not categorized this as a
“riot,” but a “party” that police officers
“crashed.”
Somehow, it seems that if participants of destruction are
partiers, then it cannot be a riot, but if someone gets frustrated
over life-and-death issues and starts to destroy property, it must
be a riot that should be stopped immediately with whatever
resources are at hand.
While I do not condone violence and certainly not riots, I see
more justification for civil unrest in Cincinnati, Los Angeles and
Miami (the Overton riots) than for people trashing property (win or
lose) over a game.
Perhaps instead of asking why minorities destroy their own, we
should overhaul our justice system so that shootings are
investigated thoroughly and fairly, and poor African Americans,
Latinos and Asians are not given lengthy sentences for crimes that
others are merely “spanked” for.
Perhaps we should ask why minorities get far fewer housing loans
than others, why minorities are harassed and why inner-city schools
generally get the worst personnel and equipment. Perhaps if we
answered these questions, we wouldn’t have to ask about
“destroying our own.”