I am pleased I live in a society where protests are legal, but rioting is not.
Quoting from Martin Luther King, Jr:
"""There's no doubt about that. I will agree that there is a group in the Negro community advocating violence now. I happen to feel that this group represents a numerical minority. Surveys have revealed this. The vast majority of Negroes still feel that the best way to deal with the dilemma that we face in this country is through non-violent resistance, and I don't think this vocal group will be able to make a real dent in the Negro community in terms of swaying 22 million Negroes to this particular point of view. And I contend that the cry of "black power" is, at bottom, a reaction to the reluctance of white power to make the kind of changes necessary to make justice a reality for the Negro. I think that we've got to see that a riot is the language of the unheard. And, what is it that America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the economic plight of the Negro poor has worsened over the last few years.""" -- CBS Reports, Sept. 27, 1966
"""But it is not enough for me to stand before you tonight and condemn riots. It would be morally irresponsible for me to do that without, at the same time, condemning the contingent, intolerable conditions that exist in our society. These conditions are the things that cause individuals to feel that they have no other alternative than to engage in violent rebellions to get attention. And I must say tonight that a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it America has failed to hear?...It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice and humanity.""" -- “The Other America” 1968
Quite possibly, but irrelevant to the original poster's point. If rioters are physically endangering your home or your family or the place you work, you're not going to be in any mood then or afterwards to thoughtfully consider it from ten thousand feet.
As to the original question, riots don't just appear from nowhere. In your objection, you limited the time and space to just the time period around the riot, in which case your statement is completely valid.
The start of my statement observes the longer span of time, and the frustrations and insecurities that put people to not be in the mood to "thoughtfully consider" something other than a riot. Your same point holds on that time scale as well, though it would be applied to a different group of people, and different but no less important feelings of endangerment and insecurity.
(Note: this is all from the 10,000km view from the opposite side of the planet - so I don't claim to have a dog in this fight or intimate knowledge of the situation of history here, this is all from my media and internet provided external view... But "entitled white people in restaurants" don't end up looking much like they deserve any sympathy for their fears or "endangerment")
And if the riot was 10,000 km closer to you and your family -- if you were the "entitled" person in the restaurant who didn't think they'd done anything wrong, but good luck telling the angry mob that -- I suspect your view would change very, very rapidly.
How do you propose the black community _should_ respond, and do you think all those possible ways haven't already been tried and failed miserably?