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Comment by craigwblake | Hacker News Reader

Are you aware that it's not the police or city who own the CVS? It's also not the police or the city who own the 7-11. It's not police or the city who own Binta's African Hair, or the community center, or the stores in the Mondawmin mall, or the McDonalds, or the majority of the other property that was damaged. It's individuals, private citizens, neighbors of those who are looting. Will you please explain how looting and burning down your neighbors private property is justified by civil rights violations that may have been committed by agents of the government?

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A black man killed in police custody and large peaceful protest doesn't even register as a blip on any radar. It was a footnote in the media and something politicans ignore practically every month in the US.

The riots have very significantly raised this issue to the public. Sure a lot of people are just going to write it off as mindless violence (and a lot of it is) but in reality destruction of random private and community property is literally the only way that the rage can be channeled. It isn't feasible for them to burn down the police station, or else they would have.

These people are literally destroying their own community which is failing to serve them. Seems like pretty powerful message and effective imagery for the media to me.

Have you read any history? Riots such as these happened all during the late 1960's in response to much worse oppression during the time period. Virtually all these riots made the black community worse off. Their own business districts were destroyed, anyone with any money fled the city, the tax base collapsed, crime got even more out of control.

If the black community in Baltimore want to solve police oppression, here is a positive way they can do it: 1) form a neighborhood association with a neighborhood police force to handle issues of crime. These police officers would be elected and controlled by the community. 2) Tell the center city police that they no longer have to police the black neighborhoods, which the police would like, it is not a fun job. When a case of police brutality breaks out, tell the police to stay of the hood from now on or face reprisals. 3) Tell their elected officials - (who are black, the majority of the voters are black in Baltimore) to disband the police.

> Have you read any history? Riots such as these happened all during the late 1960's in response to much worse oppression during the time period.

My argument is that we are seeing undirected anger as a hail mary. The people are powerless, they know they are powerless, and they are knowingly making their own community permanently worse just to have their voices heard for one weekend. That isn't the same as making completely irrational decisions: it is weighing being heard today over the long term economic success of the community.

Consider this: what would it take to drive you to this behavior? Do you think that these community members are really so fundamentally different from you and me, or is their powerless so persistent and severe that even you and I would become so hopeless and full of rage that we would burn our own community and challenge militarized police?

> 1) form a neighborhood association with a neighborhood police force to handle issues of crime. These police officers would be elected and controlled by the community.

A random person on the street being detained by a random neighborhood police force? I'm skeptical there is a legal basis to allow this kind of behavior, do you have any reference to this kind of thing? Even separate from the legal implications (which are significant), I'm also skeptical that the Baltimore PD would honestly go along with this plan happily.

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