The History, Implications, and Effectiveness of Riots as a Cause of Political Change
Defining a Riot
Legally, we define a riot:
A gathering of 3 or more individuals behaving in a violent or uncontrolled manner
- Made in the furtherance of an express common purpose
- through the use or threat of violence, disorder, or terror to the public; and
- resulting in the disturbance of the peace.
In more colloquial terms: a group of 3+ people are violent or commit property damage or a similar disturbance while being pissed off about the same thing. For the sake of argument, this post will exclude riots that began over sporting events or in celebration of a sporting event.
An Abridged History of American Civil Rights
The Riot that They Called Something Else
1773: the British East India Company anchors their boat in Boston Harbor. That evening, a group of disgruntled colonizers decided to send a message. They gained access to the ship, and threw the cargo into the harbor.
3+ more people, further the common purpose of protesting a tax, through property damage, resulting in a disturbance of the peace. The Boston Tea Party was a riot. Americans teach their children that it was the start of the Revolution, and look upon it with patriotic pride. Regardless of whether they want to admit it or not, it was riot.
The Haymarket “Affair”
May 4th 1886: what began as a peaceful protest in favor of an 8-hour workday quickly became violent in Chicago. The protest started off fine, then the police came to disperse the meeting. At some point during the attempt to disperse the meeting, someone threw a stick of dynamite at the police. The chaos that followed took the lives of 7 police officers and at least 4 citizens. The event is remembered with International Worker’s Day on May 1st every year in every country except the United States.
Prior to this riot, American’s averaged 60-hour work weeks with 6 days a week on the clock. In the years following the standard 40 hours a week at 8 hours a day for 5 days took hold.
The Failure of the Mattachine Society
June 1969: There was an organization founded around the end of World War 1 that advocated for gay liberation in the United States. They called themselves the Mattachine Society. Their approach was to appeal to the heterosexuals by showing how homosexuals were “just like them, but gay!” They held socials, small demonstrations, and lobbied the government.
For all their efforts they successfully made exactly zero progress toward their goal. The Mattachine Society won no rights. The Gay Rights Movement isn’t considered to have really kicked-off until the New York City Police Department decided to raid a small hole-in-the-wall bar called the Stonewall.
At the time, it was common practice for police to raid gay bars. They would swoop in and arrest every single person there under the guise of “decency” laws, anti-sodomy laws, or whatever legal justification was most convenient. The only bars that were safe were those that could pay-off the police. Miss a payment, and expect all your patrons to be thrown in jail. A transgender African-American woman named Marsha P. Johnson was the first person to fight back against the police.
And what ensued is called the Stonewall Riot. This is the official “kick-off” date of the modern Gay Rights Movement. The riot was the impetus behind other homosexuals insisting on their worth.
2020 Race Riots
Summer 2020: in response to police killings of unarmed black men throughout the country, nation-wide riots ensued. In Chicago, the Government’s response included shutting down elevated train service, lifting all the bridges downtown, and a substantial police force stationed in the Magnificent Mile shopping district. There’s a discussion to be had here about the problems with police, but that is for another time.
It is worth noting that immediately following these riots there were a few brief days in which black people weren’t shot by the police. This is also when police officers began being indicted for doing so and taken to trial.
Riots Work
The common thread through history is that riots, generally speaking, work. In our American system, property damage (coupled with potential violence) has always been what gets the gears of societal change actually turning. Public schools overwhelmingly downplay this in history classes. The current curriculum expounds upon the peaceful protests of Martin Luther King Jr. or Mahatma Gandhi. However, there’s virtually no mention of the alternative choice. There’s virtually no mention of Malcolm X, nor a mention of the Hindu zealots that beheaded the British officers. Those parts of the movement are conveniently swept under the rug.
And they stay swept under the rug because the powers that be do not want societal change. Those in power strongly prefer the status quo, or better yet incremental change that makes things worse for the common people but better for their pocketbooks. Remember that.
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