Let me make one thing clear. I am in no way excusing the London riots. If you have issues with something or someone, take it up with them and leave everyone else out of it. And I think it’s crazy to be burning buildings and setting cars; even police cars and buses on fire. Replacing those things will cost money and if you should need to take a bus or call the police, how will they be able to assist you without a vehicle?
What I am concerned with are the questionable circumstances that led to it. It’s alleged that a guy was shot dead by the police while trying to arrest him. It’s my understanding that at first, the protests started out peacefully, and then erupted into violence which was really unfortunate. Some people are saying that it was because the urban youth felt that they were always at odds with the police, and also that the police weren’t doing enough to protect them. Some of those concerns do sound reasonable. People from all walks of life want to be safe, and no one wants to be treated differently because of where he lives, or because of his skin color.
Why I’m concerned is that, first, it was a black guy that got shot. People say it’s not about racism. Even the family of the man said it wasn’t about race. I don’t think so either, because I saw people from all races and ethnic backgrounds looting and burning. Some people, based on some of the comments I saw on news websites were turning into a race issue. Non-whites were saying hateful things about whites, whites were also saying hateful things about blacks. I’m confused, worried and scared by all of this. Someone even accused my country of origin, which is Jamaica of importing guns and drugs into London. You see I don’t know if race was a factor. There seems to be two sides of the story. What I’d like to know is if because of my skin color or country of origin am I going to be the first one to be hauled off to jail if a crime was committed and because I fit the profile of being “violent” because of my skin color?
What also concerns me is the fact that people are accusing the politicians of sticking up for the “hoodlums” and non-whites are accusing the politicians of ignoring them. It has also been said that Britian is divided into the “haves” and “have nots” and that there is a lot of emphasis on material wealth; hence people feel like they’re worth nothing if they don’t drive the flashiest cars or wear the latest clothes. I feel like that sometimes too; if I have to visit a place where it’s all about material wealth. I have family in New York, Brooklyn to be exact and to them, if you don’t have certain things, you’re worthless. I end up feeling that way based on the way they relate to me and the fact that I only want to shop at Wal-Mart instead of around Brooklyn where the price of clothes is a bit higher than what I’m willing to pay. I also got criticized and laughed at when I said I had a 1993 Honda Accord that has over 240,xxx miles on it. I was like Hello?! It’s just a car. Suffice it to say I wouldn’t want to live in New York because of that. I’m comfortable in the small town in Washington State where I went to school at where those things don’t matter. If the same is true in Britain, I see no reason why people who live in the urban ghettos feel the way they do.
I have to say that some of the comments I’ve read; including comments made by some of you who I follow on Twitter, or who follow me really scare me, and in some instances offend me. Some of those kids never had the opportunity some of us have to get adequate schooling or have good families. Many times, their parents don’t really care if they have an education. Many of those kids don’t have proper role models and are instead influenced by negative factors; rap music being a prime example. I mean, although I’m not exactly rich, I was sort of luckier than others, but it could have been me. It could have been anybody. What if that was the only environment I knew? What if my parents didn’t have money saved up to take care of my first years in college until things got tight when my dad died. That guy who got shot had a family, so did that cop who got shot. Just some guy got shot. Is that how cheap life is? If I had gotten shot by a trigger happy cop either because of mistaken identity or some other reason would people be talking that way about me? Is my life worth anything? If it doesn’t why?
All I can say is that I’m concerned about the riots in London. People are getting hurt, business places are being damaged, and the police have to be working overtime; which I’m sure must be stressful. I’m also concerned about what led to it starting in the first place. I think that the root causes of the riots need to be tackled and dealt with. Until they are, I’m afraid things like this will continue to happen.
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