We can OCCUPY without destruction. I was in Los Angeles in May of 1992 watching as the riots were in full swing, as the stores in my neighborhood in Hollywood were being looted. The politically correct set like to refer to this time as "The Uprising". In fact it was anything but an uprising. I watched as people in mostly African American and Latino neighborhoods lit buildings on fire. I watched them destroy their own communities. I could see the billows of black smoke from my apartment window.
Nearly 20 years later I can tell you that nothing positive was accomplished this way.
The LA riots of 1992 were a huge setback to race relations in our city. More importantly, the riots were supposed to be an expression of outrage after several LAPD officers were acquitted in the Rodney King beating. I watched live on television as several black men dragged a white man out of his semi truck and beat him over the head with a metal fire extinguisher - nearly killing him. White people I knew who never had any issues with race were suddenly afraid of black people. Nothing was accomplished to improve race relations. Nothing was improved to get the LAPD to stop racially profiling. This will be obvious to some, but I'll make a point of stating it anyway - the vast majority of people of color were not rioting or looting during the entire mess, ever. The riots of LA were like trying to put out a fire using gasoline. It only gave those struggling with racial prejudice more of a feeling of justification.
The people of Los Angeles lost many of our rights (Please read Naomi Klein's book "Shock Doctrine). A curfew was imposed. I watched as the National Guard came in. I saw tanks, armored personnel carriers and there must have been thousands of uniformed men with riffles and machine guns standing on street corners. The sounds of helicopters kept me up all night. Is that what we want to achieve all across the country now? Is that how we take our power back? This is not a criticism of the past as far as how the Occupy Movement has conducted itself thus far as much as it is a warning about the future.
I saw with my own eyes and on live televised news that nearly everyone seen running down the street with a stolen color TV, or driving a car full of stolen electronics, that they had looted was either African American or Latin. Remember, the outrage was to express unfair treatment against people of color by the LAPD. People who were arrested looting (or what some might call "shopping with violence") were referred to by many as "political prisoners". I cannot begin to describe to you what an incredible polarizing effect this had on our community. Nothing positive was accomplished. Furthermore, many of those stores and other buildings that were burned down - they were never rebuilt. To rebuild a drug store where seniors can get their prescriptions filled is now seen as too much of a risky investment. These communities gained nothing and lost much, far too much.
What you see below is a video taken during the Occupy Oakland event (strong language) on November 2, 2011 - the day of the successful General Strike. Here race is less of an issue. But in principal we have the same problem rearing its ugly head. Anarchists, who have been referred to as "The Black Bloc" not because of their race but because they carry black flags, cover their faces and wear all black, are seen destroying property. You will see in the video that many of them are Caucasian. The comparisons I have made to LA in 1992 are not about race but about a protest that threatens to work against its own best interest. Many people reading this will miss that point entirely even if I put it in bold face.
We are better than this. We can take back our power in this country without behaving like maniacs. Practically speaking its quite simple: the more rioting, the more the power elite will use this to take away our rights and to increase their power. Since Obama broke his campaign promise and has renewed the Patriot Act, its now easier than ever for the rulers to take away our rights while expanding their power. All they need is the smallest excuse. Let's not give them any!
The Occupy Movement is a marathon and not a sprint. The fact that we have taken to the streets is a quantum leap forward. Now we are now in dialogue with each other. We can solve the problems we have in this country together. But we will not maintain solidarity if we become divided - and rioting and looting and shopping with violence will create division - something the Chairman of Goldman Sachs would love to have a big chuckle about while having drinks at the club and signing Obama's "Employee of the Year" certificate.
As more and more journalists are hit with police batons, arrested and pepper sprayed, factions of the mainstream media are starting to see the light. Let's give them a good story to report - one about how we the people, united in nonviolent resistance are taking our power back. Stay nonviolent. Stay the course.
Peace,
Eric Allen Bell
http://www.EricAllenBell.org
OCCUPY TOGETHER - OCCUPY WITHIN
Protesters using black bloc tactics attack Whole Foods, Wells Fargo and
Bank of America in an otherwise peaceful march during the November 2nd
successful General Strike in Oakland, California.
"The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."
- Hermann Wilhelm Göring
(12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946)
Nazi founder of the Gestapo