Thread: Rioting. does it actually effect change?

Once again, I find myself thinking this over and attempt to write this in a way where I have to showcase restraint. First off Kenkay, I in no way ignored the initial point in your OP. What happened during the Civil Rights days is in fact a part of history now. However, what you flat out missed my point on - again, because you mentioned it - is what message would that send? And how would others on the outside of that recieve said message? Keep in mind, I'm not talking about the Civil Rights Era now. I'm talking about the here and now. But yet, when I think about it still, you brought this up twice now. But here's the really funny thing. Though John F. Kennedy did have quite a bit of influence during his time as President, it's not nearly as big as you think. It took Lyndon B. Johnson to push that legislation through, since he had more sway due to the fact that he was a Southern Democrat from Texas and that he had far more insight into Congress and its inner workings as well as a more intimidating demeanor to get things done He once told one opponent of the Civil Rights Bill, If you get in the way, I'm going to run you down. as opposed to JFK who was a Northern Democrat from Massachusetts that never got along with the aging members of Congress. That's not saying he wasn't a stuffed shirt Boy Scout, mind you. He was just too young for their liking. Moreover, while he was a staunch supporter of the Civil Rights movement, he wasn't nearly as vocal about it as LBJ was. But think of it like this If Kennedy wasn't assassinated, the push for Civil Rights would've taken longer . He still would've served as a highly effective president for sure, but the chances of that bill ever getting passed would've been slim to none or it would've been far weaker. Furthermore, there'd be seemingly no end to the bloodshed, the firebombings, the assassinations and all that. It would've kept on going way into the 1970s. Would it have become a platform during the elections of 1968? Of course. Quick little sidebar here. If you were to also combine what was going on in South Vietnam at the time, which JFK was strongly opposed to Communism but was also a realist at the same time, he still would've gone through with the Vietnam War, but he would've handled it far more diplomatically. There would still be boots on the ground and numerous lives would be lost, but not nearly as grand a scale as what the real result was. Ultimately, JFK would've ultimately lost South Vietnam, from various theories I've heard around. The Hippie Movement still would've sprung up from this, too. Click to expand... But this is - again - assuming that JFK wasn't assassinated and left LBJ to pick up where he left off. As a matter of fact, LBJ once stated that by not doing so i.e., pass the bill and its provisions that would soon follow including expanded health care, housing, voting rights, etc., etc., would be dishonoring JFK's memory. We all know what happened from there onward. If you were to really think about it like this and while Kennedy definitely deserves the credit, it's really Johnson who basically took all of his ideas and without caring an iota of whose feet he stomped on or how many, he pushed all that through. As I said in the op, I don't condone violence against those that have not initiate it. I would rather see rioters destroying police stations and what not than private businesses. Click to expand... Try telling that to the parents of Michael Brown. Try telling that to the parents of Freddie Gray. Try telling that to anybody that was involved in any of the riots the year before. You can't predict as to what they'll do since once it starts, it's Anything Goes. The people within those two incidents didn't care a wink as to who or what got in the way. And yeah, sure, knock over a police station along the way, regardless of the fact that there's other such criminals behind bars that we could let out totally on purpose and make it look like it was done on accident and it wouldn't be our fault! Nope! Barring that bit of sarcasm, this is exactly how a rioter's mind works. Their immediate thought is to cause as much damage as possible to wherever, hurt whoever is or isn't even remotely involved regardless of what side they just so happen to be on, all while crying foul of all things they feel is wrong. Do you not see the hypocracy of this mindset?