Two years ago, University of Southern California sociologist Karen Sternheimer wrote the essay “Civil Unrest, Riots and Rebellions: What’s the Difference?”
In spite of her ironic first name, Sterheimer makes the point that “Civil unrest often occurs when a group strives to gain attention for something they feel is unjust. People felt angry enough to disrupt the social order,” Steinheimer continued, “because many felt like the justice system had severely let them down.”
Certainly many on the right are outraged that those uprising (many black, but plenty white) are destroying private property, or stealing items from Target. But the right often puts property rights at the top of a rights hierarchy where civil rights and human rights are the bottom rungs.
When white students protested the retirement of coach and child abuse enabler Joe Paterno, the violence that left windows smashed and cars flipped was termed “a rally.”
“Resistance, as Marc Lamont Hill has said, “looks different ways to different people.”