When the riots in Watts happened half a century ago, I was a UCLA student with a summer job at a campground in the nearby San Gabriel mountains. Black friends of ours, solidly middle class, were frightened enough by the expanding violence to come camp with us for the duration. All of us were shocked by events.
But riots stemming from racial and class injustices haven't shocked or surprised me for a long time. Baltimore today is just another chorus. What shocks me is how little has changed. In fact, with regard to rich and poor empowerment, the present is worse. Double standards of justice are more entrenched than ever. Media bias is more misleading than ever.
I hear the same bullshit rhetoric. I see the same refusal to face racism and classism head on.
We get the history we deserve.
But riots stemming from racial and class injustices haven't shocked or surprised me for a long time. Baltimore today is just another chorus. What shocks me is how little has changed. In fact, with regard to rich and poor empowerment, the present is worse. Double standards of justice are more entrenched than ever. Media bias is more misleading than ever.
I hear the same bullshit rhetoric. I see the same refusal to face racism and classism head on.
We get the history we deserve.
