...MANUSCRIPT Hello everyone, my name is Nikolaj Bisgaard and I am an 18-year-old student from London. I have been invited to this conference to talk about riots. I want to talk about the reasons for the riots, which found place in London, and come with suggestions to prevent similar situations. The reason to the riots The reason to the riots in Tottenham were because of that an Afro-Caribbean man was killed by police, and the cops didn’t notify his family or provide a particularly convincing version of his death, but the riots in London had no link to the Tottenham riots, they just wanted to smash something and they just waited for an excuse. And they got their excuse, and they smashed a lot of buildings and stores. For underprivileged young people in Britain today, “there’s a sense of hopelessness,” says David Lammy, the M.P. from Tottenham, who was sounding the alarm about violent unrest months before the riots. “At the same time this happened in Tottenham, we got the best [school test] results that we’ve ever had. Those young people, they need to know that they can make it. The jobs need to be there. The prospect of going to university needs to be there.” I understand David Lammy, because the youngsters are forced to go to school, especially by their parents. And the young people want to know that it is good for the future and that it will help them get a good payed job. What can be done to prevent similar situations in the future? So what can be done to prevent similar...
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...I have been following these events mostly because it is hard not to, for it seems that it is all that news sources are reporting on. I feel that it is ludicrous that the BPD could be so careless; it should not b this hard to keep a suspect in custody alive. I totally agree with President Obama, he is one hundred percent correct. The people of Baltimore, who are taking advantage of this horrible situation, should face punishment for their actions. I disagree with the opinion with of the op-ed piece, peaceful protests do work. However the way that they work id what I don’t like. They way they work are by disrupting streets and roads, which is bad for the city of Baltimore. This kind of violence is pointless and will never be justified; the police needs to treat all people with the same amount of respect. I agree with the president, I think that this country, especially our police departments, needs to ask ourselves what battle we are winning by further separating all of our races. Essentially this unjust violence is unwinding the fabric of civil rights that activists like Martin Luther King died for, and it needs to be stopped before it is all undone and becomes one horrible, tangled mess. As of now, I believe that everyone: churches, schools, moms dads, kids, teens and what have you need to tell, not ask for it, but tell the government that something needs to be done. I do agree that the media is twisting this story pas its breaking point. For example a news station might say “TODAY...
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...Nathan Kotylak: Individual Error or Mob Mistake? A look at the 2011 Vancouver Riot On March 13th 1964 Kitty Genovese was murdered outside her apartment as more than ten residents in the apartments above watched her die and did nothing. In the late thirties and early forties Adolf Hitler convinced men and women to effectively exterminate two thirds of the European Jewish population. On June 15th 2011, over 100 people were arrested for disorderly conduct by fighting, looting, and even burning police cars after the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals, most notably Nathan Kotylak, seventeen year old student from Maple Ridge. What do these three situations have in common? They all involve the mob mentality in both an active and passive sense. While Kitty Genovese was being murdered, many residents in the apartments above displayed the bystander effect and followed Cialdini’s principle of social proof. They all followed the lead of similar others and did nothing to address the situation in hopes that someone else would deal with it. Germany ruled by Hitler was the most extreme example of social proof and also showcased the demonstrative tactics used by Hitler to control the minds of citizens. The Vancouver Riot followed a similar path to both scenarios- like those who watch Kitty be stabbed to death over a 30 minute time span, some Vancouverites did nothing. Like the thousands of Hitler followers who killed innocent civilians, some acted in ways that went against their moral and ethical frameworks...
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...and in some occasion’s humorous way. This is the case, when he comments on the riot conflicts in England, though with a serious twist to it. Throughout the text, Brand has a tendency to use a strong degree of irony and sarcasm to make his statements very clear: “Saying the behavior (of the people attending riots) is unjustifiable and unacceptable- Wow! Thanks guys! What a wonderful use of the planets oxygen resources. ” As the quote proves, Brand also uses these clear statements to show what his view on these riots is. As the style of the commentary goes, irony and sarcasm are not the only two supplements Brand uses. Another addition is his use of swear words and slang that makes the text, and Brands view, more clear: “no wonder they have their fucking hoods up” and “dopey ol’ Boris.” Brand has maybe also chosen to use this kind of language to make it easier for the lower social classes to understand, since his commentary is mainly directed towards them. Although, the receivers of this text is the general population of the UK as well. In addition, to make the commentary more personal, Brand uses personal pronouns like “I” and “we” to make it seem like he is talking personally to his receivers. Due to this personal aspect of the commentary, Brand wants the readers of the commentary to think about what could be done about the problem. He is, in other words trying to help the problem by making the riot problem an active subject through this personal aspect. Furthermore, it could be...
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...UK RIOTS 2011 Between the 6th and 11th of August 2011 thousands of people rioted in cities across England participating in looting, arson and vandalism. The rioting occurred after a peaceful demonstration on the 4th of August in Tottenham over the death of local 29-year-old father of four Mark Duggan who was a victim of a still-unresolved shooting by the police. 1. Text 1 “Experts Cite Underlying Causes for UK Riots” is a news report by Al Pessin published on Voice of America website the 10th of August 2011. The report consists of people giving an estimate of the causes for the UK riots. The inhabitants of London believe at first sight the riots are a response in reaction to lack of jobs and cuts in government services following a feeling of despondency and hopelessness. First hand witnesses reports that such is not the case. Chris Hamnett works as a geography professor at King’s College London. He explains the hectic restlessness in London by saying the inhabitants of African and Caribbean origin are more likely to participate in demonstrations than other Britons judged by their economic -, social – and cultural capital. He points out the connection between these ethnic groups and their criminal records. Hamnett partly agrees with Basani Mabyalane neighboring and Erika Lopez, who is a member of HYPE. They are convinced, that the looting is a result of boredom and poor empowering of young people. Prime Minister David Cameron blames the involved and cites the schools and...
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...Civil Rights Diary - Watts Riots Brad Ellis HIS145 July 31, 2013 Alice Jones Civil Rights Diary - Watts Riots Sunday August 15, 1965: It has been a few days since I last wrote in my diary. It has been very busy around the entire city of Las Angeles. It started on Wednesday August 11th. I had just got home from working at the Douglas Outlet Co. and was looking forward to writing in my diary about the raise I got from my boss. Then I heard my neighbor Ronald yelling for his mom. He was yelling, “Mom they are going to take the car and Marquette.” I went outside and saw a large amount of people, more than I could count, running down the street toward Avalon Blvd. When I got to the corner of 116th street and Avalon Blvd, I saw Marquette, Ronald’s brother getting a yelling at from his mother Rena Price. Then it started to get wild! Somehow Rena got pushed and Marquette got hit by someone. The policemen started to fight with Marquette and Ronald and their mother Rena jumped on the backs of the policemen. By this time, the crowd had doubled or tripled in size. The crowd was not happy about the situation. It took about five minutes for the police to put all three of my neighbors under arrest. Once they had them in the back of the police car, they left as fast as they could. There were still a couple of policemen there, and they went to leave but the crowd started to hurl rocks and bricks at their car as they left. The policemen stopped the car and went to arrest another women...
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..."Burma Road” has been described as the very first sign of a popular movement in the Bahamas, and in the 1988 memoir of Randol Fawkes (The Faith that Moved the Mountain), he features the birth of the labor movement to the 1942 riots: "As long as Fort Fincastle rests on that immovable rock in our capital city," he marked, "parents shall tell their children, and their children shall tell their own of the saga of Burma Road." For most of the Bahamians Burma Road refers to the 1942 riots over pay for the men who worked on the wartime air bases in Nassau. Two rioters were killed by the British troops, more than 40 people were incapacitated and hundreds were arrested, but those unmatched events also led to long overdue transformations. Explosives were used to puncture through the limestone hills behind the caves to provide fill for the new airfield. But there are more important parallels between what is going on in Burma today, and what took place in the Bahamas 65 years ago. In those days it was illegal for employees to “pool “against their employer. But when the airfield project began mopping up some of Nassau's unemployment, two proto unions came together to form the Bahamas Federation of Labor, which Fawkes later led. As a teenager he recalled the events of June 1, 1942: "When we reached the corner of Marlborough and Cumberland streets we heard a large shout. On looking toward the hilltop we saw hundreds of ragged black workers moving downhill towards us.. Some walked swiftly, blowing...
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...London Riots The London Riots occurred in 2011. It first started on Saturday August 6 and ended on Thursday August 11. Thousands of people rioted in several London boroughs and in cities and towns all over England. The riots are sometimes referred to as the "BlackBerry riots" because of the use of mobile phones and social medias to organize them. The riot first began in Tottenham, North London after the death of Mark Duggan. 29-year-old Mark Duggan was shot by the police in Tottenham on August 4, 2011. He was shot in the chest because the police had suspicion that he had a weapon and was planning an attack. This event wouldn't have turned to much if Mark was not dark skinned. No one would have given it a second thought, but he was. There was always tension between black people and the police since 1985 the Broadwater Farm riot. Since 1985 there was progress in the relationship but the shooting raised the tension once again. According to David Lammy, Labour MP for Tottenham, Duggan's death was part of "a history in Tottenham that involves deaths in the police custody". Claudia Webbe the chairperson of Operation Trident, asserted that many black people saw Dugan's shooting as "yet another unjust death in custody" and that young people in Tottenham are "still six, seven eight times more likely to be stopped and searched than their white counterparts". One of the reasons I think the riots occurred and turned to more than just a protest was because of what Claudia Webbe said. Black...
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...During this week in class was the introduction and the question to what is minority studies? Minority studies was born in the 60s and is a social science which is a science of society. It looks at the history of this course and why it is taught. There is a difference between a riot and a rebellion. A riot is a violent disturbance of peace by a crowd and a rebellion is violence of an open resistance to an established government or ruler. Some examples discussed in class were race riots in Florida in 1989 and in 1992 with the Rodney King beating that was caught on camera by 4 police officers. An example of a rebellion would be the Syrian rebellion of 2012. Also, what is minority studies is a worldwide view specifically a perspective of your personal...
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...Before the Zoot Suit Era emerged, in 1941, there were many Mexican’s that immigrated to California, Texas and Arizona but Los Angeles had the highest concentration of Mexican Americans. Whites and Mexican Americans soon enough separated into their own areas and with unfair employment between them, the tension between the two began to rise. The Los Angeles Times also helped in the tension, as they portrayed a negative messages about Mexican Americans and often times referred to them as “Pachucos” according to Wikipedia Article “Zoot Suit Riots”. Since the start of World War II, the nation decided to cut back on certain manufacturing products to help fund and support the war efforts, such as the 26% cut-back in fabrics, which in result, forbade the manufacturing of the Zoot Suit, since they required excessive fabrics. Servicemen, Military Personnel and White American’s saw the fashion of the Zoot Suiters as “unpatriotic” and “extravagant” and traditional Mexican families feared their children would...
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...To begin with, life in prison as exhibited by Zoot Suit Riots by Luis Valdez and What you can do after shutdown by Peter Malae are similar because they both talk about prison in their stories. In Zoot Suit Riots, it states “Henry Reyna is falsely accused and convicted of the murder and is imprisoned until an appeal can demonstrate that he was not inv There are many similarities as well as differences in Zoot Suit Riots by Luis Valdez and Peter Malae’s stories. The authors address similar topics such as discrimination, prison life, and perseverance in an oppressive system. Zoot Suit Riots by Luis Valdez and Peter Malae’s stories both include different topics such as the effects of the length of time in prison which is displayed in one of...
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...treatment of the lower class led to the break out of riots in New York City in 1863 I. Introduction II. Causes A. Civil War B. Abraham Lincoln calls for a draft 1. Rich could buy their way out for 300 dollars or a substitute 2. Blacks were exempt 3. Irish immigrants and poor whites were angry C. They came to America to start a new and better life but it was the opposite 4. Found misery 5. Discriminated against D. They couldn’t buy themselves out of the war and didn’t want to fight in the war 1. They didn’t want freed blacks to come up North and compete with them for jobs 2. Used blacks as scapegoats E. Believed their social, political, and economical status was declining and blacks were gaining F. They were targeted by the Irish Immigrants 1. Were exempt from the draft 2. Were going to become free and compete for jobs with the Irish immigrants III. Background A. How it started B. Draft Lottery IV. The Attacks A. Poor whites injured and killed blacks in vicious and cruel ways 6. Beat them, jumped on their chests, used stones, and by hanging them 7. Killed men, women, children, and infants B. Whites destroyed black homes and orphanages C. President Lincoln sent the militia to New York City to suppress the riots V. Specific people who were killed A. ...
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...Big brother isn’t watching you A riot mostly occurs in reaction to a perceived grievance or simply out of dissent. Void and community spirit has since forever been in an everlasting fight because of the human mind and its diversity. When rioters act it is due to a feeling of being mistreated in a divided society where an inability to provide success for all human beings is valid. But instead of labelling rioters as mindless, we need to ask ourselves why they are led to the conclusion that starting a riot is the only way of gaining attention. That is why Russell Brand, English comedian, actor, radio host, author and activist, who now lives in Los Angeles, California, commentates on English riots and why they occur. His commentary is posted in the British newspaper called “The Guardian”, where he also tries to explain the rioters’ motive for the 2011 UK riots. First Brand starts of by explaining how he no longer lives in London and how some may find it bizarre for him to comment on matters in his homeland. However, Brand feels strongly connected to native country and finds it necessary to comment on the 2011 UK riots, as he himself feels deeply afflicted by them. In addition to his attachment to his homeland and therefore the rioters, he initiates his commentary with an explanation of how he never actually had interest in the fictitious theatrics in reality TV. Expect when he was working for Big Brother, a reality game show, where contestants are continuously monitored...
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...faculty/student committee and their allocation of funds. The issue at hand is that four different groups(a predominantly white religious group, LGBT group, African American group, and Hispanic group- no other groups are mentioned) that represent students on campus are vying for funds to be allocated to them for their specific speaker. Because the LGBT group seemingly presented a better platform for their speaker, they received the majority of the money. The African American and Hispanic groups received less money. The predominantly white religious group was not mentioned as receiving money; however, a white group was mentioned as being at the riot and looking for a reason to loot and vandalize. The issue seems to have the following possibilities as to why the riot is happening: 1) racial/ethnic tensions already happening on campus seem to help spark the riot when certain groups did not get the money they wanted 2) the issue could also stem from a sexuality issue as the LGBT group received the majority of the money, yet the other groups are listed by race, the campus could have problems with sexuality and have issues with accepting 3) pride could...
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...probation in the shooting death of a Black teen, Los Angeles exploded into one of the most destructive episodes of civil unrest in American history. Korean businesses were the primary target of looters in the 1992 Los Angeles riots, as Los Angeles holds the nation's largest Korean American community of 145,000. For Korean Americans, the riot fundamentally altered their course of life in America. The riots had a profound economic, psychological and ideological impact that it is often referred to as a "turning point," and "defining moment" for a century’s history of Korean immigration to the United States. When the smoke cleared, Korean Americans were among those suffering the heaviest losses: Korean merchants suffered five shop owners killed, 2,100 Korean American-owned stores had been burned or damaged, amounting to about $400 million in losses, nearly half the city’s total. Not just landscape was essentially erased, personal identity also vanished for many Koreans. According to a study conducted about a year after the riots, almost 40% of Korean-Americans said they were thinking of leaving Los Angeles. The Korean American Inter- Agency Council(KAIAC) conducted a study and found that 15% of college-age youth had dropped out of school because of the riots. The council also found, of the 2,100 Korean businesses burned or looted, fewer than one in four have reopened. Korean Americans learned valuable lessons of what it means to be a minority group in...
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