Thoughts on London riots
In 1968, the West Side of Chicago was ablaze. Martin Luther King Jr. was just assassinated, and the West Side's African American residents rioted. The riots also touched the African-American portions of the South Side, but not to the same extent as the West Side.
That's right - the notorious Chicago South Side actually got off easy.
The riots ended three days later, but the long-term damage was much more severe. For most West Side businesses, this was one riot too many. Seemingly overnight, the thriving Washington Street and Lake Street commercial corridor became an empty shell. Hundreds of burnt-down buildings were never rebuilt again. Many buildings that did survive were abandoned as its owners and tenants fled.
Over forty years later, the West Side still hasn't quite recovered from the riot damage. You can walk for miles and miles and see blocks with vacant lots, the ravaged sidewalks, boarded-up houses and storefronts, abandoned factories.... There is the pervasive, unrelenting sense of emptiness. Sometimes, the streets get so quiet that you can hear cars from blocks away.
Ever since the riots, the city pretty much wrote the West Side off. And it shows.
Are there exceptions? Yes. Some neighborhoods fared better than others. But even then, few have much to brag about.
The London riots started in Tottenham, a poor immigrant hub in north London. The area has a long history of gang violence and an equally long history of conflict with the police. The riots started after the police fatally shot Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old Tottenham resident and an alleged gang member. Or, at least, that was the "official" cause. It doesn't take a social scientist to see that the riot was a product of decades of social tensions. If the relationship between Tottenham and law enforcement was better, they would not have been so quick to assume the police were in the wrong. And I am sure there are other grievances, grievances that the residents felt weren't adequately addressed.
The riots happen because the people feel hopeless, helpless and ignored. That's what happened in Chicago West Side, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr suffered one of his greatest defeats after his attempt to end housing and employment discrimination through non-violence failed against a hostile populace backed by a deeply corrupt political machine. And that is what happened in London, where the government has been moving to cut social programs that benefit the poor and anti-immigrant attitudes are on the rise.
London will survive this. It has survived far worse. But as I continue to listen to the news, I wonder - what would happen to Tottenham.
Will it become another West Side?
For the sake of the entire London and United Kingdom, I hope that this won't be the case.
That's right - the notorious Chicago South Side actually got off easy.
The riots ended three days later, but the long-term damage was much more severe. For most West Side businesses, this was one riot too many. Seemingly overnight, the thriving Washington Street and Lake Street commercial corridor became an empty shell. Hundreds of burnt-down buildings were never rebuilt again. Many buildings that did survive were abandoned as its owners and tenants fled.
Over forty years later, the West Side still hasn't quite recovered from the riot damage. You can walk for miles and miles and see blocks with vacant lots, the ravaged sidewalks, boarded-up houses and storefronts, abandoned factories.... There is the pervasive, unrelenting sense of emptiness. Sometimes, the streets get so quiet that you can hear cars from blocks away.
Ever since the riots, the city pretty much wrote the West Side off. And it shows.
Are there exceptions? Yes. Some neighborhoods fared better than others. But even then, few have much to brag about.
The London riots started in Tottenham, a poor immigrant hub in north London. The area has a long history of gang violence and an equally long history of conflict with the police. The riots started after the police fatally shot Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old Tottenham resident and an alleged gang member. Or, at least, that was the "official" cause. It doesn't take a social scientist to see that the riot was a product of decades of social tensions. If the relationship between Tottenham and law enforcement was better, they would not have been so quick to assume the police were in the wrong. And I am sure there are other grievances, grievances that the residents felt weren't adequately addressed.
The riots happen because the people feel hopeless, helpless and ignored. That's what happened in Chicago West Side, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr suffered one of his greatest defeats after his attempt to end housing and employment discrimination through non-violence failed against a hostile populace backed by a deeply corrupt political machine. And that is what happened in London, where the government has been moving to cut social programs that benefit the poor and anti-immigrant attitudes are on the rise.
London will survive this. It has survived far worse. But as I continue to listen to the news, I wonder - what would happen to Tottenham.
Will it become another West Side?
For the sake of the entire London and United Kingdom, I hope that this won't be the case.