On riots and anger

On Friday, the Daily Herald published a piece by Mr. Michael Barone titled: "Violent rioting, as in the 1960s, hurts the most disadvantaged." The piece itself is not necessarily dangerous or problematic. Instead, it is indicative of a larger problem with the discourse surrounding these riots.

As I see it, there are three opinions on the current state of affairs. On the one hand, we see those who wish to condemn the riots in their entirety, those who wish to excuse them and those who seek to learn from them. I am of the latter opinion.

While Mr. Barone rightly points out the self-destructive nature of rioting, his piece does very little to show the causative connections between distrust of police and violence. A recent PBS-Marist poll found that 48 percent of Black Americans have little or no confidence at all. That did not come out of nowhere. It comes from a long history of police brutality, a lack of accountability and a fundamental unwillingness to make the necessary changes to treat our citizens equally.

Public institutions are only so good as the faith they carry with the people and for the black community, there is little faith to be had when it comes to the police.

While we must endeavor to prevent violence and seek a more peaceful approach, we should also endeavor to understand why the people are rioting in the first place. If we don't we are doomed to have continuous rioting in our communities. I doubt anyone would support that.

Conor J. Kelly

Naperville