White Riot: When You Own the Market You Don’t Need to Smash the Windows

With the Democratic governor preemptively declaring a state of emergency, Ferguson community members and supporters nationwide are preparing for the grand jury investigation that will result in no indictment for Darren Wilson. This has developed into fear-mongering by the media, a surge in gun sales, and the KKK threatening to use “lethal force” on protesters. It has incited even more racial tensions in an already divided community. The divide already existed, but has increased with a blatant callousness coming from the victors in the white power apparatus.

And. They. Don’t. Always. Wear. Sheets.

The focus is always pointed on the civil unrest that is feared to come from the black community, in response to yet another example of how the United States justice system is a manufactured sham supported by white fear. Expectations of property destruction and “looting” can be seen with every boarded-up market window and ammunition purchase. Oh, the fear of the black riot, of the black outcry, this has been a constant truth since the rebellion of the slaves; the master has always feared us.

But what about the white riot? ‘Cause when you own the market you don’t need to smash the windows. It is not necessary for you to protest to the police for justice because the police are there to protect you. When the institutions were created to serve you, there is no need to pick up stones.

I have found it difficult to use the #Ferguson hashtag without a swarm of Wilson’s white supremacist defenders coming soon after. In much the same way, I find it impossible to use the #Feminism hashtag without a trail of MRA types coming to tweet after me.  So eager are these white people to defend not only Officer Wilson but the continuation of Manifest Destiny. We see this not only with the murder of Michael Brown, but with gentrification, cultural appropriation, and the allowance of violence towards black people by the white community.

In the most recent election, we saw a concerted effort by whites to ensure the safety and continuation of white supremacy, while their white elected officials and judges created laws to suppress the black vote. It appears we have returned to a time that so many hoped the election of Barack Obama would have erased. The unsettled blood that has been spilled over generations is now rising through the cracks of anti-blackness and white supremacy.

The truth of the matter is that if Darren Wilson were charged and convicted with murder, whites would not only riot, but also use their institutional powers to retaliate against blacks in the same way the cops who wore the I am Darren Wilson bracelets have been targeting, harassing, beating and arresting protestors in Ferguson. These white rioters are legitimized because they have state sanctioned validity.

We all know Daren Wilson will not have charges filed, that he is being protected by those who are supposed to uphold the law in Missouri, and because of that people will have to create their own law, their own justice. Justice that has been deflected and buried will not be found by the hand that holds the gavel, but instead from the hand that throws the stone.