When is a riot not a riot?

You’ve no doubt seen news coverage of the recent tragic events in France last week. You are also likely aware of the ambush and murder of two New York City police officers last month. These stories have generated wall-to-wall coverage in the news media that is, in some respects, ongoing. However, unless you are a news junkie or follow the right accounts on Twitter, you are probably unaware of a failed bombing attempt of the NAACP offices in Colorado, or a recently foiled domestic terrorism plot in rural Georgia.

In one respect, the discrepancy in coverage makes a certain amount of sense. The adage “that if it bleeds it leads” is a truism for a reason, but on another level, it reflects differing approaches and standards for how news is covered. If you doubt me I’d like you to take a look at this headline and then look at this one. I’ll go ahead and spoil the suspense; the first headline describes the scene after Ohio State fans set nearly 90 fires after their team triumphed in the inaugural college football playoff as “revelry”. The second headline describes the aftermath of the protests in Ferguson, Missouri after a grand jury failed to indict police officer Darren Wilson for killing unarmed teenager Michael Brown as “riot-scarred”.

The truth is that media in this country is a creature of the establishment, and it has an interest, financial and otherwise, in pandering to the sensibilities of other members of the establishment. Don’t misread my intent here, the establishment is important; it is vital to the material well-being of millions of people in this country. Your local gas and electric company is a part of the establishment. You won’t hear me arguing that it must be dismantled. The same holds true for our colleges and universities. I would like to see reform, but I am in no way inclined to throw out the baby with the bath water. However, the truth is that if you are a person of color, chances are that you are not a part of that establishment. If you are a poor or working-class person, you are probably not a part of it either. If you’re a member of the middle-class (however that gets defined in this country) and you’re attempting to hang on to that, I think it’s important to realize that one of the things that the system is trying to do to you, is to make it so that your voice and your life experience is just as marginalized as those people whom they call rioters. That is the lesson of the last three and a half decades of American life. It is only through solidarity that we can push back against the hollowing-out of the middle class, and to offer the opportunity of a better life to all Americans. If you’re inclined to retain your place at the table, the answer is not to look down for someone to step on in the hopes of propping yourself up for a brief time, but to look up at the forces that are attempting to push you down and negate your existence, and to insist that all lives have meaning. The meaning you preserve is almost assuredly to eventually be your own.