A short rant about the need for victims to be perfect & react perfectly to violence and oppression

[bigtree]

4. it's understandable to measure that emotional reaction against what's being protested

. . .As the family said, shortly after the killing, violent and destructive reactions would not be in line with the wishes of the victim.

However, those reactions are a predictable and almost inevitable consequence of police brutality directed toward a particular community or racial (or otherwise) group of citizens acting within the law.

During the civil rights protests in the '50's and '60's we could see the same violent reactions, and there evolved a decidedly more peaceful, non-violent response from other quarters which was in very direct and active conflict with each others tactics and expressions of protest.

What evolved, and what I believed prevailed for the better, was a leadership (mainly from the churches) which developed and adhered to non-violent protests which provided a useful and ultimately productive contrast with the government's and individual violent acts of brutality and discrimination.

I hope they can organize that kind of response.