A Nation of Riots

We are a nation of riots. Before we became a nation, we rioted against the British Crown. When we became a nation, we enshrined the rights necessary for riots, the right to gather and the right to bear arms, as part of the foundations of this nation. When we finally understood, as a nation, that we must choose between owning others and liberty, we fought, and decided through violence who was right. Those on the losing side with honor surrendered, and we became whole once again. When we, as a nation, needed to learn that simply promising rights without enforcing them would not be enough, we rioted. Over and over and over. When we, as a nation, were done with the war, we rioted. When we, as a nation, wanted freedoms not yet given to all of us, we rioted.

Riots are like wars in this: no patriot looks forward to them, nor condones them blindly, but acknowledges their inevitability and their necessity. I do not condone violence, but to say that riots are not in the marrow of this nation, making the lifeblood of freedom we have come to enjoy, is a lie. We must protect our rights, the rights of all Americans, and that means we must protect the property of our government, our business owners, our neighbors, and our families, but that does not mean we destroy all of the Americans calling for change.

I do not condone the violence, I do not concede that it is necessary, but I stand with the American patriots on both sides, such as Chief of Police David Roddy of Chattanooga, such as Sheriff Chris Swanson of Genesee County in Michigan, such as the rapper and community leader Killer Mike of Atlanta, such as reporter Omar Jimenez, who all agree on one thing: our system needs to change. And every other time in our history that our system needed to change, we, as a nation, rioted.

We can do better than to simply send the military in and quell the riots. We can do better than to allow the federal government to control units that have only been trained for war. We can do better than to sacrifice those soldiers, airmen, sailors, and marines, as well as civilians, to quell our fear. Fear is good. Fear is healthy. We must be afraid, because there is something to fear: our nation failing to be the best it can be. If it took a thousand riots to bring us to this fear, then so be it.

Authorities: Arrest those observed committing crimes, regardless of their relation to a protest. We have hundreds if not thousands of videos showing their faces, their locations, and their crimes. If you see your comrades violate the law, become emotionally compromised, or harm people out of fear, hold them accountable. They are not evil, but they may need correction.

Protesters: the time to be peaceful to those who infiltrate your movements and push for violence is over. Stop them, restrain them, and take them to be arrested. Turn them over to the police, give a statement, file a report, and let the authorities know that if some people want to turn this into a two-sided conflict, the protests are not the other side.

Those at home: make your voices heard. Contact your lawmakers, your authorities, your President, and let them know that you want the riots to end without trampling on the rights of law-abiding Americans. Write them online, send them letters, call their offices. Become a nuisance until justice has come.

We are all Americans. We are all America. And we can stand together.