theatlantic | The people now calling for nonviolence are not prepared to answer
these questions. Many of them are charged with enforcing the very
policies that led to Gray's death, and yet they can offer no rational
justification for Gray's death and so they appeal for calm. But there
was no official appeal for calm when Gray was being arrested. There was
no appeal for calm when Jerriel Lyles
was assaulted. (“The blow was so heavy. My eyes swelled up. Blood was
dripping down my nose and out my eye.”) There was no claim for
nonviolence on behalf of Venus Green.
(“Bitch, you ain’t no better than any of the other old black bitches I
have locked up.”) There was no plea for peace on behalf of Starr Brown. (“They slammed me down on my face,” Brown added, her voice cracking. “The skin was gone on my face.")
When nonviolence is preached as an attempt to evade the repercussions
of political brutality, it betrays itself. When nonviolence begins
halfway through the war with the aggressor calling time out, it exposes
itself as a ruse. When nonviolence is preached by the representatives of
the state, while the state doles out heaps of violence to its citizens,
it reveals itself to be a con. And none of this can mean that rioting
or violence is "correct" or "wise," any more than a forest fire can be
"correct" or "wise." Wisdom isn't the point tonight. Disrespect is. In
this case, disrespect for the hollow law and failed order that so
regularly disrespects the rioters themselves.
