As we learned in class, there has been a history of riots
taking place in urban areas. Especially in the US, there has been a
longstanding history of riots. These acts of civil disorder take place because
a group of people become frustrated and, at times, feel forced to resort to
violence. Some reasons for the beginning of a riot include poor working
conditions, oppression, conflicts between ethnic groups, and government. Riots
can range from being relatively harmless all the way to violent and extremely
dangerous. Riots are definitely an issue that needs to be addressed. I
personally think the best method of this would be preventative measures rather
than dealing with effects after a riot. For instance, addressing potential
issues such as racial conflicts prior to the outbreak of a riot in urban areas
would be best in order to ensure a riot does not occur.
A particularly violent prison riot from the Riot Spreadsheet
we worked on in class Tuesday, the New Mexico Penitentiary Riot, took place on
February 2 and 3, 1980. Rioting inmates held officers hostage, and took to
gruesome acts of violence such as beating, stabbing, and raping. Overall, 33
inmates lost their lives, and least 90 inmates suffered serious injuries. The
outbreak is said to have occurred due to security breeches, lack of training
for guards, prisoners’ anger and frustration, and disregard of warning signs.
As I mentioned above, the deterrence of this tragedy (and others similar to it
in the future) lies in preventative measures like attentiveness to warning
signs and proper training for all guards and officials.
Here is an interesting link to America’s most destructive
riots of all time. Most have a common theme of frustration or conflict between
demographic groups that has played a significant role in their occurrence. I
believe these destructive riots should truly be an important concern for the
government to address, especially in urban areas. If appropriate preventative
measures are taken to address the range of reasons causing riots before an
outbreak occurs, America will be a safer and much more peaceful place.
I agree with you that taking preventative measures against riots and violence in general would be beneficial for everyone. However, it can be difficult to determine when riots will break out, especially if those planning them are upset about something, but keeping their emotions/meetings hidden. I think that as long as people disagree about viewpoints, the possibility of a riot breaking out is always going to be there because people often get so outraged that the only way they feel they can get their point across is through violence.
ReplyDeleteSorry, I forgot my name!
DeleteI agree with you that taking preventative measures against riots and violence in general would be beneficial for everyone. However, it can be difficult to determine when riots will break out, especially if those planning them are upset about something, but keeping their emotions/meetings hidden. I think that as long as people disagree about viewpoints, the possibility of a riot breaking out is always going to be there because people often get so outraged that the only way they feel they can get their point across is through violence.
-Rachel Atkins, Group 4
As important as riots are to society, how would you say the different hosting areas try to quell the violence? Ive seen riots from anything from sports to workers compensation. Its a crazy world out there as one can see. Have you ever seen the video of the riots in Egypt from soccer? CRAZY. People are trampled to death. Lastly, would you consider Black Friday a riot? As in when Wal Mart opens its doors and shoppers trample people to death?
ReplyDelete-Jesse Wachtel...group 22
I agree with group 4's comment in that although it would be beneficial to take preventative actions to avoid riots, it would difficult to determine when in fact a riot is going to take place. Most riots are spontaneous and not planned out by a group of people. If you take the LA riots of 1992 for example, which resulted in $1 billion in damages and 53 people dead. It was sparked from a single incident of police brutality, and the riots that endured afterward could not be easily stopped. Although, the police brutality was avoidable, the single incident sparked a revolt by the citizens of LA. Although it is necessary to take action to avoid riots, not all riots are avoidable.
ReplyDeleteJordan Hensberger, Group 5
You made a very interesting point about how we should try to prevent riots from happening rather than fixing the aftermath. I do agree that it would be difficult to predict where a riot would happen but i'm sure the government is smart enough to know that something is wrong and that the people are unhappy.
ReplyDeleteI like your point of government responsibility in providing security and preventing a riot or an act of violence. Currently I am doing a research on Greek's debt situation. In such case that the government actions are causing the citizen up rise due to the EU's austerity measures, it may be that the government reconstruction is inevitable.
ReplyDeleteI think that riots can be prevented, but authorities do not feel like addressing the issues until they don't have a choice. In other words, riots do not arise blindly. They happen after concerns and questions have been raised, but only to be ignored. A riot is a way to give a concern a stronger voice, when before it was not being listened to. If authorities, government officials in particular, would take a minute to TRULY listen to the concerns of the civilians, and take action on it, riots would not be an issue.
ReplyDelete-Rachel Gordon
I think that riots are a natural event that will happen regardless of what is happen for at all times there will be unrest in the cities and urban areas so at all points in history. If this happens then it will be a conflict for always, anyone that believes it is possible to stop riots then they are wanting to live in a utopian ideas.
ReplyDelete-Sean Ledbetter
Good blog post. I really like how you brought up the New Mexico Riot because it emphasizes to the world how brutal people can act in certain situations. It also shows that sometimes the people running the society are making wrong decisions because prison guards should not be trained to kill inmates just because they had a form of protest or riot. Although riots are going to continue to happen and be inevitable for several years, we must find a way to stop sacrificing so many human lives during the process.
ReplyDelete-SeongHo David Choi
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ReplyDeleteEven in the most settled places, riots can always occur. However, I agree that riots could be prevented in some ways, if not in all ways. Our goal is to satisfy people's need before they explode angry feeling inside their mind.
ReplyDelete-Hae Jin Kye-
When the people, not just in the US, feel they're thoughts/opinions are not taken into account when the government is making a decision affecting it's people, riots will happen. However, riots and protests can always prevented. Peaceful protests and other signs of opposition will usually occur first and if nothing is done, it is where more and more violent protests and riots will happen.
ReplyDelete-William Kwan
I definitely agree with your idea. I just want to add another event of riots. There were one of the worst riots happened in India. As a result of the demolition of the mosque, about 900 people were killed in these riots.
ReplyDeleteDo you think that looking at the recovery process taken by cities in response to riots could impact the prevention of future riots? Are riots are an important part of making sure people are heard by the government? What other action can be taken when protest doesn't work?
ReplyDeleteI think this post brings up a good realization about riots. While preventing these riots is the best solution and most effective, I think this is a very hard task even for the most efficient governments. And on a side note, riots seem to take place when government is failing to do its job properly, or when a frustrated group randomly lashed out. While I really like this approach to these violent problems I think some riots are inevitable once the conflict is noticed.
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