During recent days Americans have watched in dismay and disbelief as an angry mob of ignorant or misdirected youth torched and vandalized a small city following a grand jury verdict involving the death of an 18-year-old youth.
It's hard for a thinking person to comprehend how such mayhem and madness can erupt and reach such a crescendo to cause millions of dollars of damage while disrupting the citizenry of a town such as Ferguson, Mo. The mob riot had been predicted and what began as a somewhat subdued protest of civil disobedience suddenly converted into the mass of madness that occurred -- not only in the St. Louis area, but also in cities across the nation.
Will another shoe drop as a grand jury returns a verdict relating to the death of a colored man in New York City? Hopefully potential protests will be muted.
Protesting has been a part of America's culture since its beginning. The right to protest, to march for or against a topic or situation occurred repeatedly, sometimes with amazingly positive results. Those which evolved into riots have always left a lingering bitter taste, sometimes foiling a potential positive answer to the problem because of such displays. Read what one man wrote:
"The way of riots is not the way of progress, but a blind alley of death and destruction which wreaks its havoc hardest against the rioters themselves."
Words of wisdom? Who wrote those words? Not an Al Sharpton or Louis Farrakhan, and certainly not a protester screaming, "Burn ... burn."
Words of those who encourage the mayhem quickly spread the lawlessness, as demonstrated recently, even onto our University of Arkansas campus. Fortunately, calmer heads prevailed there.
Who spoke the words quoted above? They were not spoken recently, yet their truth 49 years ago is still crisp today. They were spoken in Chicago by the late Dr. Martin Luther King as he referred to the cataclysmic Watts riots in Southern California. Those riots began August 11, 1965, and resulted in 34 deaths, the arrest of more than 4,000 persons and property damage that exceeded $40 million.
King followed his historic admonition with a simple, yet graphic, question: "... and what did it accomplish?"
Those riots resulted after police stopped a 21-year-old black male. The young man was docile until his mother arrived at the scene and began screaming while also chastising him. Rebellious and unthinking youth broke loose for days of rioting, resulting in a black eye that remains to today.
It was 22 years ago, in April, 1992, when another series of riots occurred in Los Angeles following the beating of a 32-year-old black male. Films from that Rodney King riot are still shown on TV screens.
Who can argue that injustices and inequities, however or whenever they occur, can spark protests. Some eventually become riots. And when those demonstrations stray outside the bounds of human decency, the sought-for answer to the problem is usually slowed, postponed and, sometimes, even trampled under the feet of public opinion which occurs as a result of such outbursts.
King was not a perfect man, but through his pastoral urging of peaceful protest much was accomplished which resulted in the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 -- just 50 years ago this year.
Social progress such as women's right to vote, as well as voting rights for 18-year-olds, did not happen overnight but we can see the positive changes and anti-racial social miracles that have occurred during the past 50 years.
It is natural that fast change is always wanted, but social change is never fast, never speedy. And while much remains to be done along the path King laid out, the steps forward are often slowed, thwarted and sometimes even reversed through overanxious anticipation.
Today's crusaders should remember: Progress through peace is positive, sometimes slow, but usually steady. Results of the past 50 years are proof.
Dodie Evans is former and longtime editor and owner of the Gravette News Herald. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Editorial on 12/10/2014