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“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 125%; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> England “font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 125%; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”>’s attempt to fully understand rioting touched off by a policeman’s fatal shooting of Mark Duggan, a 29-year old black man, in many ways mirror the debate that followed the urban unrest that the United States underwent in the wake of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination in 1968.
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“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 125%; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> Christina Patterson, writing in the Independent newspaper, said: “Race didn’t cause these riots, but it played a part… Too many black men have been killed by police. Too many black men and women have been treated like criminals when they’re not. This is not the cause of these riots, but it’s there in the mix, a mix where the key ingredient is feeling powerless. Cuts won’t help. Growing unemployment won’t help. Some investment in youth services, and better schools, and mentoring schemes might, but money alone isn’t the answer.”
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“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 125%; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> On Aug. 8, the Daily Mirror carried the headline, “London riots: Is rap music to blame for encouraging this culture of violence?” To Paul Routledge, the author of the story, the answer is definitely yes. He wrote, “I blame the pernicious culture of hatred around rap music which glorifies violence and loathing of authority (especially the police but including parents), exalts trashy materialism and raves about drugs. The important things in life are the latest smart phones, fashionable trainers and jeans and idiot computer games. No wonder stores selling them were priority looting targets.”
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“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 125%; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> Christina Odone of the Daily Telegraph wrote: “Here are three numbers to bear in mind when talking about the riots: 8 billion (pounds spent by social services each year on children and young people); 3.5 million (children from a broken home); and one-fifth (school leavers who are illiterate.” The writer suggests looking at some other numbers as well. She said, “A large number of youngsters are brought up without dads. The majority of rioters are gang members whose only loyalty is to the gang and whose only authority figure is the toughest of the bunch. Like the overwhelming majority of offenders behind bars, these gang members have one thing in common: no father at home.”
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“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 125%; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> Camila Batmanghelidj, founder of The Place To Be and Kids Company charity, wrote in the Independent: “It’s not one occasional attack on dignity, it’s a repeated humiliation, being continuously disposed in a society rich with possession. Young, intelligent citizens of the ghetto want an explanation for why they are at the receiving end of bleak Britain, condemned to a darkness where their humanity is not even valued enough to be helped.”
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“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 125%; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> An editorial in the Sun stated, “[Prime Minister] David Cameron spoke for most of us when he said police were initially too thin on the ground and misjudged their early response.”
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“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 125%; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> Conservative columnist Max Hastings, writing in the Mail Online, charged: “They are essentially wild beasts… They respond only to instinctive animal impulses – to eat and drink, have sex or destroy the accessible property of others.”
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“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 125%; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> London “font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 125%; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> mayoral candidate Ken Livingstone told the BBC: “If you’re making massive cuts, there’s always the potential for this sort of revolt against that.”
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“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 125%; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> Zoe Williams, writing in the Guardian, offered what she called a pragmatic explanation. Williams said, “This is what happens when people don’t have anything, when they have their noses constantly rubbed in stuff they can’t afford, and they have no reason to believe that they will ever be able to afford it.”
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“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 125%; font-family: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family:”> I knew the rioting in England had taken on an American flavor when I looked at a quote from a reader replying to a BBC story about the unrest. The reader said, “I agree there are many reasons for this situation. However, I put poor, uninformed, and unexperienced parenting at the top of the list. You have babies trying to raise babies.” “color: #333333; font-family: Verdana;”>
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George E.
Curry, former editor-in-chief of Emerge magazine and the NNPA News
Service, can be reached at
“http://www.georgecurry.com/”>
“color: #cb0409; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;”>www.georgecurry.com
