Most of the rioters in Baltimore are young people between 15-18. The brazenness of these chaps is amazing as they confront police. On woman was so angry at her son that he accosted him and beat him in public.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRlmCf1Kj2o

@Symbols
The person in that video you posted is a complete clown. I could only bear watching the 2st two minutes of his easily debunkable nonsense.

I did not watch that part.
But as I pointed out above, police are supposed to be held to a higher standard than criminals. So comparing the two is silly.


Secondly Black people can effect change in law enforcement via protesting. In fact blacks in America have always effected changes via peaceful protests going back to the 1960s.

But When it comes to gangs and the like, protests do not work. There are numerous other methods that are being used to dissuade black youths from joining gangs. Such as link
Al Sharpton has made several high profile visits to Chicago to address gang violence. There are numerous initiatives taking place in black neighbourhoods to dissuade youth from joining gangs.

The other issue that should be discussed is lax gun control laws that make it easy for even criminals to buy guns. In Harlem, black crime is low because it is very difficult to buy guns in New York. In Chicago crime is high in black neighbourhoods because Indiana is right next door and Indiana has very lax gun control laws.

Unfortunately people are confused and bedazzled by the constant barrage of subtle propaganda from conservative outlets.

@symbols
There are several different agendas

1. Some rioters are just anarchists who hate the police and want to fight police and damage buildings.
2. The looters many of whom came from places very far from Baltimore just want to steal for the thrill of it or to sell the merchandize for money
3. It matters when blacks take their own lives. But I have already explained that protesting black crime does not help. Criminals do not pay attention to protests. There are other measures being taken to dissuade blacks from joining gangs.
4. Police do not value the life of a black person. This has been true for hundreds of years and is still true now. That is what most people are protesting.

Too many of us Baafrigha look down on African Americans yet we have our own set of issues.
An AA looking at Kenyans would wonder
- why we are prone to corruption, greed and impunity,
- why we are such tribal sycophants that we defend mediocrity if the mediocre leader is from our tribe,
- why cant we vote on real issues like security instead of tribal affiliation,
- why are we so quick to turn on each other with pangas,
- why do we put incompetent people in leadership positions.

Like you he would then conclude and say "No wonder Africa is a black hole. They will never progress until they get their act together"

Peaceful demonstrations are what gave black Americans the freedom they have today. When kina MLK were demonstrating, they were criticized by everyone including fellow blacks and even white moderates. But it worked. They got the voting rights act because of it.

One thing you should know is that in America, if you are black, the police think your life is worth nothing.

If you listen to the right wing media they will tell you eti African Americans are just lazy and crime prone which is why they do not prosper.

However life is not that simple. There are a number of factors holding AAs back some of which are self inflicted and some inflicted by society and some by the government.

One of the issues not often discussed is mass incarceration for minor offences. Politicians who want to be seen as "tough on crime" create stupid laws that send poor minorities to prison for relatively minor offences like being caught with 3 ounces of marijuana.

The net results is that American jails are full of AAs who were arrested for offences that most white people do not even get arrested for. And once a person goes to jail, the arrest remains on his record and it becomes impossible to find a job because most employers do background checks.

If a person cannot get a job, chances are he will go to hard crime to earn a living. Also being in prison for a long time turns peopple into hardened criminals.

And it takes grown men away from their children which means the children who no longer have parental guidance are also likely to stray into crime. A classic vicious cycle.

America is screwed up when it comes to mass incaceration. It has the highest prison population in the world and also by far the highest per capita.

Kenya has a high crime rate yet America sends people to prison at a rate that is 7 times higher than Kenya.

This is going to be a campaign issue in 2016 and Hillary Clinton has already broached the subject

Here is Hill Clinton on the subject : link

Great points @ Alba. Not forgetting the inequality in jail terms for similar crimes which is tied to the ability to hire good lawyers = Money.

Haiya @kiash!!

Alba, good points.

That is a campaign gimmick. She can't touch Prison Industrial Complex if elected.