Skip to main content

Who has the right to violence in America?

caption: An American flag is placed in the grill of a burning Seattle Police vehicle as a protester wearing a face respirator, right, stands on Saturday, May 30, 2020, at the intersection of 5th and Pine Streets in Seattle. Thousands gathered in a protest following the violent police killing of George Floyd, a Black man who was killed by a white police officer who held his knee on Floyd's neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, as he repeatedly said, 'I can't breathe,' in Minneapolis on Memorial Day.
Enlarge Icon
An American flag is placed in the grill of a burning Seattle Police vehicle as a protester wearing a face respirator, right, stands on Saturday, May 30, 2020, at the intersection of 5th and Pine Streets in Seattle. Thousands gathered in a protest following the violent police killing of George Floyd, a Black man who was killed by a white police officer who held his knee on Floyd's neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, as he repeatedly said, 'I can't breathe,' in Minneapolis on Memorial Day.
KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer

"If violence is a political language, white Americans are native speakers. But black people are also fluent in the act of resistance."

The Boston Tea Party is seen as a seminal event in the birth of our nation, but last week the president condemned property destruction at Target as un-American.

What’s the difference? The identity of the rioters.

Kellie Carter Jackson's latest piece for The Atlantic is called “The Double Standard of the American Riot.” She says that violence always compels a response - and that's where its power lies.

Why you can trust KUOW

Get Local Stories

Delivered to your inbox daily, weekly, or monthly.

Explore Newsletters