The Nature of the Hysterical Moment

Darcus Howe, a West Indian Writer and Broadcaster, was interviewed by BBC about the London Riots. He spoke on how the the police were treating the young people, especially blacks, with excessive violence. Even his grandson was stopped on the street, pressed to a wall, and searched for nothing more than walking.

The female interviewer kept interrupting him from speaking the truth, trying to tear down his credibility. Howe is finally bringing light to a confusing outburst of violence and hysteria. Mark Duggan, the man whose death sparked the initial riots, was killed in cold blood. The London police have admitted to excessive violence. And worst of all, she says to him (not asks) that "he has taken part in riots himself."

His response: "I have never taken part in a single riot. I've been part of demonstrations that have ended up in a conflict. Have some respect for an old West Indian Negro, and stop accusing me of being a rioter. [...] You just sound idiotic."

London looters and vandals on the streets are not right, not by any means. As the Washington Post pointed out, they are not holding signs, chanting, or letting their government know what they need. However, the people are fed up and taking action. As Howe said, "it is the nature of the hysterical moment."

I am afraid America will go this way. For the first time since I started working at 16, I cannot find a job and I am not alone. When I enter a restaurant or fast food place, there are adults, men in their fifties, working behind the counter. Just a few years ago, those jobs all belonged to young people.

Our debt is high and our hopes are low. We're at war fighting for someone else's democracy and independence when we need our own, from oil and from our petrified government. FOX and the far right keep us from progress. Why doesn't the first responders bill for 9/11 have healthcare for the cancer they developed from pulling the dead from the buildings?

And what's more, our President and the Democrats are using this as a sort of block. Do NOT throw a pity party. Stop looking at how your vote or your stand for something that is inherently right will affect your personal future, politicians.

Obama: I'm sorry, but you are black, you can never make everyone happy, no matter what you do. Stop giving ground when the right will not give back. At this rate, we will get nowhere.

I don't want Washington D.C. to turn into London, but I will not stand idly by if it does.