Topic Content
- Political Violence
- What is it?
- What are various forms of political violence?
- Why do people use it?
- Why not peaceful protests, isn’t that “right” or “better”?
- Why is peaceful protest not working in this situation?
- Discuss: completely peaceful protests have become easy to acknowledge and ignore and won’t translate to rights or grabbing attention towards action
- Nonviolence is taken for granted and is a mechanism to fit into society, but what can you do when that society no longer works for you?
- Discuss examples related to South Asian history such as the political violence used during the Indian Independence Movement, specifically the Quit India Movement
- Even people who preached nonviolence such as Mahatma Gandhi devises strategies to grab attention like burning foreign clothes
- Large scale violence against the British ensued after many movement leaders were arrested
- Make sure to draw parallels back to the central issue of Black lives to avoid the topic being centered around racism against South Asians
- Discuss examples related to South Asian history such as the political violence used during the Indian Independence Movement, specifically the Quit India Movement
- Why is peaceful protest not working in this situation?
- Discuss the Complexity of the violence surrounding the BLM movement protests/riots
- The principle/core organization of the movement: to act against the historically big white corporations that are institutions of capitalism and institutions of policing
- Discuss how the Target CEO’s perspective on the riots shows the true principles of why people are rioting
- The vocal minority/detractors who bring condemnation to the movement through their actions but people should beware of blaming/labeling movement because of them
- To help community members relate, draw a parallel to the blame placed on all Muslims, people of the Middle Eastern diaspora, and in many cases people of the South Asian diaspora, generally, by many in America for the actions of jihadist militant groups
- Be wary of getting stuck in a conversation surrounding religion as you want to keep the focus on the current issue, but this could be a useful example for your group as it was for ours
- Discuss the intended role of police in escalating conflict rather than de-escalating conflict during protests and how that role has changed in practice
- The vocal minority/detractors who bring condemnation to the movement through their actions but people should beware of blaming/labeling movement because of them
- Clarify and discuss: supporting the riots does not mean supporting violence in all forms, it is a demonstration of political violence by those who feel unheard against institutions which have exploited them and is also a response to provocation by police forces
Questions asked by the Community
1. “Why riots and looting? What is the reasoning behind violence? Police are just doing their job, aren't they different from each other?”
2. “Political violence in the form of burning clothes etc. is ok with personal belongings. But it is not necessary for making a statement. Silence itself is an answer. Destroying property is not a solution. We are in the modern era where the reach through social media is much larger and resorting to violence should be the last thing we do, the last resort option.”
3. On the point of social media reach: many other kids asked why people could not just make their statements on social media
4. “My mom told me that violence is bad, but how come some violence is good?”
5. “Why should we support the protests/riots when there has been so much collateral damage and innocent people are losing their business and livelihoods?”
This topic discussion was definitely the longest out of the 6 and led to the most discussion. Even if the explanations were repeated several times, the parents and kids needed the reinforcement to begin understanding the complexity of the issue and sort through their preconceived notions of nonviolent movements.
- Although we explained much of the reasoning behind the violence, many parents asked us about this again. But this time, many of the other parents who understood the reasoning also joined into the conversation and helped explain, using the examples from the Quit India movement for reference.
- After discussing with the other parents in the group, many of the parents who previously did not understand the rationale behind violence were more comfortable with the topic .
- We asked for another adult to answer and a parent reiterated the explanation from Topic 3 for the question about the police. Repetition and Reinforcement is key!
2. “Political violence in the form of burning clothes etc. is ok with personal belongings. But it is not necessary for making a statement. Silence itself is an answer. Destroying property is not a solution. We are in the modern era where the reach through social media is much larger and resorting to violence should be the last thing we do, the last resort option.”
- We provided explanations directly from messages authored by black activists to explain this idea of why this situation, in the eyes of many black organizations, is seen to be a “last resort option.”
- Again, many parents jumped in to help explain from their point of view of why the political violence should not be completely condemned
- If your group members are not automatically engaging in conversations with each other and are only looking to you for reference, deliberately ask your group if they can answer the questions being posed.
3. On the point of social media reach: many other kids asked why people could not just make their statements on social media
- We discussed the notion of “slacktivism” and how social media is both very beneficial in organizing, spreading awareness, and sharing resources but can also lead people to be complacent or do something only to show that they are taking action.
4. “My mom told me that violence is bad, but how come some violence is good?”
- This question was asked by a kid under 12, so it was difficult to explain the whole argument about the “institutions of capitalism”
- But we helped her parents make a distinction between violence against people and violence against property as a statement against injustice. Obviously this would have to become a longer discussion after the meeting to really help younger children understand the complex differences, but including them in the discussion helped start those conversations.
5. “Why should we support the protests/riots when there has been so much collateral damage and innocent people are losing their business and livelihoods?”
- We discussed this article from the New York Times about a Bangladeshi restaurant owner whose restaurant was destroyed in the Minneapolis protests but still supports the movement
- Definitely provide this to your group as it can help people in the South Asian community better understand their role as allies in the situation. It is also a great conversation starter!
This topic discussion was definitely the longest out of the 6 and led to the most discussion. Even if the explanations were repeated several times, the parents and kids needed the reinforcement to begin understanding the complexity of the issue and sort through their preconceived notions of nonviolent movements.