Ten Riots That Challenged Injustice and Changed U.S. History

Abstract

There has been a lot of discussion on social media denouncing the property destruction and looting that happened after the very public string of murders and shootings of black folks by police in 2020. Most comments have centered on the lack of productivity of riots in obtaining justice. For the most part, the argumentation goes something like, “destroying your own community will do nothing to bring justice or positive change.” Yet if history is any precedent, these arguments are entirely unjustified. The United States has a long history of riots bringing change that no amount of kumbaya hand-holding or “working within the system” was ever able to accomplish.