I am mostly certain that Dr. King never meant for this kind of violence to happen. I don't recall any of the protests he led not being peaceful. He would most definitely not approve of people burning, looting, the complete and utter unnecessary mayhem, or anything like what happened in Baltimore.
Do you really believe Dr. King would condone 8, 10, 12-year-old children throwing rocks at police? Would he support destruction of the very neighborhoods he was trying to liberate with all the amazing work he accomplished? Would he approve of slicing fire hoses trying to save the fires started by arsonists (that was seen live on CNN, I might add) or would he side with the mayor pleading for the riots to stop?
What would he say to and about that spectacular mother that slapped her minor, 16-year-old son, on live television telling him he was not doing this and it was wrong? Violence is just never an answer.
Ricky Smith
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I totally agree with you Ricky, I cannot even begin to imagine what it would take to provoke me to do something like that. It makes no sense to destroy your own neighborhood, to run off your own shop keepers, possibly harm maybe someone in your own family simply because you're angry.
It's going to take more than rioting (as proven during the Watts riots) to "change" attitudes; destruction does nothing but make everyone else just as angry as you are.
I thought our President was going to be the one to bring closure to this but that doesn't appear to be what's happening now.
Kudos to Mom of the Year, reminded me of my own mom and all the moms in the neighborhood; you did something wrong and you could count on one of them (whomever was closest) to get your attention. I called it fear then but decades later I've learned the correct word: respect.
Sue White