The New Orleans Riots

The United States is a country founded on the principles of liberty, one of the rights of the people is to challenge the government if need be. Thus, entwined with the history of the United States is the act of rioting. A riot is a group of individuals, about a dozen or more, attempting to insight change, many times with violence. Riots can be incited for political, social and or economic reasons. So much so that there is no period in the nations story without a fair share of riots. The early colonial period was filled with contempt for English colonial rule, which led to politically driven riots, such as the Boston Massacre. By the 19th Century American riots were mostly based on labor disputes and racial tension. Currently the country is …show more content…
As in Memphis, New Orleans was a city seeing an influx of African Americans in society and government. A convention took place on July 30th, its essential function was to enfranchise African Americans and bolster their hopes of gaining political influence in New Orleans. A parade in route to the convention was harassed and when the blacks ran for cover within the convention building police surrounded them. Although this seems like the logical and safe thing to do it turned out a mistake as the police opened fire on the building. In his book An Absolute Massacre, James Hollandsworth shows the violence of police officers during the riot, “W.L Randall went to the window and looked out on the Dryades. He could see a wounded black man lying on the banquette across the way, but otherwise the street was clear. As he stood there, a policeman in the street below spotted Randall and took a shot.” Clearly, some police officers escalated the violence. Just as in the Memphis riots police acted irresponsibly and unethically to attack African Americans perhaps based on their political views or downright racism. The actions of the police placed many lives in danger and contradicted their job description as police …show more content…
In the case of the New York City riots police were justified in their attacks on the mobs, because they were outnumbered and the rioters were out to create absolute havoc. The Memphis and New Orleans cases on the other hand were clearly a misuse of police power. The role of police is to protect and serve and their actions during the Memphis and New Orleans riots only escalated the chaos. In Memphis police essentially rallied the city against African Americans, playing on their already present fear of their conquering of the political scene. Likewise, law enforcements attacks on an African American convention for enfranchisement proved exactly what they were convening for. The police used their political and racial views to attack African Americans ad in turn ignited violence and anarchy among their city. Policing will always be one of the hardest jobs in this country and their split second responses will be analyzed endlessly but we can only hope they react in a way that confirms their vow to protect and