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Likelihood of Post-Election Violence?
So.... last night on the train back to the Bronx after class, an Obama supporter was spouting off on how she was scared about the racially motivated violence that would spring up after Obama wins.
With the significant lead Obama is showing in the polls combined with the overwelming support he has from the AA community, I might think there would be more of a racial backlash if Obama were to lose. (As it would clearly require a significant number of white people voting against Obama or refraining from voting if he were to lose which could be perceived as racism on their parts).
What are your thoughts? As a person living in a racially diverse neighborhood, should I be concerned at all? And which result do you think would create more chaos?
Or should I just stop listening to crazy people on the subway trains?
Re: Likelihood of Post-Election Violence?
I think that if people really suspect that McCain stole the election, then there might be violence. ?We were pissed about it happening 8 years ago, and look what happened since. ?To have another stolen election would be infuriating. ?Add race on top of that, and, yeah, there might be pockets of nasty.
But, for the most part, I think it's one of those, ooooh, black people, they're so violent. ?If they don't get their way, they'll riot. ?And I don't believe that for one second. ?It's fear mongering based in racism.?
If there is some election shennaingins, I can see rioting, but not if it's a clear cut McCain win. I wouln't be overly worried without the shennagnigins occuring first. (Although we occassionally have mini-riots here after football games, so I guess it doesn't take much.)
You shouldn't stop listening to crazy people on the subway. Why give up free entertainment.
Yeah, I get that. I just see more reason for Obama supporters to be upset than McCain voters. And unless you're a sociopath, you tend to require some sort of emotion in order to commit an intentionally violent act.
However, this woman was AA and was talking about violence against black people when Obama wins. From her comments, the most logical reason she thinks this will be the case is because the white people will see it as blacks taking over the country. I have a hard time envisioning that happening, particularly in the Bronx. Just curious where this minset comes from and/or how prevelant it is.
Ditto. I expect people to be pissed if McCain wins, but if we didn't riot in 2000, the only reason to expect rioting now is because you think black people are more inclined to riot.
I really don't get the idea that people will riot if Obama wins. Is that like lighting couches on fire when your college football team wins? That seems even more based in black-people-are-uncontrollable racism.
So yeah, quit listening to crazies on the subway ;-)
Agree, 100%. If, after weeks of Obama polling high, McCain wins and the election results look suspect, it could get ugly. But I'm not sure what that means.
Last time we talked about this, someone (don't remember who) said something about how there might be rioting in DC if Obama loses -- and made sure to point out that it would be inner-city DC, not the suburbs. There's no reason to say that, other than as code for "psssst, I mean black people!" It makes me feel yucky.
Sibil summed it up perfectly. "It's fear mongering based in racism."
If Obama's poll numbers stay high through Nov. 4, and then it's announced that McCain won, I think a lot of people will suspect shady activity. Maybe I'll call in sick the next day, just in case.
Ah, I gotcha. Honestly, my hunch is the crazies that would feel this way don't live near black people or major populations enough to cause trouble. They're probably in a compound in some flyover state only accessible by a dirt road. I hope.
I agree for the most part, and don't think there will be rioting in DC.
But--there is a lot of racial tension in DC right now because of gentrification and the influx of yuppies, many of whom are white and taking over historically black neighborhoods and then complaining about things like (black) churches and family restaurants getting in the way of their wine bars and organic grocers...so if it were to occur I'd think it would be precipitated by these underlying tensions and only triggered by an event surrounding the election.
mxolisi -- you're right, but i wasn't saying there weren't tensions. I think the tensions are absolutely justified, especially as DC has been historically a black majority city and likely will not be as of 2012 (as I read this morning). There are a lot of underlying and even overt tensions with all the gentrification. That's an interesting topic that could be a whole other thread.
My beef was how the poster phrased it. DC vs. DC suburbs. If you want to say "the blacks in DC are gonna riot", you may as well just say it.
I could see there being outrage and riots, but I hope it won't come to that.
I do worry about white supremicist / racist violence if Obama wins. i fear we'll see more of the "lynchings" and the like. <shiver> I hope that won't be the case.
Yeah, I know.
Although if they really knew anything about the demographics of DC and its burbs they wouldn't put it that way, because at this point PG County is at least as African-American as the District is.
Very interesting! I don't think there's much racial tension in my neighborhood as it is historically Italian (there's no perception of the yuppies moving in and pushing the black people out) and relatively safe (so there's no perception of minorities bringing violence to the neighborhood).
I do find it interesting that lmw's H said something similar. I agree with Pesca that most of the people who would commit that sort of violence don't live in urban areas. (Rural black people could have reason to fear, though). But now I'm curious about the perceptions. Do people who fear becoming victims of racial violence perceive a greater risk than is actually present? Basically, is that woman irrationally afraid (or perhaps rationally afraid??) of white people in the Bronx because of violent racist acts by white people in Tennessee?