That's simply the natural, expected consequence of centuries of oppression...at least, that's a firmly-held belief by some liberal social activists (aka: morons).
Of course, the plain truth of the matter is there just isn't any excuse for this nonsense. None.
Civil authorities are justified in putting down riots by any means necessary.
Any means.
The ironic part was there was a high end furniture store located in downtown Richmond where it was a well publicized fact that Willy Mays and other black athletes of the era bought their furniture to outfit their homes. It seemed to be the focus of at least three of the riots and after three attempts they succeeded in burning it down.