***Recall the riots of the 60s and how national politics changed because of them.***
Strange. Before 1960, didn’t most race riots begin with whites attacking blacks? What happened in the 1960s to change that?
Watts, 1965 began from a DWI arrest.
Detroit, 1967 began after a police raid on an illegal bar.
Newark, 1967 began after a cab driver was arrested.
It is my considered opinion - having live through that period of time and following the news of the day closely - that the mobs/looters all did what they did because they thought they would suffer no consequences. “Hey!! Free stuff!! All we got to do is take it!!”
The authorities were too timid in snuffing out the mob violence early on. Once the mob got the upper hand, then the National Guard was called in.