In this week’s Five Points readings, Anbinder discusses the cause and effects of riots in 1850’s New York City. The violence featured bitter Irish Five Pointers who felt they were being given the short end of stick in the labor market, versus the members of the political party who defended the local government officials. As I read, I immediately began to draw comparisons between these riots and the violence that occurred over the course of American history. Some of these resemblances were striking.
For reference, I used Shay’s Rebellion of 1787 and the 1992 Los Angeles riots, a riot from three different centuries to compare and contrasts the features. The first thing that jumped out to me was the similarities in the causes of the violence. In each case, a group who feels mistreated or victimized by a power institution will decide to fight back in defense of their rights. In Shay’s Rebellion, war veterans led by Daniel Shays unified to barricade the courthouses in protest of government fiscal policies that favored the wealthy. In Five Points, the Irish rebelled after the passage of two controversial laws, one that instituted a tax hike on liquor and one that replaced the New York City police department with a state-chosen commission. The Irish felt like the policies disenfranchised them and targeted both their jobs and their hobbies. Finally, the 1992 riots stemmed from the acquittal of four Los Angeles police officers that were caught on tape while brutally abused an African American man. Furthermore, each riot escalated from a single isolated incident. The war veterans in the 1787 mounted an attack on the Springfield armory. The Irish viciously stoned and murdered a new police officer in the street. A group of local African American men pulled white truck driver Reginald Denny out of his truck and almost beat him to death. Finally, in all three instances, the group in power ultimately managed to quell the riots.
These similarities can teach us lessons about discrimination in the United States that continued to persist as the country developed. In spite of the time period, the government consistently seemed to be biased towards those who were considered superior by American standards. Whether it was the rich, the native-born, or the whites, these people had policies and laws either explicitly or implicitly passed on their behalf. The courts made decisions that almost blatantly disrespected groups that were victims of discrimination. It is therefore no surprise that the natural result was rebellion, as these helpless people thought that violence would be the only way to solve their pressing problems. In the aftermath of these riots, the burden falls upon the government to treat every citizen equally and to enact laws that don’t isolate and neglect a specific portion of the population.
