Quote:
Originally Posted by Damien
The term 'communities' encompasses a lot of people. However the community leaders are probably correct in claiming that that the riots are condemned by the vast majority of the people they represent. As you say a lot of innocent people have been badly affected by these riots. Homes, Businesses, and their livelihoods have all been cruelly stolen by a unthinking mob. So they do condemn it.
Tottenham is a deprived area, one of the poorest in London, and the riot in Tottenham had it's roots in the killing of Mark Duggan. It started off as a protest against his death and was then hijacked and turned into a riot, the exact reason it sparked into what it did has yet to be ascertained.
The spokespeople are right. The community deplore the rioting but they also have concerns about, amongst others, Duggan.
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I know plenty about Tottenham believe me - In my teens/early 20's I spent many years in that part of London and indeed in Lewisham (which isn't a million smiles away geographically of demographically) when all sorts of trouble was kicking off.
Part of the problem is who are these 'spokespeople'? As I've already said, I've heard some saying one thing and some saying another. Some saying they deplore the riots but claim it's being done in support of Duggan - hence building up a sense of community revulsion and increasing the pressure upon the authorities. Others who also condemn the riots but claim the rioters are just troublemakers from elsewhere who couldn't care less about Duggan. They can't
both be the case and that's the point I'm making about who's speaking for the 'community' and the reliability of and/or the motivation behind their comments.