Honestly, the disparity in the way violent white protesters are treated versus the way peaceful POC protesters are treated casts a dark shadow for me over the idea that armed protests are a good way to stand up to authortarianism. If only one group can use armed protest against government forces, isn’t that worse?
It seems to me that the answer is to reform policing practices instead of insisting that civilians should use guns during protests.
“The Bundy acquittal illustrates the distance still to be traveled to achieve racial equality in both our criminal justice system and the larger society. The fact that white anti-government protesters railing against federal overreach scarcely realize their privileged treatment at the hands of law enforcement and the criminal justice system is one side of this story. The images of Native American activists in North Dakota and black activists in Ferguson staring down military-style police presence while fighting for racial justice is the other.”
