America on Fire: The Untold History of Police Violence and Black Rebellion Since the 1960s

Hinton gives an overview of the civil rights movement in the US, starting with a sit-in in Greensboro, North Carolina, in February 1960. In the late 1960s, nonviolent protests evolved into more violent disturbances in cities all around America. Hinton argues that although the violence was a deliberate response from the Black community against white supremacy and police brutality, these incidents were widely labeled as “riots” and brushed off as the emotional, random outbursts of a group of people who were naturally more prone to violence than white people.

Hinton takes issue with the term “riot,” as it carries connotations of criminality, and points out that many incidents of mass violence historically carried out by white people against Black people are not labeled as “riots” even when they justifiably should be. All of these issues still affect Americans in the present: Draconian policing has led to continued acts of rebellion on the part of Black Americans, and these acts are still treated as senseless outbursts rather than legitimate, organized forms of political protest against an oppressive system.

Many scholars and politicians have concluded that incidents of mass violence are the result of despair and desperation among the Black community, but lay the blame on Black people themselves rather than looking to systemic causes.