Nothing New Under the Sun
It’s easy sometimes to think what’s happening in your day and time is new and different. But that’s not always true. In this case, I’m referring to riots and rioting. We seem to have witnessed quite a few of these in the past few months and years.
But riots are as old as mankind itself. Did you know in the Bible in the book of Acts, the Apostle Paul experienced more than one event of mob violence?
Riots in the 1960s
I can remember the horrific 1965 riot in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. It lasted for five days and covered 50-square-mile area of South Central Los Angeles. I was hundreds of miles away from it, but it was constantly on the evening news. (That’s back when there was evening news.)
Two years later in the summer of 1967, there were 159 riots that erupted across the United States.
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1921 Tulsa Race Riot
Stepping back a few more decades, on Memorial Day weekend, 1921, an infamous riot broke out in my hometown of Tulsa, OK. I used that event as a backdrop for my Tulsa Series, a 4-title historical fiction series.
Why Riot?
What causes people to riot? Without going into a deep psychological discussion, it boils down to the fact that actions an individual would never think of doing when on their own, they will do when in a larger group. People seem to lose control of their normal inhibitions; their mentality melds in with that of the group.
Violent Group Behavior
A riot is never peaceful. Riots, by definition, are violent in nature. Therefore, a riot can be described as: violent group behavior. The larger the group, the greater the amplification of that group behavior. It can, and often does, grow in momentum. It’s called mob mentality. Or sometimes known as herd mentality.
The Perfect Setup
As I’ve said in my previous posts, researching for my novels leads me down many different paths. Research led me to discover that the riot that occurred in Cincinnati in 2001, provided the perfect setup for a climactic event in Brought To You By the Color Drab.
What is that climactic event? You’ll have to read this powerful novel to find out!
If Brought To You By The Color Drab sounds fascinating to you, take a minute and download the first two chapters right here!
