Why Violence From Below Terrifies America

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By Chaddrick Thomas


The most dangerous kind of violence in this country isn’t the kind that kills.

It’s the kind that challenges power.


That’s why when police beat protestors, the headlines say “clashes.”

But when protestors break windows, the headlines scream “riots.”

That’s why drone strikes are “defense,” but Molotovs are “terror.”


In America, violence from the top is called control.

Violence from the bottom is called chaos.

When the Oppressed Fight Back, the System Panics


Every empire fears one thing: reversal.


When violence flows from the oppressed back up the chain—toward institutions, toward symbols of power—the state doesn’t just react. It overreacts.


Look at history:

  • Nat Turner’s rebellion led to harsher slave codes.

  • The Black Panthers sparked COINTELPRO.

  • Ferguson protestors were met with tanks.

  • January 6 was called “unrest.” But uprisings in Watts, Detroit, Minneapolis? “Threats to national security.”


The system doesn’t fear violence. It fears disobedience.

Even Our Resistance Is Criminalized

  • A Black mother protesting police brutality is labeled “aggressive.”

  • A trans teen fighting back against harassment is called a “menace.”

  • A community arming itself for protection is called “radical.”


Meanwhile, police unions stockpile weapons.

Prisons fund political campaigns.

Judges give slaps on the wrist to killers in uniform.


The message is clear:

Only the powerful are allowed to fight. Everyone else must submit.

Violence From Below Is Rare—Because Survival Comes First


Most people don’t fight back violently.

Not because they don’t want to—but because they know what happens if they do.

  • You lose your job.

  • You lose your freedom.

  • You lose your life.


This country punishes even the potential for resistance.

It creates systems so oppressive that even speaking up feels like a risk.


And yet—we rise.

We march.

We organize.

We dream.


That in itself is a rebellion.

CALL TO ACTION: Stop Policing Pain

  1. Reject narratives that call state violence “order” and community resistance “chaos.”

  2. Uplift movements led by the most impacted—not just the most palatable.

  3. Understand that resistance takes many forms—and all of them are valid.

  4. Be prepared to defend—not just the right to protest, but the right to protect life when the system refuses to.

Coming Up: “The Violence We Worship”

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