Harlem Riots and Ferguson Riots

The way that both the Harlem Riots and Ferguson Riots started are eerily similar.  In the case of the 1964 Harlem Riots James Powell a teenager was shot and killed by an off duty police officer after allegedly brandishing a knife.  A man with multiple awards for stopping an armed suspect, shot and killed the teen out of fear for his life.  The similar circumstances in the Michael Brown case is scary, Michael Brown was shot and killed by an officer, after Brown allegedly went for the officers gun.  The end results are once again similar, as people took to the streets and started to riot.

Destruction of Gotham: The Mushroom

The word from the passage on page 34 of the text that i would focus on is "mushroom".  The word is used to describe Matherson.  Miller talks about how "mushrooms grow, and from reeking compost of it".  What this means is exactly what it sounds like Matherson came from a "reeking compost" a lower class, but even in this type of environment where nothing else could grow, Matherson was like a "mushroom" he was able to grow in the bleakest of conditions. Earlier in the story when we are in the city for the first time, Miller uses it to describe the citizens of New York, the conditions in which people must live and try to thrive in. This was probably more literal, since at this point there was no plumbing so people threw feces out their widows down below, and garbage overflowed, there were rat problems, yet people still lived and grew in these conditions.

1935 Harlem Riots

The Harlem Riots of 1935 was triggered by a small event that never really happened the way it was rumored to have gone down.  A 12 year old Lino Rivera was caught stealing a piece of candy, he was arrested and allegedly beaten.  Rumors them began to spread thag Rivera was publicly beat and killed by a police officer. This sparked an emotional response from the misinformed people, but the misinformation was not the problem, the problem was blacks not being offered jobs at retail stores they can shop at because of the color of their skin. No job equals no money, which leads to housing problems and issues with providing for the family. This rumor was just the last straw that broke the camels back and let loose a flood of emotions, it was what was needed for the people to react to the problems they felt were unjust.