North Cook News

With the ongoing demonstrations for Black Lives Matter, there has been plenty of discussion of looting and riots, although one writer has taken a controversial view of looting.

Vicky Osterweil’s “In Defense of Looting” was released on Aug. 25, and she has an opinion many would not agree with.

Osterweil describes herself as a writer, editor and agitator. She has participated in protests for years. She finished the book in April, and NPR notes that she’s taken an attitude that might be unusual. Osterweil said she believes "looting is a powerful tool to bring about real, lasting change in society.”

She said that those who smash windows and attack businesses are “engaging in a powerful tactic that questions the justice of law and order, the distribution of property and wealth.”

Osterweil told NPR that looting “gets people what they need for free immediately, which means that they are capable of living and reproducing their lives without having to rely on jobs or a wage.” And, she said that in the context of a Black uprising, looting and rioting attack the history of whiteness and white supremacy.

Looters and rioters don't attack private homes or community centers, Osterweil said.

“To say you're attacking your own community is to say to rioters, 'You don't know what you're doing.' But I disagree. I think people know. They might have worked in those shops. They might have shopped and been followed around by security guards or by the owner,” she said.

North Cook News reached out to Kathy Myalls, who has worked as an adjunct professor of communications at DePaul University, to discuss the impact of rioting on businesses.

“No. It's never OK to loot or commit arson. It doesn't matter what race, ethnicity, creed, sexual preference or anything else the owner of a business has,” Myalls said. "There are legal ways to protest and seek change. Rioters and looters should be locked up and required to pay restitution.”