The Momentum of Riots

Almost all of the force behind riots comes from the sense of power and safety found in numbers. The pressure of the crowd also keeps the participants from thinking effectively as individuals. The climactic march during the story In Darkness and Confusion by Ann Petry is a great example. While the lead character, William Jones, has been given plenty of personal reasons to lash out, once the mob begins to march, the rest of the crowd seems to follow instinctively. A fight between a cop and a soldier that results in a shooting is what initially unites the crowd, bringing them out onto the street. As the mass of people begins to file towards the hospital, to learn if the soldier survived, William explicitly states he feels as if he has lost his individuality in the mob, but then he realizes he is surrounded by people exactly like him. Together, they are capable of anything.


This scene also shows how quickly an idea can travel through such a mob. The crowd seems to move with one mind and one heart; William describes the sound of the crowd marching as a "pulse beat", slow, powerful, and building. The people in the crowd chatter with each other, expressing their irritation with the cops and their fears that the soldier was already dead. Most interesting is how an offhand comment from William himself: "They moved the black cops out." The near-rioting crowd - all African-American - is being watched exclusively by white cops. The comment spreads throughout the crowd, becoming a "whisper of hate on the still hot air." The crowd absorbs it, and it becomes part of their marching rhythm as they repeat it to each other.