what to do in case of rioting.

[Mortblanc]

It used to be that in the U.S. there were defined sections of town for each group of people. Not just divided by race but also by ethnic background. We are a nation of immigrants and it takes a generation or two for new groups to assimilate under normal circumstances.

Each city had a "Little Italy", little Poland/Lithuania/Greece/??? where the new immigrants could find solace within the old culture and speak the old language freely. We even have towns and sections of towns officially named German Town, French Quarter, Over The Rine and such.

As a whole those old lines of division have been erased, except in the large urban areas. The U.S. is not as much an urban society as it is a suburban society. That is why we rely on our vehicles more then Europeans and Brits. Our cities are vast sprawling affairs that often exceed the physical size of London without the population to match it. It is not unusual for a city of less than 1,000,000 to require over an hour to drive from one side to the other on a freely flowing motorway, with most of that travel time being spent traversing the suburbs.

Most suburban neighborhoods are fully integrated, the schools are multi-ethnic and multi-racial and unless the differences in culture are pointed out they go un-noticed.

This presents the problem of not having a concentration of population that will be easily induced to riot outside of specific urban settings such as mentioned by Jonas. The other aspect of this is that the members of the "offended group" are very busy living a normal middle class life and simply do not have time or desire to "riot".

They might show up at an evening protest meeting or a candle lite vigil, but they are not going to burn down their own neighborhood, trash the corner "candy store", or loot Walmart. That is a function of the urban concentrations, which are growing smaller and smaller as the public housing developments are closed down in favor of rent subsidies and freedom to choose where one will live.

The new trend has become focusing the gathering on a specific government building. A protest or riot at the City Hall, the Federal Building or some specific intersection that controls traffic flow. Often these intersections are positioned near a Walmart that takes the brunt of wealth redistribution. That is a necessity due to the dispersion of the population.

Therefore suburbia is a reasonably safe environment, as long as a "protest" is not planned in your area with outsiders that have no investment in the community shipped in to attend the "rally". Even then the excitement will be concentrated in the public/government buildings and the main shopping district. I do not remember any American riot that has spilled over into a suburban residential area.

It is not unusual for an American riot to include a shopping area but not touch the homes in the street behind the shopping area. Other times the destruction will stop on one side of a street and the opposite side will be untouched. Most often, areas/shop owners that put up a defense will be avoided while the businesses on either side are looted.

When one steps into suburbia new rules apply, new dangers manifest themselves and transportation becomes a problem. It is very difficult to transport your loot home from the burbs is you do not have a truck! Best to stick to shops close to the flat.