Semantics of L.A. Riots

Americans have long called civil disorder of the sort seen in the Los Angeles riots, riots. Take as an example the draft riots in New York City during the Civil War. Poor Irish immigrants felt themselves more heavily burdened in fighting the war than the rich, who could purchase a substitute. Sandra Cox, Mafundi Jitahadi, and the others who insist on the more politically correct words insurrection , uprising , and even the hopelessly hokey intifada , once more lose credibility by calling for a second-class system of morals for people in the riot-torn areas. Please--Los Angeles has a big enough job just making its own police force accountable for the actions of its officers. Let’s not abet the problem by polishing the reputations of thieves.

ROBERT McMILLIN

Garden Grove