Here we go again. Violent protesting erupted in Baltimore, Maryland earlier this week. Do people even know what their protesting anymore? The message appears fuzzy. When this movement began, it appeared that the rallying message was for the abolition of an abusive police force, but it appears an undertone of old American racism has reared its ugly head.

Racism sucks. Are we seriously judging the views, actions, and opinions of entire races based on skin color? That’s a step backwards and it’s beyond stupid. But you know what else is stupid? Destroying neighborhoods, especially where you grew up. I understand that people are upset over what allegedly happened to 25 year old, Freddie Gray, but why destroy your neighborhood in the name of racism. I understand that it’s easy to join a movement that appears to have a good cause, but please identify the change you seek and act constructively. Destroying your neighborhood is not an effective way to send a message or start a movement. It makes the protesters look really uneducated and stupid.

Do Americans feel helpless? Have Americans decided that the right to peacefully protest has essentially proven ineffective? I don’t understand why some people act like criminals and expect drastic changes to be made. Protests and riots are nothing new in American history, but they’re growing in frequency. Throwing temper tantrums in the streets has criminal consequences and pissing off the local community is clearly sending the wrong message to the peaceful law-abiding residents. Many of these Baltimore neighborhoods will never rebuild. This ultimately hurts Baltimore’s citizens that relied on those businesses, and business owners may never come back or rebuild. Acting off pure emotion is not going to rally intelligent people to the cause. Intelligent people are needed to spread an effective message with real solutions.

President Obama responded to the riots, "I think there are police departments that have to do some soul-searching. I think there are some communities that have to do some soul-searching.” President Obama continued, “But I think we as a country have to do some soul-searching."

There’s no doubt that we need to fix our broken police forces around the country, but let’s not let the race baiters control the narrative of these and future protests. Remember, these instigators profit while we suffer. We live in interesting times and I really hope that violence does not become the modern way to protest, but after watching Baltimore burn on Monday, I wouldn’t be surprised.