Why don't people protest violence when it is not because of a cop?

They do!

Once again the media is awash in gross generalizations and stereotypes about violence in the black community.  "Why don't these people protest violence when the perpetrator is black?"  

This erroneous message is used to say that people should not protest when violence is because of police or whites.  It turns the concerns about being victims of violence into an argument about racial animosity.  In other words, it is saying you are just protesting because you're black and the perpetrator was white.  This dismisses the issue of violence altogether and instead tries to put people against each other based on race.

It is easy to put people against each other because we all live such segregated lives.  When there are not protests in the larger society, many whites do not realize the work and risk that many black Americans are putting into ending violence in their own communities.

For example, many Chicagoans heard about the violent shootings in April 2020 but this Mother Jones article details how,

The day after the bloody Tuesday, around noon, Joshua Coakley joined about two dozen outreach workers on a walk through the streets of this working-class neighborhood. They were on the lookout for local contacts, mostly gang members or former gang members who might have information about the shootings—or plans to retaliate.

And here is a picture in 2018 of high school students who  protested violence in their community:

Another group protesting violence is Mothers Against Senseless Killing (MASK) detailed in this Crain's Chicago Business article.  Below is a photo of Tamar Manasseh, who founded the group in 2014.

The Trace details how MASK launched Moms On Patrol, a group that camps outside to monitor the neighborhood and prevent violence.  Here is a picture of some of those moms monitoring the neighborhood and doing street yoga:

And sadly, two of the moms in this group were even killed by the violence that they were trying to stop.  Here is a NY Post article about it.  And here is a memorial created for them:

In 2018 there was a protest specifically meant to raise awareness in less violent  neighborhoods about the violence that occurs in other parts of the city.  This Associated Press article details that.


This DNAinfo article (2015) shows how residents protest violence in neighborhoods all across the city.

There is sociological research that these protests and interventions do help.  This article from Science Daily (2019) shows that these protests go back to at least 1994 with Operation Ceasefire in Boston.   And sociologists from Northwestern found a significantly lower rate of violence because of interventions:

Spreading effects

George Wood and Andrew Papachristos, sociologists at Northwestern University just north of Chicago in the city of Evanston, Ill., have looked into the how gun violence prevention efforts have played out in the city where 051 Melly was gunned down. 

Their work, published August 19 in Nature Human Behavior, focuses on a Chicago intervention that, between August 2010 and June 2016, invited violent offenders, identified via Chicago Police Department records, to one-hour meetings, known as call-ins, held in community centers and other public places. The study tracks recorded instances of being shot among nearly 8,500 individuals, including program participants and their associates, who are known from arrest records, police and outreach workers to be involved in violent groups.
As in programs in several dozen U.S. cities, the call-ins began with officers emphasizing that shootings had to stop. If they didn’t, perpetrators as well as neighborhood associates would be hit with outstanding warrants, parole violations and charges for other crimes. 

Then community representatives, including parents of murdered children, ministers and street outreach workers, told participants that they are loved and valued, but need to become involved in constructive activities. Victims of gun violence and their relatives described the trauma of their experiences.
Finally, local social service workers offered access to job training, drug treatment and other programs.

And, Presidential candidate Joe Biden  spoke out against the violence as reported by Reuters (2020)

... after George Floyd’s death, Joe Biden repeatedly condemned violent protests. In a May 31 post on his blog shortly after George Floyd’s death, he wrote, “Protesting such brutality is right and necessary. It’s an utterly American response. But burning down communities and needless destruction is not. Violence that endangers lives is not.” ( here , here ).
At a speech in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on June 2, he said, “There’s no place for violence, no place for looting or destroying property or burning churches or destroying businesses […] we need to distinguish between legitimate peaceful protest and opportunistic violent destruction” (here).
On July 28, Biden also condemned violent protests at a speech in Wilmington, Delaware, as seen here at the 8 minute 24 second mark.
On August 30, Joe Biden condemned violence at protests in Portland (here) by releasing a statement on his campaign website (here), which said, “The deadly violence we saw overnight in Portland is unacceptable […] as a country we must condemn the incitement of hate and resentment that led to this deadly clash. It is not a peaceful protest when you go out spoiling for a fight.” (More here )