Blood in the streets ... where does it end?

Riot: a tumultuous disturbance of the public peace by three or more persons assembled together and acting with a common intent (reference: Merriam Webster's Dictionary).
War: a state of usually open and declared armed hostile conflict between states or nations (reference: Merriam Webster's Dictionary).
Most are aware of the recent rioting in Charlottesville, Virginia. At the epicenter of the rioting are these facts:
*For some time, now, there has been a strong push by liberals (even some conservatives) to remove a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, Lee allegedly being symbolic of slavery in the Civil War-era South. The bronze statue of Robert E. Lee astride his horse 'Traveller' is located in Charlottesville, Virginia's Emancipation Park.
*The situation in Charlottesville came to a head on Saturday, August 12, 2017, when, in a rally called "Unite the Right," right-wing protesters such as Proud Boys, KKK, and neo-Nazis physically clashed with counter-protestors such as Black Lives Matter, Anti-Racist Action, and Democratic Socialists of America.
The riot on August 12 took a turn for the worse when 20-year-old James Fields, a white man from Ohio who embraced right-wing ideology, deliberately drove a 2010 Dodge Challenger into a crowd of people, killing a 32-year-old woman and injuring 19 others, some still in critical condition. Tragically, two Virginia State Troopers, working with Charlottesville law enforcement, died in a helicopter crash that same August 12 day.
*President Donald Trump, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe have publicly spoken out about the rioting in Charlottesville, castigating racism and bigotry in America.
Shifting gears a bit, a friend and I recently went to the Carmike Theater in Cookeville, TN, and saw a movie titled "Detroit." That said, have you ever heard of the 'Detroit Riot of 1967'
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Sunday/July 23, 1967 (early morning): Detroit police officers, mostly white, raided a 'blind pig,' an unlicensed drinking establishment. At this blind pig were approximately 80 black people, celebrating the safe return of two black soldiers who had fought in the Vietnam War. The police arrested everyone present at the blind pig. Blacks on the street outside the blind pig observed the white policemen roughly handle the 80 arrested fellow blacks, and the observers took considerable umbrage with what they saw. Words were exchanged; bottles were thrown; windows were shattered, and, in the blink of an eye, 'It was on!'
The rioting quickly escalated, and over the course of the next five days, the city of Detroit, Michigan, a.k.a. "Motor City" and "Home of Motown," became a boiling cauldron of death, fire, and destruction! The rioting worsened so rapidly that President Lyndon B. Johnson authorized the deployment of federal troops to help quell the riot, including the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division and 101st Airborne Division, and the Michigan National Guard.
A friend, who grew up in Detroit but now lives in McMinnville, TN, had this to say: "The riot was like a war zone. When it was over, downtown Detroit looked like the aftermath of the apocalypse."
For the most part, the Detroit Riot was under control as of July 29, 1967. Some accounts have the final damage assessments as follows:
*Deaths: 43 people died. 33 were black, and 10 were white.
Injuries: 1,189 people were injured: 407 civilians, 289 suspects, 214 Detroit police officers, 134 Detroit firefighters, 55 Michigan National Guardsmen, 67 Michigan State Police officers, 15 Wayne County Sheriff deputies, and 8 federal soldiers.
Arrests: 7,231 people were arrested (mostly black): 6,528 adults and 703 juveniles.
Economic damage: 2,509 stores were looted or burned. 388 families were rendered homeless or displaced. 412 buildings were burned or damaged enough to be demolished. Dollar losses from property damage were assessed to be from $40 million to $45 million (billions in 2017).
The Detroit Riot of 1967 has been called the 'worst riot in U.S. history'.
As indicated by the two definitions given at the beginning of the column, a riot such as the one in Charlottesville, Virginia, has the potential to turn into full-scale war. If not handled expediently, and with stern diplomacy, 'blood' will repaint America's streets. Hence, one has to ask 'Just where does it end?'
(SIDE NOTE: Some historians theorize the Detroit Riot of 1967 directly correlates with the assassination of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr./MLK, slain in Memphis, TN, April 4, 1968. And for this reason: MLK led his first 'Poor People's March' on Washington, D.C. in late August 1963, where he gave his timeless "I Have a Dream" speech to some 250,000 listeners. MLK was set to lead a second Poor People's March on Washington, D.C. in late April 1968. There were guesstimates as many as one million would attend the second Poor People's March.' As one writer put it, "America simply could not risk allowing King to lead a possible one million disgruntled people on our nation's capital ... especially with America still reelin' from the Detroit riot of '67!")