Isn the black bloc just a bunch of young hooligans?
Black blocs have been comprised of people of many different ages. While participants in black blocs tend to be young–reflecting the demographic of most protesters–there have been quite a few people over the age of 30 in black blocs. There have been reports of black bloc participants who are in their 50s and 60s. When people accuse the black bloc of being “young hooligans” they are engaging in ageism and in the process of marginalizing people because they choose to engage in a tactic that sometimes involves property destruction and violence. A few activists can’t accept the fact that other activists actually do engage in property destruction. Dismissing the black bloc as “young hooligans” is a feeble attempt to deny the agency and politics of those that engage in black bloc tactics.
