Clarence Page: Why #MontgomeryRiverfrontBrawl gained new meaning in Black conversations
What else explains the rapid and ridiculous escalation of an argument over moving a boat on a sunny Alabama summer day into an all-out, racially tinged melee with multiple arrests? Yet, in the age of social media, the melee in Montgomery quickly went viral on the web, literally inviting anyone to add their own soundtrack and commentary— and many people did.
It’s summertime but, contrary to George Gershwin’s classic tune from “Porgy and Bess,” the livin’ was not easy at the event memorialized in a social media hashtag as simply #MontgomeryRiverfrontBrawl.
Brawl, indeed. The melee is a mess to sort out, but my guess is that alcohol was involved.
What else explains the rapid and ridiculous escalation of an argument over moving a boat on a sunny Alabama summer day into an
