# Historical causation doesn't work like that. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 8, 2020, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-causation-doesnt-work-like-that/855245 "2020-06-08T13:32:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2020, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-causation-doesnt-work-like-that/855245/1 "2020-06-08T13:32:36Z")
Too mild for the Pit, but as a historian I found this a little depressing. The city of Newark, New Jersey will consider, on Wednesday, a new ordinance that would create an Office of Violence Prevention. I’m not really here to debate the ordinance itself, although there are parts of it that I find constitutionally problematic. The text of the ordinance can be found [here](https://newark.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4555294&GUID=772B0D6D-03DD-4C53-801A-51B546A7D3D8&FullText=1), and it’s part of the historical preamble that I wanted to point out: > [@](#): > > WHEREAS, the **Newark 1967** riots were **triggered by both the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.** and when a black man was beaten by two white police officers and brought to the police precinct in the Central Ward Emphasis mine. No, that’s not how historical causation works. ---
**Author:** ![The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_King_of_Soup)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2020, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-causation-doesnt-work-like-that/855245/2 "2020-06-08T13:56:24Z")
Prescience. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2020, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-causation-doesnt-work-like-that/855245/3 "2020-06-08T14:54:53Z")
Is that the future pluperfect tense? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2020, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-causation-doesnt-work-like-that/855245/4 "2020-06-08T15:00:22Z")
**Moderator Note** Typo in thread title fixed (Histoircal -\> Historical) ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-causation-doesnt-work-like-that/855245/5 "2020-06-09T04:44:36Z")
Space and time are circular. After the death of Dr. King, the news spread so fast that it reached Newark in 1967, having gone all the way 'round the long way. Faster than the speed of quantum entanglement! ETA: Or, as the sage philosopher hath said: Those who do not remember history are destined to get it bass-ackward. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-causation-doesnt-work-like-that/855245/6 "2020-06-09T05:11:19Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Space and time are circular. > > After the death of Dr. King, the news spread so fast that it reached Newark in 1967, having gone all the way 'round the long way. Faster than the speed of quantum entanglement! > > ETA: Or, as the sage philosopher hath said: Those who do not remember history are destined to get it bass-ackward. Or, \*“Those who do not remember the Future are destined, one day, to live in it.” \* . ---
**Author:** ![Esprise\_Me](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprise_me/32/2947_2.png) [@Esprise\_Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprise_Me)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-causation-doesnt-work-like-that/855245/7 "2020-06-09T05:23:13Z")
Meanwhile in LA, our brilliant chief of police has seen that the protests that followed George Floyd’s death were in fact just as responsible for causing it as were the police officers who actually crushed the breath out of him. [LAPD Chief: George Floyd Death On Looters’ Hands “As Much As” Officers’ – Deadline](https://deadline.com/2020/06/lapd-chief-michael-moore-george-floyds-death-is-on-looters-hands-1202948867/) Time, how does it work again? ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historical-causation-doesnt-work-like-that/855245/8 "2020-06-09T11:50:08Z")
> [@Esprise\_Me](#): > > Meanwhile in LA, our brilliant chief of police has seen that the protests that followed George Floyd’s death were in fact just as responsible for causing it as were the police officers who actually crushed the breath out of him. [LAPD Chief: George Floyd Death On Looters' Hands "As Much As" Officers'](https://deadline.com/2020/06/lapd-chief-michael-moore-george-floyds-death-is-on-looters-hands-1202948867/) > Time, how does it work again? Nice! Two examples in two days. I like this bit from the article: > [@](#): > > After [Mayor] Garcetti retook the podium, he called the chief back up to clarify those comments. I other words, the Mayor basically said, “Hey dickhead, get back up here and fix your idiotic comments if you want to keep your job!” > [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > **Moderator Note** > > Typo in thread title fixed (Histoircal -\> Historical) Thanks **e\_c\_g**