Protests that turn violent have been a constant throughout American history. Professor Ashley Howard explains their origins, and how new laws, policing methods, and social media have changed the way people demonstrate.

For More on this Topic:

• Check out her interview in The Chronicle of Higher Education and her piece in The Black Scholar.
• Read her two-page brief, How U.S. Urban Unrest in the 1960s Can Help Make Sense of Ferguson, Missouri, and Other Recent Protests.

Further Reading:

• How the Ferguson Commission Can Promote Healing and Reconciliation in Metropolitan Saint Louis, Eric Royer, University of Missouri-St. Louis
• How Social Movements are Using the Internet to Change Politics, Deana A. Rohlinger, Florida State University
• How Legacies of Urban Racial Segregation Shape Today's Controversies over Police Killings of Black People, Colin Gordon, University of Iowa