The Week

■ Rioting, looting, shooting, and burning broke out in Chicago after the Bulls won the NBA championship. No word yet on the root causes.

■ It seems that Bill Clinton’s rebuke to rapper Sister Souljah, who also spoke at the Rainbow Coalition convention he was addressing, was grossly insensitive to the concerns of the lawbreaking community. The convention’s impresario, Jesse Jackson, took umbrage, calling Clinton’s remarks part of “a consistent attempt to provoke me.” In response to the inevitable charge of misquotation, the Washington Post printed in full the relevant passage of its interview with Miss Souljah. (Real name: Lisa Williamson.) Asked whether the Los Angeles riots were “wise, reasoned action” from the viewpoint of the rioters themselves, she affirmed: “Yeah, it was wise. I mean, if black people kill black people every day, why not have a week and kill white people? You understand what I’m saying? In other words, white people, this government, and that mayor were well aware of the fact that black people were dying every day under gang violence. So if you’re a gang member and you would normally be killing somebody, why not kill a white person? Do you think that somebody thinks that white people are better, or above and beyond dying, when they would kill their own kind?” Jackson complained when Clinton likened this rant to the rhetoric of David Duke. It’s Duke who has cause for complaint.

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William F. Buckley Jr.

■ Rioting, looting, shooting, and burning broke out in Chicago after the Bulls won the NBA championship. No word yet on the root causes.

■ It seems that Bill Clinton’s rebuke to rapper Sister Souljah, who also spoke at the Rainbow Coalition convention he was addressing, was grossly insensitive to the concerns of the lawbreaking community. The convention’s impresario, Jesse Jackson, took umbrage, calling Clinton’s remarks part of “a consistent attempt to provoke me.” In response to the inevitable charge of misquotation, the Washington Post printed in full the relevant passage of its interview with Miss Souljah. (Real name: Lisa Williamson.) Asked whether the Los Angeles riots were “wise, reasoned action” from the viewpoint of the rioters themselves, she affirmed: “Yeah, it was wise. I mean, if black people kill black people every day, why not have a week and kill white people? You understand what I’m saying? In other words, white people, this government, and that mayor were well aware of the fact that black people were dying every day under gang violence. So if you’re a gang member and you would normally be killing somebody, why not kill a white person? Do you think that somebody thinks that white people are better, or above and beyond dying, when they would kill their own kind?” Jackson complained when Clinton likened this rant to the rhetoric of David Duke. It’s Duke who has cause for complaint.