A lot of the young Irish males became criminals when they first came over and lived in slums in the big cities. There was strong anti-Irish and anti-Catholic feelings among the Protestant population. Irish Catholics were discriminated against.
But the local law enforcement let it be known that their criminality wasn't going to be tolerated. Then the Irish became Americans and assimilated with the rest of the country. Time for black Americans to do the same. There are no laws holding them back.
Good synopsis of the situation. Funny thing is, lots of those Irish males became cops in SF, and that tamed the criminality in the community. Large parts of San Francisco were Irish inhabited. Blacks didn't come until WWII and the need for workers in the shipyards. Over the last 50 years the blacks largely departed for the suburbs. Same is true for many Irish. Problem is, while the Irish have totally assimilated, lots of blacks still self-segregate in those suburb communities.
SF is a commuter city. Millions commute in to work there, as well as to shop there. And most of those protestors commute in to protest there. If one to were to look at arrest records, the vast majority live out of town, and few are black. Those protestors can't afford the goods in the stores they're vandalizing, and are despised by the residents, it's an economic disparity problem; they protest anything to vent anger over their life situation. Still a lot of Irish cops, in the old days they would have busted heads with their billy clubs but now their hands are tied by PC rules of engagement. Fubar.