Law Enforcement
I live in one of the 'good' neighborhoods in the suburbs. Not many yard signs (they keep it low key but you know the candidates they support are Repugs) nearby, but if you drive four miles out, you'll start seeing the 'we back the blue' and 'thank you, police officers' yard signs. And you immediately know what that means: they are racist and consider anybody different to them 'a danger'. That's the reason they live in the very homogenized, very fearful, very white suburbs of Chicago.
When George Floyd was killed, when the police shot a Black man in Kenosha in front of his children, when there were riots in Chicago and store fronts were smashed, the neighbors called us and told us to be on alert. And we don't even live close to Orland Park, the more diverse, more racially diverse part of the suburbs. That's what white people in the suburbs believe: that they are constantly in danger. That they need protection.
I am very ambivalent about the police force as it exists today. on the one side, I see it as a keeper of the order and as a symbol of justice for some but on the other I see it as a keeper of white supremacy and an oppressive force. And I keep coming and going between those to ideas all the time.
"Modern law enforcement evolved out of complex brew of a larger population, shifting sociopolitical class boundaries, and other external issues (such as the labor pressures that created an unhappy underclass) and a shift in the way policing was regarded by business owners and the population at large: proactive rather than reactive.
However, it is important to note that “the police” do not consist of a homogenous block of the American population, and while the early days of modern-day police forces are undeniable and under-covered facets of its history, the focus and perspective of policing is a complicated and fraught subject. It would be a mistake to assume that police in 2016 are the same as police in the 1870s, and to conclude that the profile of law enforcement in the United States — and around the world — has not changed throughout its existence. It would also be a mistake to assume that law enforcement cannot or will not be changed again in response to popular pressure, given that its focus has varied dramatically since its inception."
This article from 2016 feels dated. At least 229 Black people were killed by the police in the US a year after the killing of George Floyd. There is even a Wikipedia page keeping track of the unarmed Black people that the Police has killed in the US! We cannot assume that all police officers are 'bad' but we cannot give them a pass every time they kill somebody who is not white but apparently let live other people who are white. Policing in the US has become (along with the American flag and many other things) a symbol of white supremacy, and I feel that that's not a good sign. I think that"Defund the Police", in the sense that more resources should be allocated to attack the causes of crime and poverty and steer away from police brutality (which is a scourge as prevalent as violence in big cities). But you know that conservatives will forever see that cry as an attack on the forces that they feel keep them safe...
XOXO
P.S. still...
Big says,
ReplyDeleteSaw an interview yesterday with a woman from Youngstown (not far from Akron) who has hit the nail on the head when it comes to this kind of thing. 5 of the police chasing after Jayland Walker did NOT shoot while the others emptied their clips. Her reasoning: White Supremacists are infiltrating law enforcement. Just like the Proud boys and Oath Keepers are being elected to public office in southern FL. They have seen their way to bring the country to Evangelical Apartheid.
XOXO
And you know what, Big?
DeleteShe's correct. But at the end of the day, white supremacists have always been part of the force. Some of those KKK people went after runaway slaves and stayed in the force. It's more blatant now, after Cheeto.
XOXO
HuntleyBiGuy:
ReplyDeleteMaybe, just maybe, the police on the North Shore are that polite to all of their traffic stops (irony alert).
There is a continuing problem in the US with race related police encounters. You would have thought that the George Floyd backlash would have caused an immediate shift in policing, but no. I think the problem is that no matter the number of responding officers, there is the constant fear of POC and they respond out of that fear, no matter how innocent the situation may be.
XOXO 👨🏼❤️💋👨🏽
Yes, Bae. Irony alert, indeed.
DeleteAnd of course there is a continuing problem: police officers killing unarmed Black people. George Floyd only made them more sneaky. And you are right: there is a constant fear that POC will respond in some way (duh, trauma) they find suspicious every time. It's embedded in the culture.
XOXO
You make it seem as if the police simply walked up to Primo and asked him to surrender, they didn't. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JxkBLJaAHk While I think Big is somewhat right, there is also that brand of police officer who will always shoot first and ask questions later. Another difference needing to be kept in mind, Walker was terrified for his life, while that spineless jellyfish Primo no doubt shit in his pants when he saw all of those officers surrounding his car. I suspect he will suffer a worse fate in jail.
ReplyDeleteLOL
DeleteI did not make it seem like they just walked up to him and asked him to surrender. I posted a video of the interaction the police had with an alleged shooter when they caught up with him after a manhunt. That video is on social media. I think you may have misinterpreted the evidence in front of you...
XOXO
That first Tweet says all you need know.
ReplyDeleteTraffic stop + Person of Color = Sixty rounds of ammo.
Traffic stop + White Person + Please and thank you and no shots fired.
My thoughts on police: if you have a thousand police officers and 999 are good and one is bad, and those 999 do nothing about that bad officer, then you have a thousand bad police officers.
Appalling.
DeleteAlso, blatantly unfair. And the bad apple always fucks it up with the complacency and blessing of all the other apples. That is infuriating.
XOXO
White people are a fucking riot. Most days they are afraid of their own shadow. These days not anyone minority is any less or more dangerous than any other. I like you, when it come to police I'm in the middle. Two of my friends, a married couple are both cops. They said like any other job, you have the good and bad eggs, and the bad eggs ruin it for everyone. I also have a friend who is a guy cop, so his perspective is different, but he too says the same, and he is highly like in his department, which is cool. But don't ask how we met, that's another story. I may have blogged that one.
ReplyDeleteOh, you are right.
DeleteMany white people are indeed afraid of their own shadow. That's why we have so many conspiracy theories and stupid cunts like Marjorie three names in the government. I'm very torn with the police. And I think they are somehow necessary. But boy do they fuck it up spectacularly.
And I believe you may have indeed blogged about that cop...
XOXO
Racists exist in every walk of life. I work with a highly educated bunch - the best of the best - and among us I know there exists a very quiet, but talkative (among themselves) group of Xtians/Racists/Sexists/Homophobes. They don't get it. They don't understand why anyone would have an issue with what they believe... and they believe their hatred is protected speech. So, small wonder that our police forces deal with the same thing. A little power? Corrupts. You give someone like that a gun? Dumb, dumb, dumb. You get what you deserve. That's why the vetting process has to improve, the entire blue line has to be erased, the whole mindset of what being a cop needs to evolve, people need to police the community they live in, etc. You can't have people coming into your hood with guns who view you and those you live with as 'other.' They need to see you as themselves. Their neighbors. We need to stop giving guns to mentally ill people... and a racist cop? That's a mentally ill person - with a license to kill.
ReplyDeleteOMG
DeleteYes, yes, YES! To everything you said. And I feel you: the first time I walked across the parking lot at work and saw MAGA stickers I was shocked. Yes, I was that stupid. THEN I heard what some people said about race and the need of diversity. I was shocked. Racists, sexists and homophobes are everywhere. But especially in the police force. And they do have power. When they say defund the police they talk about improving the vetting process, having they police their own turfs and changing the training process. Any ignorant redneck with anger issues can get in the police force with no effort whatsoever. That needs to change. A mentally ill person with a license to kill not a better country it makes.
XOXO