What does a world with defunded police look like?
Direct action is better than cultural appropriation. Scroll to the bottom for resources.
There is a podcast called “The Three Questions” hosted by Andy Richter. In it, he asks celebrities and funny humans 3 simple questions:
- Where did you come from?
- What did you learn?
- Where are you going?
These are really good questions. The first two are usually easier to answer. The last one is the hardest. Trying to answer the last one now, with the protests that are happening as a backdrop, highlights another inherent problem in our system.
George Floyd, a black man, was murdered by Derek Chauvin, a white police officer. Two other officers were helping Derek while a third was preventing bystanders from helping.
This comes in the wake of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery,Tony McDade, and, sadly, many others.
The entire world learned about the history and depth of systemic racism and violence within the police force. People rise up despite a global pandemic in solidarity, demanding the police change their ways. The police respond with violence.
Defund the police. Reduce their influence. This is important and good.
If you ask about where funds should go instead, then things get a little hazy.
The government has not been doing it’s job well. I am not talking about the mango-in-chief, but about the theatrics of the Democratic Party. Instead of providing a point of view on where police funds and scope should go, instead the people in charge offer symbolic efforts. In early June 2020, the world was treated to this photo:
The photo op was news in parallel with the announcement of the Justice in Policing Act, which just like the photo, is largely symbolic. Many of the reforms it calls for are already outlawed or mandatory in many states (technically, and look how effective those have been).
It is a power move where people in high authority want to relate to their constituents. It is a symbolic gesture made for a seemingly deep photo op. But symbolism also needs direct action.
From NY Time’s columnist, Charles M. Blow “All of these are feel-good gestures that cost nothing and shift no power. They create no justice and provide no equity.”
People deserve more than tone-def efforts meant to appease people. Link goes to author, Obianuju Ekeocha, asking the U.S. Democratic party to stop using African culture for their virtue signaling.
In contrast, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was one of the first public officials to offer a view of what the world could look like. She has the first clear answer to “where are we going?” (condensed)
“The good news is that it actually doesn’t take a ton of imagination. It looks like a suburb.
Affluent white communities already live in a world where they choose to fund youth, health, housing, etc. more than they fund police. These communities have lower crime rates not because they have more police, but because they have more resources to support healthy society in a way that reduces crime.
White communities bend over backwards to find alternatives to incarceration for their loved ones to ‘protect their future’ like community service or rehab or restorative measures. Why don’t we treat Black and Brown people the same way?
Why doesn’t the news use Black people’s graduation or family photos in stories the way they do when they cover white people (e.g. Brock Turner) who commit harmful crimes?
White suburbs also design their own lives so that they walk through the world without having much interruption or interaction with police at all, aside from community events and speeding tickets.”
The good is that this message is clear. There is a lot there to discuss about how to defund the police and what to build instead. The bad is that this message appeared in an Instagram story instead of appearing inside Congress.
It seems like it will be up to the people to create the institutions that they need without relying on lawmakers who are busy appropriating culture for photo ops.
