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Showing Original Post only (View all)Policing in the US is not about enforcing law. It's about enforcing white supremacy (The Guardian) [View all]
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/may/30/policing-in-the-us-is-not-about-enforcing-law-its-about-enforcing-white-supremacy
Paul Butler
May 30, 2020
Police treatment of two CNN reporters at a George Floyd protest shows the US has opposite systems of justice one for white people, one for people of color
On Friday the CNN journalist Omar Jimenez was arrested on live television as he covered protests of police brutality in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Jimenez identifies as African American and Hispanic, and when the cops confronted him, he did just what minority parents tell their kids to do. Jimenez cooperated; he was respectful, deferential even. He said: We can move back to where you like We are getting out of your way Wherever you want us, we will go.
It didnt matter; the police officers put handcuffs on him and led him away, and then came back to arrest his crew. Jimenez narrated his arrest as they led him away. His voice is steady. His eyes, though. Jimenez is masked so his eyes are the only clue to what hes feeling. His eyes are perplexed and terrified. I get it. When a black or brown person goes into police custody, you never know what is going to happen. You just know that when you leave police custody, if you are lucky enough to leave, you will be diminished. That is the point.
<snip>
But whats most interesting is what happened to Josh Campbell, a white CNN journalist who was in the same area as Jimenez and not arrested. Campbell said his experience was the opposite of Jimenezs. The cops asked him politely to move here and there. A couple times Ive moved closer than they would, like, they asked politely to move back. They didnt pull out the handcuffs.
<big snip>
In the end, this is not about law enforcement. Its about enforcing white supremacy. Theres no tinkering with that, what with white supremacy being the foundation on which the country was built. The consistent big question in the quest for racial justice has been how much white supremacy is central to the identity of the US. This is what Barack Obama and Ta-Nehisi Coates argued about. If we had something approaching equal justice, would we still even be the United States? In order to accomplish that wed have to change the constitution, which authorizes much of the police violence that communities of color complain about, and the politics which exploits white anxiety about black and brown men. (much more at link)
Paul Butler
May 30, 2020
Police treatment of two CNN reporters at a George Floyd protest shows the US has opposite systems of justice one for white people, one for people of color
On Friday the CNN journalist Omar Jimenez was arrested on live television as he covered protests of police brutality in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Jimenez identifies as African American and Hispanic, and when the cops confronted him, he did just what minority parents tell their kids to do. Jimenez cooperated; he was respectful, deferential even. He said: We can move back to where you like We are getting out of your way Wherever you want us, we will go.
It didnt matter; the police officers put handcuffs on him and led him away, and then came back to arrest his crew. Jimenez narrated his arrest as they led him away. His voice is steady. His eyes, though. Jimenez is masked so his eyes are the only clue to what hes feeling. His eyes are perplexed and terrified. I get it. When a black or brown person goes into police custody, you never know what is going to happen. You just know that when you leave police custody, if you are lucky enough to leave, you will be diminished. That is the point.
<snip>
But whats most interesting is what happened to Josh Campbell, a white CNN journalist who was in the same area as Jimenez and not arrested. Campbell said his experience was the opposite of Jimenezs. The cops asked him politely to move here and there. A couple times Ive moved closer than they would, like, they asked politely to move back. They didnt pull out the handcuffs.
<big snip>
In the end, this is not about law enforcement. Its about enforcing white supremacy. Theres no tinkering with that, what with white supremacy being the foundation on which the country was built. The consistent big question in the quest for racial justice has been how much white supremacy is central to the identity of the US. This is what Barack Obama and Ta-Nehisi Coates argued about. If we had something approaching equal justice, would we still even be the United States? In order to accomplish that wed have to change the constitution, which authorizes much of the police violence that communities of color complain about, and the politics which exploits white anxiety about black and brown men. (much more at link)
Please go to the link and read the whole piece - it's outstanding!
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Policing in the US is not about enforcing law. It's about enforcing white supremacy (The Guardian) [View all]
scarletwoman
May 2020
OP