The Kids are Alright--a Boomer perspective [View all]

[Maeve]

I'm a mid-Boomer (1955) and an amateur historian, so I'm looking at the current protests from both a personal and an historic perspective, particularly as they relate to the Progressive Era (1870-1920). As a side note, my dad was a deputy sheriff for a time, and a conservative, so that was part of my up-bringing. Here is my viewpoint, for what it's worth.

The other week, there was a poll (and many threads) here on DU about the use of the phrase "defund the police". I opted out of the choices, saying it's not my call---the leaders of the movement will shift the wording if it proves too problematic, and besides, my generation has made enough mistakes, we don't need to criticize this one. One of the biggest arguments I saw was that it doesn't play well with Republicans. Well, nothing is going to play well with them, but they are a smaller group than they used to be. Let's see how it unfolds. I also thought (and still do) that this isn't the same battle we've fought before with police reform. There has been some push for police reform pretty much as long as there have been police--corruption, incompetence, excessive force...these have always been issues.

The Progressive movement tried to do a lot of things, and tried to leverage the federal government for most of them--child labor laws, women's suffrage, prohibition, unionization of labor, improved health codes, better housing...and they had some great successes. In the 1960's and '70's, there was also the Civil Rights movement that used the federal government to push for equality, voting rights, an end to the draft. And now there is some push to change things on a national level---however.

However--the push for police reform THIS time is being waged on the local level first and foremost. And that is showing signs of progress. Because that is where change needs to begin--not just police reform but actually re-forming police departments. Cities are spending huge sums to maintain police departments and are finally asking "Do we NEED a SWAT team here?" "Would it make more sense to get social workers out on the streets when we're dealing with altered behavior?" And among the protesters are people who can say "Here's the data--and here are videos of what is wrong AND what can be right with crowd control." In some places, we've watched the protesters stop the violence (well, not on FOX, but elsewhere!) We've seen the ones trying to disrupt peaceful protest caught on video and turned over to the law. We're seeing better organization and more thought coming out of this round of protests than most people seem to have expected--and that's a GREAT thing.

There have been people organizing behind the scenes for several years, now--BLM, Indivisible, Campaign Zero (https://8cantwait.org/ ) and more--and it shows. Yes, there have been times of looting and destruction, but overall...we are seeing city after city challenge the preconceptions of what policing means and winning. Another aside--the Republican fight against helping local and state governments may actually be helping, since they're forced to look at budgets more carefully; unintended consequences!

I wish I could be out on the streets, too. But as a part-time caretaker for my elderly mother, I really have to avoid crowds and possible covid infection. But right now, I'll say this--the kids are alright. And if we can vote in a real president and a working congress, we may see the flowering of a new progressive era in the coming years. And get back to pushing for liberty and justice for all.