Just saw Kamau Bell on CNN still defending the phrase "defund the police". [View all]

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Last edited Sat May 1, 2021, 02:57 PM - Edit history (1)

I generally like him but he's, IMO, so wrong on this wording. There was a video with a chart that showed a guy talking about redistributing portions of a police budget to other agencies like social services etc. He then said no one can really argue with the premise of the chart, once they get past the phrase "defund the police".

I wanted to scream. The point is most people can't get past the phrase. My thought is and has been since the ridiculous term was introduced, is that defund the police immediately brings to mind that there will be no police.

Just as elections have consequences, so do word choices. It showed immediately in the 2020 election as we lost several Congressional seats we won in the 2018 blue wave as republicans used that phrase to scare voters and now out majority in the house is razor thin.

Words have consequences and I don't get how intelligent people like Bell don't get that. Defund the police means no police to many voters. When you have to explain a slogan or a position, you're already losing.