Police Murder

I struggled to title this post. "Fuck the Police" was my initial choice, but it is too simplistic. The issue is far beyond all police officers being racist pigs. I wish it was that simple. The reality is far more intricate, invisible and repulsive. While it is undeniably true that many police officers are racist and crocked and that the profession itself will tend to draw power-hunger, hateful people, many cops sincerely want to help people when they sign up for the job. The racism in our country can be seen in the split-second decisions to murder Black people. Some police definitely kill Black people on purpose, but I think that many pull the trigger multiple times due to a nameless fear that has been bread into them since they were children: Black people are dangerous. This fear is honed and made explicit in the way we train and police our communities. PLEASE READ The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander. Everyone should know the history and current state of our "justice" system. For example, everyone should know that the CIA intentionally brought crack cocaine to poor communities of color; the CIA admitted this. Something that might get you more interested in reading this book is this article from February by Shaun King. Or you could read this article about the murder of Desmond Phillips in March. His father has started a petition to get the police-murderer fired and charged. So about the title...police violence was what came to me after I ruled out "Fuck the Police"...but violence is not what we have. We have murders committed by the police with impunity, so I have decided to start calling it what it is. Murder. Please read at least one of the articles and listen to the song "Fuck the Police" by NWA. Please also read or listen on audiobook to The New Jim Crow. We cannot fight what we do not understand.