When we were only dealing with COVID-19, and people longed for a return to normalcy, I was thinking about how normal had not really been that great. The protests and their subjects have been a resounding affirmation.
I have been pleasantly surprised as some people have shown new understanding of structural racism and its effects. Other people have been very disappointing in how stubbornly they cling to not understanding.
I still lean toward being sympathetic when I can, so this post is about dealing with concepts that are so new and different that the only possible initial reaction seems to be "No! We can't do that!"
This is most likely when someone is suggesting a change to something entrenched in the old system, often a system that has worked well for you. That feels like chaos, exacerbating the normal intimidation of change.
The first step is going to be just like in the previous posts about being overwhelmed or being embarrassed: Stop. Breathe. Listen.
Once you do that, you will find that even if you can't picture it, there are other people who have been thinking about it, and have pictured it. Different people may imagine different results, and you may lean more toward some visions than others. That can be fine. It is listening with an open mind that allows the growth.
So let's do a walk-through on the very frightening idea of police abolition.
A good starting point may be to remember how scary having police is for some people. Yes, having them around may not have been a problem for you, but that may not be entirely a product of your crime-free lifestyle. Researching current problems with the police may be your first step, though this past week or so should have given you at least a few ideas about that.
The next stop tends to be all the Whatabouts: What about domestic violence? What about murder? What about theft? What about rape? Maybe throw in a "What about Black on Black crime?" just to be thorough.
If you go into this with an open mind, this can really be where you start seeing how abolishing the police could work. For thefts, well, sometimes if they catch the thieves and your possessions are still there, you might get them back after they are no longer needed for evidence. Burglaries aren't investigated as often as you would hope.
Some of that is that you have patrol, and you have detectives. Detectives probably have too many other things to investigate, not worrying about petty theft. (DA offices could probably employ detectives for investigating serious crimes, and that could be its own can of worms.)
Patrols can keep an eye out for identified suspects, or suspicious activity, but here is at least one thread about them not having enough to do, and therefore causing trouble instead of preventing it:
https://twitter.com/ess_trainor/status/1269748616895348738?
I think we have seen that police are not always helpful with crowd control. Their goals may be off.
For domestic violence, lots of domestic abuse happens in police families. I recently read about a friend's interaction with the police after surviving domestic abuse. It's not my story, I'm not getting into it here, but she would have been better off with a social worker or counselor or almost anyone else but those cops. (I've still got some anger about that one.)
We know that police are not great at dealing with mental health crises.
We also know that law enforcement is full of not just casual racists but deliberate avowed racists, and that should allow us to deduce that rooting out the racism would be difficult, and be resisted as hard as measures to contain police brutality:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/fbi-white-supremacists-in-law-enforcement
We know that not a single police officer in Louisville had their body cameras turned on, which indicates not only resistance to accountability, but confidence that accountability can be avoided:
https://wfpl.org/mayor-no-body-camera-footage-of-shooting-and-police-chief-fired/
After a while, you start thinking "How can we NOT abolish the police?"
Modern policing descends from Southern slave patrols. It was primarily a means of maintaining the social order and protecting the possessions of the wealthy, at a time when people could be possessions. It's not surprising that it ended up this way.
What we need now is to decide what we value, and how to serve those values.
I know that there are people who value being able to exert control of others because of race, gender, sexuality and all of the other factors. Sometimes, there is a level at which you can be invested in that because you haven't examined it.
Examine everything. You can do it, and you are not alone.
I will mention one more thing that could be discouraging, but I took it as encouragement.
I was reading A Third University is Possible by la paperson. One concept it brought up was rematriation, which was new to me, and I couldn't picture it, just to show that I have experience in finding new concepts hard too.
Anyway, there was a part that was talking about how the system that you build to correct the old system will have its own flaws. That is normally a point of despair for me; can't we be perfect? It shifted for me there. You just have to do your best, and in the process you will learn things that you don't know now. Then you try again.
Our best is going to have to include coming to grips with racism and rejecting it in how we rebuild.
For #8cantwait, I am only going to say that a lot of it is already in place and not working. I understand the appeal of reform over abolition, but I am not optimistic about it. In my mind, it looks more like our relationship with the police is the abused wife trying to leave her husband. He is more dangerous then, but that's not a reason to stay; it's a reason to be careful and to be complete in your departure.
That metaphor is not perfect, because there has to be someone else invested in the abusive relationship who keeps trying to support the husband. Maybe white supremacy is our mother-in-law; I don't know. Finding the perfect metaphor will not be nearly as useful as finding ways to abolish the police.
Here is one possible place to start reading:
https://www.themarshallproject.org/records/3382-police-abolition
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