There has been criticism of the Black Lives Matter
campaign that its focus on black lives only implies white lives don't matter.
This is an obvious and probably intentional misreading of the Black Lives
Matter message, but there is a context where the criticism may make sense.
In terms of police brutality, of course black lives
matter and of course there is an experience of being black (or a person of
color) in the U.S. that is unique and that many "white" people cannot
understand because they have not experienced it and, if they are thoughtful
people, find it hard to believe even happens because they cannot imagine people
could be so nasty to each other, or that surely such violence does not happen
without provocation.
But as we've
seen over and over, there is racism in law enforcement (and elsewhere) and a
campaign to highlight that is good, but not sufficient. We cannot change the attitudes
of racist cops overnight. But we can demand for everyone's sake that cops who
do as they please and violate civil rights be reined in. As a society we can
say we will not tolerate out-of-control law enforcement for anyone. This does
not end racism, of course, but it does help protect people of color who bear
the brunt of such behavior as well as "white" people who are also
subject to such abuse albeit less often and not as deliberately.
In 1974, my husband, who is white, was travelling with
some friends in the U.S. in a green car with Michigan license plates. They were
in southern California and a green car with Michigan plates had been involved
in a robbery in the area. The police pulled them over and forced everyone to the ground at gunpoint screaming obscenities the entire
time. At one point, my husband who is Swedish was going to reach for his
passport to prove his identity but, thankfully, did not. When it was clear they
had the wrong car, the police simply drove away. No apology.
I understand
the potential danger to the police, and the odds of two
green cars with Michigan plates in that part of California at the same time is
low, but coincidences do happen. And to approach it with such a macho attitude
only increases fear and tension. To leave with no apology is inexcusable. There
is no doubt in my mind if my husband had reached for his passport, a natural
thing to do if you are in a foreign country and/or unfamiliar with possible
police attitudes, he would be dead today.
While not deliberate victimization by racist cops, it
was nonetheless a shocking and frightening experience for my husband and his
friends and did nothing to increase their overall trust in U.S. law
enforcement.
So keep up
the "Black Lives Matter" campaign to build awareness of racism in law
enforcement and elsewhere, but for pragmatic results that indirectly curb the
behavior of racist cops and that benefit everyone, we should demand loudly and
unequivocally that aggressive, out-of-control cops be removed from their jobs.
© 2015
Kvick Thoughts. All rights reserved.
