http://www.alternet.org/americas-authoritarian-police-violently-enforce-1s-rule?akid=12643.294211.jzvsYU&rd=1&src=newsletter1029625&t=2
The deaths of NYPD officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, gunned down
by a mentally unstable man who later committed suicide, have been
accompanied by public rituals of mourning. Unfortunately, they've also
been accompanied by many public figures villifying the those who demand
accountabilty for police brutality.
In a sign of how debased American cultural values have become
(especially on the Right), a plea for human dignity, civil rights, and
an end to police brutality against people of color can be twisted and
warped into some type of provocation to violence against the police.
The millions of Americans who want police to act in a professional
and responsible manner by not abusing those they are ostensibly “sworn
to protect” are not endorsing premeditated violence against police.
Rather, those Americans of conscience who are standing up against police
brutality believe that the dignity and safety of all people are
paramount virtues.
And while it may be a challenging truth for some, as I wrote here,
the lives or Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu are no more valuable or
sacred than those of Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Michael Brown, John
Crawford, or any other human being. Human rights are universal. The lives of police are no more valuable or special than those of any other citizen: to
not embrace this fact leads to a type of creeping fascism or
authoritarianism by legitimating police thuggery and abuse of the
public.
While the public rituals that accompany the loss of a police officer
are by definition designed to hide and obfuscate complex realities
through the use of powerful symbols and rhetoric, the basic truth
remains that police as a social institution and group are not victims.
Rather, In the United States the police are a protected class of people.
No comments:
Post a Comment