Read on Twitter
I don't know if you all have seen the video circulating of the young man hitting the young woman with the skateboard today. I'm not going to re-share it because it's awful and who knows if she would want it circulating. But I do have some thoughts on it.
I'm getting the occasional AHA BUT WHAT ABOUT THIS DON'T YOU NEED POLICE AND JAILS NOW from people wielding this video. Which is understandable. It's awful. And our cultural response, traditionally, is to see violence that *looks like that* and respond with something...equal.
By "equal" I mean violent. Arrest, prosecution, putting the young man in a cage. By "looks like that" I mean the video depicts a Black man, in an urban setting.
So everyone is out there being like, CALL THE COPS because that's our cultural response to these stimuli.
So everyone is out there being like, CALL THE COPS because that's our cultural response to these stimuli.
But I actually think this is a great opportunity to talk about why we don't need police. Or rather, why even with this out there in the world, we can still move away from policing and jails and toward something smarter.
Imagine if this young man was your brother, or your son.
You'd want to know what the hell he was doing. How this happened. Was he drunk? Is something going on with him, mentally? How could he possibly do something like this? How can we get him help?
You'd want to know what the hell he was doing. How this happened. Was he drunk? Is something going on with him, mentally? How could he possibly do something like this? How can we get him help?
And if you were from a family of privilege, you'd be able to do that. Get him therapy, or treatment, or whatever it might take to help him get better. There's SO MUCH research saying prisons never make people better. https://www.economist.com/international/2017/05/27/too-many-prisons-make-bad-people-worse-there-is-a-better-way
You'd also be able to make amends with the young woman here, and her family. Compensate her for her pain and suffering, follow her lead on whether some form of reconciliation would be healing for both parties. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/03/opinion/violence-criminal-justice.html
It's worth noting that police didn't--and couldn't--prevent this. Cops are rarely present for violence, arriving after the fact and escalating the situation. Just look at how actual DV survivors feel about law enforcement--spoiler, not great. http://www.thehotline.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2015/09/NDVH-2015-Law-Enforcement-Survey-Report.pdf
Sending a social worker, a violence interruptor, a specialist in harm reduction--those would all be the things you would want if this was your son.
You'd want someone to protect her, protect him, and help everyone get better.
You'd want someone to protect her, protect him, and help everyone get better.
And the point @jduffyrice has made so eloquently is that in communities of privilege *this is what actually happens.* Communities resolve conflict and help correct misconduct without intervention by police or prisons.
All of which is to say, if the kid in this video was a rich white kid whose family could immediately get him the help he needs to never do anything like this again, and reckon with his violence, there would be a chance of everyone involved getting a better outcome.
The fact that he's not, and that people on the internet are using the word "thug" isn't an argument in favor of police.
It's a demonstration of the systemic bias we're all so steeped in that we no longer see it.
It's "othering" at work.
It's a demonstration of the systemic bias we're all so steeped in that we no longer see it.
It's "othering" at work.
