This last week has been incredibly heartbreaking in so many ways. I’ve felt sad, scared, helpless, and frustrated. It almost doesn’t feel real to watch these violent videos of police, the people who are supposed to be protecting and serving us, blatantly harming civilians.
The only words I can think of are holy fuck holy fuck this is horrible these cops in Buffalo just shoved an elderly man over for no reason and blood can be seen as he lies on the ground seemingly unconscious. WARNING: GRAPHIC pic.twitter.com/dEfO7DcTrS
— Leão (@Leo03766130) June 5, 2020
Videos like this are all over Twitter and are almost too disturbing to watch. But how did we get here? There isn’t a single answer. This is a problem that has many layers and has been building for decades. Let’s try to unpack it.
The Macro Forces Of Unrest
Racial inequality
Racial inequality is alive and real. That isn’t a question. And admitting that we view other races differently than our own is the first step in fixing the problem. Racial profiling is often subconscious and isn’t always malicious, but it’s important to understand that we all have conscious and unconscious biases.
“An us-them mentality is unfortunately a really basic part of our biology,” said Eric Knowles, a psychology professor at New York University who studies prejudice and politics. “There’s a lot of evidence that people have an ingrained even evolved tendency toward people who are in our so-called ‘in group.’”
It’s human nature to want to belong to a “tribe” and race is one of the primary ways we identify with others. We instinctually create an “us vs. them” mentality, and that instinct isn’t going to change. We must be aware of this human tendency and understand that it is fundamentally weaved into our structural systems in order to fix and address the problem.
Economic Inequality
We’ve all heard the phrase “the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer”. The growing inequality in our country isn’t anything new; it’s been happening for decades. But what is causing it to grow and why? And how does this relate to racism?
To put it bluntly, politicians and the wealthy in our country have created and enabled a broken system that enriches the wealthy while disproportionately hurting the average American. The powerful class in this country has come together to ensure that they stay powerful through a combination of tax advantages, financial market manipulation, and legislation. The system is fundamentally broken, but a small group of people want to maintain the status quo in order to hold on to their power.
So how does this relate to racism? Historically, black people in this country have had unequal access to opportunities, education, and resources. When the wealthy create legislation and manipulate financial markets to benefit those who have wealth, people that don’t have wealth suffer, and money is reallocated to those at the top.
The Power of Police Unions
Lastly, let’s talk about the Power of Police Unions in America and their corrupt symbiotic relationship with elected officials. This is the piece of the puzzle that no one focuses on, and I think it is the first step towards bringing about real, lasting change around police brutality.
Police Unions were initially formed in the early 1900s as a reaction to low pay and poor working conditions. Prior to labor laws, unions were intended to protect the police and fight for rights on their behalf. However, over the last century, these unions have evolved into a dangerous political weapon. Their weapons are two-fold: first, they negotiate and create legislation that gives them protection and benefits, and second, they make contributions to elected officials at local, state, and federal levels.
By paying off elected officials to protect racist, violent police behavior, negotiating for absurd pension plans that have ultimately bankrupted many states, and through the intense militarization of our police force; the police union is silently siphoning money, power, and influence away from the citizens in order to protect their own interests. Now everyone in society loses because the police win.
This imbalance of power is at the core of the continued police brutality in our country and addressing this problem is the first step towards true reform.
The above photo shows Minneapolis police union’s chief, Bob Kroll, at a Trump rally shaking hands with Trump.
Unions played a critical role during the industrial revolution to protect and secure benefits for their employees, but these benefits and protections are now part of our existing laws and are enforced by our state and federal governments. The need that once existed for unions in large part no longer exists and unions have evolved into a political force that appears to be protecting unethical conduct by police. We won’t see a change in police behavior until we see union reform.
I don’t have all of the answers, but it’s more important than ever for us to understand and address the root causes of this problem. Our government, large institutions, and the wealthy in this country all work together to ensure that the system continues to benefit them. Racial inequalities, economic inequalities, and political corruption are all inexplicably linked and in order to address one, we must address them all.
Below are resources where you can donate to the BLM movement:
- Black Lives Matter
- George Floyd Memorial Fund
- I Run With Maud
- James Scurlock Memorial Fund
- Tony Mcdade Memorial Fund
- David McAtee Memorial Fund
- Gianna Floyd Fund
- Justice for Breonna Taylor
- The Bail Project
- The National Police Accountability Project
- Campaign Zero
- Communities United for Police Reform
- Communities United Against Police Brutality
- Equality for Flatbush; Brooklyn, New York
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