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#PoliceAccountability Would Have Been a Far Better Slogan Than #DefundThePolice
Fight me on this…
While debates continue to rage over the branded concept of #DefundThePolice, the noise machine persists in full force. What does it mean? What does “the other side” want? What can I, individually, do to be a part of the solution?
As a centrist White guy who considers himself to be a reasonably intelligent and intuitive person, I knew what Black Lives Matter activists meant when they referenced “Defunding.” I’d done enough reading to intellectually realize how they want resources to be reallocated away from police budgets in order to address factors that would reduce crime.
By reimagining the way policing is done in America, that will make it a lot more feasible for the United States to someday reach a point where violent crime is rare and law enforcement officers are no longer so heavily militarized.
But, for the Joe Schmuckatellis who are less educated about these dynamics, #DefundThePolice doesn’t really tell that story.
I remember, shortly after the murder of George Floyd, my friend Loghan (a fellow White guy, who is extremely progressive in his politics) posted a soliloquy on his Facebook Wall. In it, he implored White folks to take the time to educate other White people about…
