Saw the head of the NYC police union go crazy today and it got me thinking of history and the future. Fear of a black neighbor drove millions from America's big cities into the suburbs from the '50s into the 21st century. The walking the beat became the cops from the suburbs (or Staten Island aka Copland) whose job was to keep "law & order" (aka black folks contained in the cities) and fight an endless war on drugs that objectified the black junkie and dealer, while the majority of consumers and all the major distributors were white. Corrupted by the authority to kill at will, drug money and sentencing disparities that made crack possession a more serious crime than white powder, police became the spear of mass incarceration, providing generations of slave labor for the private prison industry. Defund the police is a nice tag line, but the prison industrial complex can only be torn down by a combination of legislation (re sentencing guidelines), voting in progressive district attorneys nationwide and destruction of the private prison system which are cash cows for states and localities. The marchers have to turn into PACs and special interest groups that, like the conservative movement, infiltrate all levels of government. Once the anger subsides the dirty work of democracy has to be next. The police are the tip of the spear but the shaft is long and deeply embedded in American life. It can be broken, but not easily and not fast.
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