Weaponizing the Police Against Black and Brown People
How absolutely peculiar it would be if we saw a Venn diagram of blue lives matter supporters and the people who unnecessarily call the cops. How close would it be to a regular circle? It’s pretty astounding that someone could claim that the police are always justified in their actions yet also call them for absolutely ridiculous reasons. As far as I can remember, 911 was for emergencies or when a crime is committed. When did black people become emergencies or criminals? When did law enforcement become the state-sanctioned exterminator to save white people from black people?
One common thread I noticed in each story mentioned is the lack of comfort of white people, leading them to call law enforcement. Perhaps they have mistaken their feelings for suspicions and they have no intentions of harming minorities. Maybe the callers just wanted to be on the safe side and expected the police to handle it appropriately. After the amount of these types of stories have piled up, it is becoming clear that the police is only here to serve and protect the white community from black and brown bodies.
In no particular order, here's a list of verified incidents where the police were unnecessarily called on people of color:
- Starbucks
- La Fitness
- Waffle house twice (a black woman and a black man)
- Golf Course
- Real Estate
- Airbnb
- Shopping
- Yale
- BBQ at a local park
- Colorado State
- AT&T Park
By now, we all know about the two black men who were arrested in Starbucks for “trespassing” (although it’s contested if they were even asked to leave; even if they were, no other customer was asked to leave for not buying anything). Consider the online video where a black man films a barista refusing to share the bathroom code without purchase, yet does so for a white man. Also keep in mind the more recent racist coffee label incident, involving a Latino man. For the two previous cases, assumptions were made about those black men regarding their intent, spending decisions and capacity for crime/violence. Both times, baristas placed their own anti-black prejudices on random black customers and this isn’t new. Racism has plagued this business because racist employees have access to positions to act on their racism. Let’s look at that manifests itself in real time.
La Fitness was under fire for kicking out two black men with valid memberships (one had a guest pass, which is a trial membership) despite verifying their right to be there. It’s as if someone got tired of them, for whatever reason, and assumed they did not belong. Not only did they assume they didn’t belong, they assumed that they didn’t pay. What could make someone assume membership status based on looks? And what would make the management double down after the black men proved that they had in fact, paid their dues? What would make employees kick out a paying member? Jim Jomes, a black rapper, complained about racism from the same gym earlier this year. Allegedly, Jones asked to use a charger and then the employee claimed he flipped her off. LA Fitness then tried to terminate his membership. Racism is illogical but oddly specific.
Waffle House, a late-night diner, has two separate incidents of employees allegedly mistreating the customers (the woman asked for plastic utensils but was charged a fee and the man was being referred to as a homophobic slur). In both situations, the police were called by the employees, to handle social interactions. The cops responded with overkill, choking and slamming both black people to the ground. I'm still curious as to what transformed either altercation with the diners into "threatening". Is a black person now a threat for approaching someone or simply defending themselves against harassment? Is it acceptable for a business to have one set of rules for certain customers but a different set for another? Well, there is a video of an Alabama Waffle House that locked its doors but continued to serve white customers. Separately, this seems like unfortunate accidents. Almost as if all these black people were in the wrong place, at the right time. Coincidences that are correlated illustrate signs of a pattern.
Then there was the group of black women who were "golfing too slow". Even if you don't have an issue with how the golf course used the police, the white men in the video were completely out of line. They were aggressive toward the woman filming the incident, at one point physically squaring up to her. Clearly, he was trying to intimate the women off the course and when that didn't work, he called the cops. Kinda hard to prove how you're not racist when you personally insult and harass black women for simply not following your commands. They certainly acted as if black presence alone is a crime itself.
In one of the most brazen acts of fuckery, a white woman called the cops on a black real estate investor, after he shows her paperwork to prove that he had the right to work on the house. She kept sassing this man trying to do his job, once again, after the police verified the black man's presence. Based on her words and attitude, it's pretty clear that she didn't want any negroes in the neighborhood. Thankfully, in this case, the police refused to be that woman's pawn. The cops acted swiftly and professionally to defend the victim. They did their jobs. They understood the black man in the neighborhood wasn't a threat. Usually, people try to disguise this specific brand of racism with the excuse of 'there's a lot of crime in the area'.
Which brings us to the Airbnb incident, with one of Bob Marley's granddaughters. A group of black filmmakers were checking out of the Airbnb when a neighbor called the cops. Allegedly, the neighbor didn't know the house was being rented out, failed to notice the group when they checked in and assumed their suitcases were full of stolen property. What would make a white person assume a group of black people was burglarizing this home? Lots of crime in the area. While that is a very real and reasonable reason to be wary of newcomers, there is much more to the criminal profile than being black. Black people are associated with crime (thanks to Nixon and Reagan) therefore we are deemed suspicious at any time. This racism is the foundation for mass incarceration; a systematic way to weaken and dismantle the black community using criminal records.
One example of this racism was a black attorney and her daughter. They were harassed and detained for shoplifting. No arrests were made and the cops failed to find any stolen merchandise. The store employee claimed the women insulted her appearance when she accused them of the crime, which warranted the 911 call. Of course, the black women were treated weirdly when they first arrived in the store, already put in the position to prove themselves innocent when a white person felt they were guilty.
Here's three more incidents where black people were publicly minding their own business and were assumed criminals: the BBQ. AT&T Park and the Yale incidents. Each black person were perceived to be in the legal wrong by white people. While the black people were technically breaking the rules of each area, they were not committing a destructive, violent crime. My question to each white person who simply couldn't stand by and let these negroes bend the regulations, why didn't you report it to the proper authorities? I'm sure Yale has a Dean and someone who handles the dorm interactions, just like the city has representatives to file complaints (but seriously, who snitches on children learning entrepreneurship?). What made law enforcement necessary in a situation where people and property were safe? Law enforcement enforces laws, not white feelings.
White fragile feelings lead to the police getting called out to Colorado University where two Native American kids were touring the college. According to the white mother who placed the call, they were suspicious because they arrived late, wore black clothes with "weird symbols" and didn't let her personally see that they were, in fact, a part of the tour. What makes white people the social authority in public? Why do minorities need to justify our presence to other white people, as if white people aren't capable of being criminals? Why must black and brown bodies assimilate into whiteness or face harassment from racists? One Albertsons store even enforced a policy that punished Hispanics for speaking Spanish while at work, regardless if it was on break or to a Spanish speaking customer! A racist in a restaurant threatened to call ICE because the employees spoke in Spanish! Hmmm, could that have anything to do with the Trump administration's demonization of brown and black immigrants? Or could it have been the man's racist assumptions that Hispanics who speak Spanish are illegal immigrants? Racists have created a social weapon to use against minorities, indifferent to the lethal and traumatic consequences law enforcement carries.
The official face of police overkill and police brutality is a person of color. While white people have suffered from it, it has not been as severe or as frequent as minorities. The media circulates story after story of black and brown people murdered by police. The murderer escapes jail time despite the evidence. These racists know and understand how their actions can result in emotional trauma and fear, criminal records and realistically, death. Either way, ICE isn't supposed to be a threat to brown people and the police are not supposed to be a threat to black people. Yet irresponsible racists have turned it into that.
Consider the crimes that the cops could've stopped but didn't because they were wielded as a weapon. I'm not sure where along the line that point got manipulated but it's a clear violation of civil rights. In a country that prides itself on innocent until proven guilty, minorities are guilty until proven innocent. The cops have become our judge, jury, and executioner in a lot of cases, based on racial profiling and racism. That nasty prejudice stems back decades and racists know good and damn well what they are doing.
Bigotry in all forms is making a very ugly return under the first white identity president, who doesn't flinch at or denounce racism. Southern Poverty Law Center reported that defined hate groups have grown under Donald Trump's presidency, illustrating the divisive rhetoric and passive tolerance of intolerance. The weaponization of the police is a very real trend with very real victims and consequences. Even if the victims survive, they face imprisonment or the lack of employment opportunities. The police should never be a weapon wielded by racists to force black and brown bodies to comply with their unreasonable demands.
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La Fitness was under fire for kicking out two black men with valid memberships (one had a guest pass, which is a trial membership) despite verifying their right to be there. It’s as if someone got tired of them, for whatever reason, and assumed they did not belong. Not only did they assume they didn’t belong, they assumed that they didn’t pay. What could make someone assume membership status based on looks? And what would make the management double down after the black men proved that they had in fact, paid their dues? What would make employees kick out a paying member? Jim Jomes, a black rapper, complained about racism from the same gym earlier this year. Allegedly, Jones asked to use a charger and then the employee claimed he flipped her off. LA Fitness then tried to terminate his membership. Racism is illogical but oddly specific.
Waffle House, a late-night diner, has two separate incidents of employees allegedly mistreating the customers (the woman asked for plastic utensils but was charged a fee and the man was being referred to as a homophobic slur). In both situations, the police were called by the employees, to handle social interactions. The cops responded with overkill, choking and slamming both black people to the ground. I'm still curious as to what transformed either altercation with the diners into "threatening". Is a black person now a threat for approaching someone or simply defending themselves against harassment? Is it acceptable for a business to have one set of rules for certain customers but a different set for another? Well, there is a video of an Alabama Waffle House that locked its doors but continued to serve white customers. Separately, this seems like unfortunate accidents. Almost as if all these black people were in the wrong place, at the right time. Coincidences that are correlated illustrate signs of a pattern.
Then there was the group of black women who were "golfing too slow". Even if you don't have an issue with how the golf course used the police, the white men in the video were completely out of line. They were aggressive toward the woman filming the incident, at one point physically squaring up to her. Clearly, he was trying to intimate the women off the course and when that didn't work, he called the cops. Kinda hard to prove how you're not racist when you personally insult and harass black women for simply not following your commands. They certainly acted as if black presence alone is a crime itself.
In one of the most brazen acts of fuckery, a white woman called the cops on a black real estate investor, after he shows her paperwork to prove that he had the right to work on the house. She kept sassing this man trying to do his job, once again, after the police verified the black man's presence. Based on her words and attitude, it's pretty clear that she didn't want any negroes in the neighborhood. Thankfully, in this case, the police refused to be that woman's pawn. The cops acted swiftly and professionally to defend the victim. They did their jobs. They understood the black man in the neighborhood wasn't a threat. Usually, people try to disguise this specific brand of racism with the excuse of 'there's a lot of crime in the area'.
Which brings us to the Airbnb incident, with one of Bob Marley's granddaughters. A group of black filmmakers were checking out of the Airbnb when a neighbor called the cops. Allegedly, the neighbor didn't know the house was being rented out, failed to notice the group when they checked in and assumed their suitcases were full of stolen property. What would make a white person assume a group of black people was burglarizing this home? Lots of crime in the area. While that is a very real and reasonable reason to be wary of newcomers, there is much more to the criminal profile than being black. Black people are associated with crime (thanks to Nixon and Reagan) therefore we are deemed suspicious at any time. This racism is the foundation for mass incarceration; a systematic way to weaken and dismantle the black community using criminal records.
One example of this racism was a black attorney and her daughter. They were harassed and detained for shoplifting. No arrests were made and the cops failed to find any stolen merchandise. The store employee claimed the women insulted her appearance when she accused them of the crime, which warranted the 911 call. Of course, the black women were treated weirdly when they first arrived in the store, already put in the position to prove themselves innocent when a white person felt they were guilty.
Here's three more incidents where black people were publicly minding their own business and were assumed criminals: the BBQ. AT&T Park and the Yale incidents. Each black person were perceived to be in the legal wrong by white people. While the black people were technically breaking the rules of each area, they were not committing a destructive, violent crime. My question to each white person who simply couldn't stand by and let these negroes bend the regulations, why didn't you report it to the proper authorities? I'm sure Yale has a Dean and someone who handles the dorm interactions, just like the city has representatives to file complaints (but seriously, who snitches on children learning entrepreneurship?). What made law enforcement necessary in a situation where people and property were safe? Law enforcement enforces laws, not white feelings.
White fragile feelings lead to the police getting called out to Colorado University where two Native American kids were touring the college. According to the white mother who placed the call, they were suspicious because they arrived late, wore black clothes with "weird symbols" and didn't let her personally see that they were, in fact, a part of the tour. What makes white people the social authority in public? Why do minorities need to justify our presence to other white people, as if white people aren't capable of being criminals? Why must black and brown bodies assimilate into whiteness or face harassment from racists? One Albertsons store even enforced a policy that punished Hispanics for speaking Spanish while at work, regardless if it was on break or to a Spanish speaking customer! A racist in a restaurant threatened to call ICE because the employees spoke in Spanish! Hmmm, could that have anything to do with the Trump administration's demonization of brown and black immigrants? Or could it have been the man's racist assumptions that Hispanics who speak Spanish are illegal immigrants? Racists have created a social weapon to use against minorities, indifferent to the lethal and traumatic consequences law enforcement carries.
The official face of police overkill and police brutality is a person of color. While white people have suffered from it, it has not been as severe or as frequent as minorities. The media circulates story after story of black and brown people murdered by police. The murderer escapes jail time despite the evidence. These racists know and understand how their actions can result in emotional trauma and fear, criminal records and realistically, death. Either way, ICE isn't supposed to be a threat to brown people and the police are not supposed to be a threat to black people. Yet irresponsible racists have turned it into that.
Consider the crimes that the cops could've stopped but didn't because they were wielded as a weapon. I'm not sure where along the line that point got manipulated but it's a clear violation of civil rights. In a country that prides itself on innocent until proven guilty, minorities are guilty until proven innocent. The cops have become our judge, jury, and executioner in a lot of cases, based on racial profiling and racism. That nasty prejudice stems back decades and racists know good and damn well what they are doing.
Bigotry in all forms is making a very ugly return under the first white identity president, who doesn't flinch at or denounce racism. Southern Poverty Law Center reported that defined hate groups have grown under Donald Trump's presidency, illustrating the divisive rhetoric and passive tolerance of intolerance. The weaponization of the police is a very real trend with very real victims and consequences. Even if the victims survive, they face imprisonment or the lack of employment opportunities. The police should never be a weapon wielded by racists to force black and brown bodies to comply with their unreasonable demands.
Like, Comment, Share.
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