I haven’t posted before today because I haven’t had the energy to write out my thoughts. My mental health [Note 1] tanked after the murder of George Floyd, and I had already been having difficulty focusing with everything else that 2020 has thrown our way. But I do have things to say, and I’m ready to write them out.
It Is Long Past Time to Defund and Dismantle the Police.
We have been seeing gestures from political entities, ranging from Black Lives Matter murals painted on streets and streets renamed to Black Live Matter [2][6][8][12][17], to congresspeople wearing Kente Cloth [Note 2] [9][15][20][23][26], to cops kneeling in supposed solidarity [Note 3] [18][22] before resuming their beatings of protesters [1][5][13]. But gestures are not enough - action is needed. What we need are the defunding and dismantling of police, as well as investment in communities.
American police have a history rooted in oppression. Modern, full-time, fully-funded policing in the United States is borne out of Slave Patrols [10][19][21][25]. Ranging from the enforcement of curfews and prevention of assembling without permission [10] to the war on crime [21], police have been used to oppress the populace. Policing as an oppressive force is deeply rooted in American culture, making it difficult, even impossible, to simply reform policing.
The police need to be defunded and dismantled. When there is a system that allows for police misconduct to be regularly dismissed, it is time to reevaluate that system. Take Minnesota, for example; it has been determined that its state licensing system repeatedly fails to hold officers accountable for reckless, sometimes violent, conduct [3], and prosecutors are reluctant to charge officers for their actions [4]. Even when a conviction is reached for threatening and/or dangerous behavior from police officers in Minnesota, the majority are never even disciplined and they keep their jobs [3].
What Does It Mean to Defund the Police?
Defunding the police means to reallocate funds away from police departments and towards other agencies that are better suited towards serving communities. Dismantling the police means taking many aspects of police work and putting it into the hands of communities. What this will look like will depend on each community, depending on their needs and concerns.
Defunding the police is not about just taking money away from police departments and doing nothing. Rather, it is about the redistribution of funds from police departments into community investment programs. Mental health services, education, housing, recreation, and youth services are all in need of more funding.
Dismantling the police does not mean that there will be total chaos. Rather, it is about empowering community accountability - having in place systems that are suited to help community members who are in need. It is about the investment in community, using social workers, educators, and advocates to help better the community.
We Need to Invest in Communities
Jails function as the largest mental health hospitals [7] and homeless shelters [11][24] in the United States. According to a June 2017 special report from the Department of Justice, “37% of prisoners and 44% of jail inmates had been told in the past by a mental health professional that they had a mental disorder” in 2011-2012, and those numbers don’t seem to be changing. At the same time, 70.4% of youth in the juvenile justice system have a diagnosed mental illness [16]. Instead of receiving much needed help, people with mental illnesses are being incarcerated for “crimes of survival” [7] - we need to acknowledge that all people are worthy of care, and recognize that these “crimes” are coming from unmet needs and attempts at survival.
Though 20.1% of people experiencing homelessness in the U.S. have a serious mental health condition [16], that doesn’t mean that homelessness is a result of mental health conditions or vice-versa. There are various factors that lead to homelessness, and it must be recognized that homelessness exists at the “intersection of poverty, systemic racism, bad luck, and societal neglect” [14]. But homelessness is still criminalized and stigmatized; though there should be no shame in needing help, “rugged individualism” is a part of the American mythos and needing help is seen as a failing. Jail is not a suitable homeless shelter - what is needed is affordable housing and tackling the issues that cause homelessness.
It is important to invest in our communities. Defunding and dismantling the police is a part of community investment. Investment in community means to be a part of the community and help one another, to raise up those in need, and to care more [Note 4].
Notes
I keep having friends remind me that taking care of my own health and well-being is also a radical action. Being Black and queer comes with a lot of baggage, and that combined with mental illness makes it difficult to make it through each day.
I personally was uncomfortable with seeing Congress in Kente Cloth, but I am not against it either - as long as it isn’t done as a spectacle that distracts from proposed legislation. I am aware that they were gifts from the Black Congressional Caucus, and though it was meant to be a gesture of solidarity, I don’t feel that many of the members of congress actually appreciate the meaning of it - some may have been wearing it to curry favor from their constituents. But that’s just me and my feelings towards Congress.
Without action from the police to actually make police protect and serve the people, without action from the government to make the police actually accountable, the police kneeling is nothing more than an empty gesture.
For more about investing in communities, I suggest the following articles as primers: “Why Investing In Communities Matters” and “What Does It Really Mean to Invest In Black Communities?”
Normally, this is where I would ask for your support in continuing my analyses and reviews. In light of recent events, I would ask you to consider donating to charities or fundraisers related to the Black Lives Matter movement, Native Lives Matter movement, the ACLU, the NAACP, memorial funds, legal defense funds, and the like. Look into what is happening in your communities and help locally. We all do better when we all do better.