What changes are needed to end this seemingly never-ending cycle?
police
We’re in a moment of collective trauma. But there are glimmers of hope
We need to remember that policing is but a single component of the larger system of oppression so acutely felt in the Black community.
Maybe it’s time to reinvent the police
The astoundingly crude and arrogant response of NYPD rank and file to the tragic murder of two officers by an unstable young man last month (read the fascinating story by Kim Barker, Mosi Secret and Richard Fausset in the New York Times on the man who killed the officers) raises an interesting question: do we really … Continue reading »
If black lives matter, end the War on Crime
From the perspective of tens of thousands of protesters around the nation this week, the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. and Eric Garner in Staten Island reflected an unfathomable decision by white police officers to kill unarmed black men engaged in trivial criminal (if any) behavior. To thousands of police officers (and their families), … Continue reading »
Why Gov. Nixon has to remove prosecutor
We are a long way from knowing precisely what happened in Ferguson, two weeks ago, but one thing is clear: The town’s name has become yet another synonym for the chasm of experience dividing white and black America. Time and again, young African-American men have been fatally shot by police under ambiguous circumstances: Amadou Diallo, … Continue reading »
Punished: The culture of control as seen from Oakland
Punished: Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys by UC Santa Barbara sociologist Victor Rios should be on your summer reading list if you are interested in how the culture of control works. Rios closely studied a group of 40 Oakland youths of color as they navigated the terrain of poverty in a city … Continue reading »
Whither the War on Crime? How to respond (and not respond) to January’s string of outrageous murders and attempted murders
In case anyone has been hiking in desert for the month of January, we are the midst of a wave of frightening murders and attempted murders, including the attempted assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Gifford in Tucson, and in the same incident the murder of a federal judge and three other victims (including a 9-year-old girl) … Continue reading »