The past two days were spent with my super cute niece and nephew, so I missed the news when two police officers were gunned down in New York City. The killer was a random guy not even from NYC, who had posted a comment on Twitter that he appears to have stolen from some Black Panther Party characters in the Hollywood movie The Butler: "They take 1 of ours, let's take 2 of theirs." He was clearly acting alone, but you wouldn't think that from the reaction. Since the shooting, President Obama, Eric Holder, Al Sharpton and Bill de Blassio have been blamed for inciting this violence. As Kareem Abdul-Jabaar has eloquently explained, these blaming Democrats for this killing are taking a tragedy and trying to turn it into a political advantage. No one who is leading these protests has called for the killing of cops; they've called for the end of systematic racism.
I'm not famous enough to be blamed for the killing, but I did receive a slew of Facebook messages - direct and indirect - asking why I wasn't outraged over the killing of cops. I was; I just wasn't on Facebook or watching the news during the relevant time. I replied extensively to one of those who questioned me directly, but it is clear now - from further comments - that there are still some who believe that as a human rights activist, I'm okay with the killing of cops, and others who believe the call for police accountability is the same thing as a call for killing cops. I'm not and they aren't. So I thought I would explain once my actual feelings on this, and since it'll make a ridiculously long Facebook post, I'm coming to my personal blog.
The only place where human rights activists should be anti-police are in authoritarian regimes. Even then, they shouldn't be advocating killing.
Human rights demands a well-trained police force, and in any democratic state we rely on the police for the protection of human rights.
The right to free expression requires police to protect the protesters and the protested. It requires police to ensure people's voices can be heard by those that are targeting, while also ensuring that voices don't rise to violence.
The right to life requires the police to respond to reports of domestic violence.
The right to health has required the police in the US to protect planned parenthoods and other clinics.
The right to education required police to protect those who walked into the first integrated schools in the US.
I could go on, but I hope the point has been made. Our human rights are intricately related to the need for a strong, well-trained police force. But, a well-trained police force also needs to be an accountable one, and this is where I take an issue with police unions' response to protests - and the response of a large number of people I interact with on Facebook.
An accountable police force requires an effective investigation, prosecution and punishment for those who act out of line, or who abuse their office. It also requires training on use of force, and a questioning by the public when that use of force seems illegitimate. I've heard those who have defended the killings of Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, and Eric Gardner say "it's might be awful, but it's lawful." Our job as the public is to determine when awful needs to become unlawful, and when, actually, awful already was unlawful.
The police benefit from this accountability, too. Without accountability, a police force in a democratic state can be perceived as rather undemocratic, increasing the likelihood of violence. An accountable police force is a respected part of the community.
Importantly, we can still see the respect for the NYPD even as in the midst of greater calls for accountability. Following the slaying of the two officers community members came out and condemned the killing -- as did Eric Gardner's family. We aren't at a point where the police are perceived as outside of our community, but we are at a point where the calls for greater accountability need to be respected and answered.
Asking for greater accountability is not the same thing as asking or encouraging the killing of cops. I can easily say that I believe systemic racism clearly played a part in the killings of Eric Gardner, Tamir Rice, and John Crawford - all of which we have video for - and probably Michael Brown, without saying I want to do away with the police force, that all police are bad, or that I want the police to stay out of certain neighborhoods.
We need the police to serve human rights - and anyone in human rights outside of an authoritarian regime should be an advocate for good, strong, well-trained and well-funded police forces. But when the police act out of line, it's our human rights obligation to hold them accountable and to pretend any critique of the police is the equivalent to allowing, facilitating or inciting murder is a lame attempt to immunize the police from accountability. That's a dangerous line to pursue.
I'm not famous enough to be blamed for the killing, but I did receive a slew of Facebook messages - direct and indirect - asking why I wasn't outraged over the killing of cops. I was; I just wasn't on Facebook or watching the news during the relevant time. I replied extensively to one of those who questioned me directly, but it is clear now - from further comments - that there are still some who believe that as a human rights activist, I'm okay with the killing of cops, and others who believe the call for police accountability is the same thing as a call for killing cops. I'm not and they aren't. So I thought I would explain once my actual feelings on this, and since it'll make a ridiculously long Facebook post, I'm coming to my personal blog.
The only place where human rights activists should be anti-police are in authoritarian regimes. Even then, they shouldn't be advocating killing.
Human rights demands a well-trained police force, and in any democratic state we rely on the police for the protection of human rights.
The right to free expression requires police to protect the protesters and the protested. It requires police to ensure people's voices can be heard by those that are targeting, while also ensuring that voices don't rise to violence.
The right to life requires the police to respond to reports of domestic violence.
The right to health has required the police in the US to protect planned parenthoods and other clinics.
The right to education required police to protect those who walked into the first integrated schools in the US.
I could go on, but I hope the point has been made. Our human rights are intricately related to the need for a strong, well-trained police force. But, a well-trained police force also needs to be an accountable one, and this is where I take an issue with police unions' response to protests - and the response of a large number of people I interact with on Facebook.
An accountable police force requires an effective investigation, prosecution and punishment for those who act out of line, or who abuse their office. It also requires training on use of force, and a questioning by the public when that use of force seems illegitimate. I've heard those who have defended the killings of Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, and Eric Gardner say "it's might be awful, but it's lawful." Our job as the public is to determine when awful needs to become unlawful, and when, actually, awful already was unlawful.
The police benefit from this accountability, too. Without accountability, a police force in a democratic state can be perceived as rather undemocratic, increasing the likelihood of violence. An accountable police force is a respected part of the community.
Importantly, we can still see the respect for the NYPD even as in the midst of greater calls for accountability. Following the slaying of the two officers community members came out and condemned the killing -- as did Eric Gardner's family. We aren't at a point where the police are perceived as outside of our community, but we are at a point where the calls for greater accountability need to be respected and answered.
Asking for greater accountability is not the same thing as asking or encouraging the killing of cops. I can easily say that I believe systemic racism clearly played a part in the killings of Eric Gardner, Tamir Rice, and John Crawford - all of which we have video for - and probably Michael Brown, without saying I want to do away with the police force, that all police are bad, or that I want the police to stay out of certain neighborhoods.
We need the police to serve human rights - and anyone in human rights outside of an authoritarian regime should be an advocate for good, strong, well-trained and well-funded police forces. But when the police act out of line, it's our human rights obligation to hold them accountable and to pretend any critique of the police is the equivalent to allowing, facilitating or inciting murder is a lame attempt to immunize the police from accountability. That's a dangerous line to pursue.
