I have spent most of my life as one of the “good ones”. I had a stable two-parent household, went to college, got good grades, held a stable job. I even got married before I had a child. I never got in trouble with the law. I did come close on some occasions. Like most Black people who dare operate a motor vehicle, I’ve been pulled over on numerous occasions for extremely spurious reasons. These have included turning without a turn signal (I told the officer that I did use a turn signal, and he just brushed past it), not stopping at a stop sign (I did in fact stop at the stop sign and the officer later admitted that he was just looking for guns and drugs), and being accused of running a red light (the intersection had a delayed green for opposing traffic but the officers didn’t catch that when they pulled me over).
it's a complex piece, detailing how you qualify as one of the good ones to demonstrate the falseness and the double dealing the concept is used for. your description of progressive liberals' efforts to grapple with policing's role in maintaining the society and all the benefits we, the white progressives, derive from it, as always makes me want to figure out what to say. i think all the generalizations you make are valid, about the limits and blind spots and unconscious purposes behind why people say what they say at times like these. i'm gonna be personal for a minute too, at the risk of sounding like a white person talking about her own experience. for 20 minutes before the floyd verdict was announced i was agitated and crying. aferwards the same and the same the next day. it was clear to me that level of reaction rose up from growing up in the thick of jim crow, being literally a part of that system that wasn't on trial even though one of its agents was. maybe it put me viscerally closer to knowing the system weighs down and spits out individuals whenever necessary. my knowledge that, when chauvin wasn't acquitted, as i was pretty sure he wouldn't be, a lot of people a lot like me would have that reaction of justice was done, was part of what i cringingly felt, knowing it wasn't at all done. in addition to him being still dead, the awareness that the next day and the next there would be more like him and more, each individualized as you say into one pile of apples or the other, was part of it. the helplessness none of us can help feeling, though it's a luxury to indulge it, was part of it. however limited different people's access to valid understanding and empathy, like you say, more people see the police are the cogs in a system of injustice than before. it's up to each of us who aren't the targets to figure out what, in our lives/my life, tomorrow and the next day, i'm going to do in relation to this force in my society. supporting voting is connected big time, at local and state levels esp. at every level, as we can see by following the frantic diabolical efforts 40 or so states are going to to make sure poor people and people of color have to jump over hot coals to vote. following up on what the police review commissions are doing in my city and others around me, a good idea, even though these efforts are insufficient. joining protests, yes, but the actions we take to change the people who make the laws and policies are less immediate and more what will contribute, even though it won't show soon.
As a woman of color, a mom, grandmom, and mother who loves her son, I have fears of someone calling me to tell me some painful news about my sons' demise at the hands of those folks we want to shield and protect us; just because of the color of his skin... He says he's considered one of the good ones, and my fear is... What if no one cares if he's good or bad just that they need to eliminate him because he's the wrong color... I am a child of the fifties and sixties and I can relate to the exact same things he's gone through ... All lives matter, however, black lives matter too... His father and I want so much more for him, his family, and whatever they want their life to be...We want them to have the freedom to do what they dream of doing to make a difference in their lives and the lives of their children and not be stifled because their skin is brown... All that should matter is that he is a good man, father, husband, and productive in today's society... He cannot do all the good that the world needs... But the world needs all the good that he can do... Our Solidarity is Forever!!
I love this. Well said!
it's a complex piece, detailing how you qualify as one of the good ones to demonstrate the falseness and the double dealing the concept is used for. your description of progressive liberals' efforts to grapple with policing's role in maintaining the society and all the benefits we, the white progressives, derive from it, as always makes me want to figure out what to say. i think all the generalizations you make are valid, about the limits and blind spots and unconscious purposes behind why people say what they say at times like these. i'm gonna be personal for a minute too, at the risk of sounding like a white person talking about her own experience. for 20 minutes before the floyd verdict was announced i was agitated and crying. aferwards the same and the same the next day. it was clear to me that level of reaction rose up from growing up in the thick of jim crow, being literally a part of that system that wasn't on trial even though one of its agents was. maybe it put me viscerally closer to knowing the system weighs down and spits out individuals whenever necessary. my knowledge that, when chauvin wasn't acquitted, as i was pretty sure he wouldn't be, a lot of people a lot like me would have that reaction of justice was done, was part of what i cringingly felt, knowing it wasn't at all done. in addition to him being still dead, the awareness that the next day and the next there would be more like him and more, each individualized as you say into one pile of apples or the other, was part of it. the helplessness none of us can help feeling, though it's a luxury to indulge it, was part of it. however limited different people's access to valid understanding and empathy, like you say, more people see the police are the cogs in a system of injustice than before. it's up to each of us who aren't the targets to figure out what, in our lives/my life, tomorrow and the next day, i'm going to do in relation to this force in my society. supporting voting is connected big time, at local and state levels esp. at every level, as we can see by following the frantic diabolical efforts 40 or so states are going to to make sure poor people and people of color have to jump over hot coals to vote. following up on what the police review commissions are doing in my city and others around me, a good idea, even though these efforts are insufficient. joining protests, yes, but the actions we take to change the people who make the laws and policies are less immediate and more what will contribute, even though it won't show soon.
Thank you for always zooming out to the systemic level....A truer thing was never said: one need not be perfect (or good) to not be killed by police.
As a woman of color, a mom, grandmom, and mother who loves her son, I have fears of someone calling me to tell me some painful news about my sons' demise at the hands of those folks we want to shield and protect us; just because of the color of his skin... He says he's considered one of the good ones, and my fear is... What if no one cares if he's good or bad just that they need to eliminate him because he's the wrong color... I am a child of the fifties and sixties and I can relate to the exact same things he's gone through ... All lives matter, however, black lives matter too... His father and I want so much more for him, his family, and whatever they want their life to be...We want them to have the freedom to do what they dream of doing to make a difference in their lives and the lives of their children and not be stifled because their skin is brown... All that should matter is that he is a good man, father, husband, and productive in today's society... He cannot do all the good that the world needs... But the world needs all the good that he can do... Our Solidarity is Forever!!