Post by Tanya Wilkinson
Martin Luther King’s incisive view of violent protest has been quoted many times in the last weeks: “A riot is the language of the unheard.” He followed this insight with an equally acute question: “And what is it America has failed to hear?”
America failed to hear the demand for an end to police misconduct in 1963, and it has failed to hear that demand in the 57 years that have passed since.
It is a fact that African-Americans make up only 13% of the U.S. population but account for 24 percent of people fatally shot by police. According to the Washington Post, Blacks are "2.5 times as likely as white Americans to be shot and killed by police officers." Why have white Americans been unwilling to grasp the obvious injustice embodied in these undisputed numbers?
Racist propaganda is certainly a factor. From DW Griffiths’ “Birth of a Nation” to the average contemporary Cop show, the overblown threat of the black criminal stereotype is seeded throughout American popular culture. The manipulative use of statistics, shorn of mitigating context, is also common. “Black neighborhoods are over-policed, so of course they have higher rates of crime and white perpetrators are undercharged, so of course they have lower rates of crime” as this succinct and bouncy tune puts it.
The militarization of police departments has only worsened a bad situation.
Police departments with military-grade equipment have become the norm in American cities. As William Pretzer, senior history curator at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture, says: "What we see is a continuation of an unequal relationship that has been exacerbated, made worse if you will, by the militarization and the increase in fire power of police forces around the country.”
Studies reviewed and aggregated by fivethirtyeight.com show that significant police reform is within reach.
“Police shootings dropped in Philadelphia, San Francisco and Baltimore after the cities began reforming their use-of-force policies to match recommendations from the Department of Justice....Denver also adopted more restrictive use-of-force policies in 2017, requiring de-escalation as an alternative to force. Los Angeles police shootings reportedly declined to the lowest number in 30 years in 2019, which officials attribute to new policies requiring officers to use de-escalation and alternatives to deadly force. Shootings dropped precipitously in Phoenix a year after public scrutiny led the department to evaluate its practices and implement changes to its use-of-force policy.”
Protests have already had an impact. Officers involved in the killing of George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks have been fired and charged with murder. Airlift supported groups like Organize Florida are engaged in local elections that can change the nature of policing. The Milwaukee Public School Board unanimously passed Resolution 2021R-003 which ends all contracts between the Milwaukee Police Department and Milwaukee Public Schools, an action that was brought about by local organizers, including Leaders Igniting Transformation, a grass roots organization supported by Airlift.
Still, the full and necessary resolution to the problem of police misconduct lies not only in reforming police practices, but in achieving social justice. By addressing the inequalities that sustain distrust and frustration, Airlift supported organizers like Down Home NC can make a difference. “Down Home recognizes it is not enough to ‘stand against racism’ but instead to speak out, act out, organize against and actively resist the entire strategic system of white supremacy that continues to exist, including racist vigilante violence and state violence in all its forms.”
Martin Luther King answered his own question, saying that America “has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice and humanity.”
Grassroots organizations, like those that are nurtured and supported by Airlift, are working to uphold freedom and justice in their communities, pursuing the promises that have not been met and disrupting an oppressive status quo. They renew the demand for an end to police brutality every day and address the inequality that underlies that brutality. Resistance and cultural change emerge from the convergence of innumerable local actions and efforts, protests, campaigns and conversations. Airlift strives to help sustain the groundswell of change.