Absolutely. There are no short cuts in fixing this problem. We must abolish the police because they were created to control, not to provide safety.
“Tamir Rice and John Crawford were both shot to death in Ohio because an Officer’s first instinct was to shoot” (Vitale, 2018)
Although many people want to reform the police, it cannot exist in its current form. Their training has created a dynamic where they treat black citizens as the enemy of the state. It has to stop. They should not be welcomed in our neighborhoods as if they are peace keepers because they are absolutely uninterested in treating black people with dignity and respect.
After Dylan Roof killed nine black people who were attending church, they took him to get fast food. We are experiencing a relic of black codes and Jim Crow Laws. They were stricken down but police have still treated the Civil Rights Act as a recommendation and not a mandate.
The police gave Dylan Roof Burger King. Their intent is so clear here. Not only were they treating him kindly. They were congratulating him in the best way they could. The police are not complicit. They are the enemy of black people. That’s what these actions demonstrate to me.
Vitale, A. S. (2018). The end of policing. London, UK: Verso.
