Summer 2020 will go down in history as the beginning of a revolution. The cold-blooded murder of George Floyd by (ex) Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has been globally renowned as a representation of systemic racism and the extreme actions the US justice system has taken time and time again in taking the lives of innocent black Americans.
Police have been the front line personification of a system built against minorities due to the uncompromisable powers held by corrupted individuals who falsely claim to protect the noble cause.
Our policing system was inherently built on racism, originating from slave patrol. There’s no denying the influx of KuKluxKlan members joining law enforcement in the late 20th century. Generational influence of these actions caused a horror story domino effect - premeditated policies that systemically wage war between officers and minority neighborhoods was set in our constitutional framework.
With that said, we live in a society that gives no credit for doing right because they only see the wrongs, compartmentalizing people by stereotypes based on corporatized media perceptions. The reality is: we at war with Racism, we at war with Terrorism, and MOST OF ALL, we at war with ourselves.
The chant for Black Lives Matter protests has been a call to defund police; which criticized the non-profit “Campaign Zero” for their step-by-step approach to ending police violence through policies and community efforts. By advocating for demilitarization, body cameras, ending police unionizations, independent investigations and prosecutions - the ability to work with law enforcement instead of outwardly denouncing the incredible risks they take everyday is why Campaign Zero has accomplished so much more towards ending police violence than BLM ever has. When we yell “Defund Police” there is a collective understanding within the thin blue line of alienated individuals who feel like the risk they take everyday to keep society safe is not appreciated. This instigates the cycle of warfare instead of coming together to solve a problem that BOTH sides wish to move forward with.
Defunding our police won’t solve any problems created by congress. Yes, systemic issues exist in America and are most notably expressed through our law enforcement system - but taking financial resources away from recruiting, training, and deployment would consequently lead to an increase in both crime and brutality. The obvious argument is that the number of race-related incidents among officers and civilians would only increase per-capita if the quality of officers we hire diminishes into less than what it already is. Personally speaking, the only people who want to become cops are the highschool kids that average 2.5 GPAs and those who already have lineage in departments. Becoming an officer is the next best option besides joining the army - which consequently is the best route to becoming a homeless veteran.
The reign of democracy which we live under is completely experimental; which is why progress moves so slowly. However, the system of justice set up in the United States is the greatest in the world. Other industrialized nations had the comfort of setting up their framework by learning from our mistakes, not to mention the radical differences in rate of cultural diversity among those developed nations. Campaign Zero believes in democracy and American values, which is why we supported them, and will continue to support them, during our campaigns to DEMAND JUSTICE!