Wake up, America!

I saw this photo earlier today: 

It got me thinking. And when I start thinking, I sometimes start wanting to rant. So, here we go. 

Maybe it’s time to start asking: who are our police? What is it about this job that attracts some people who seem to want to pull a gun and start shooting the moment they’re uncertain about a situation? 

Obviously there’s more to it than that. We have a very real problem of racism and violence. Comfortable white folk need to wake the fuck up and see what’s really happening here. This is a mixed race country that we live in. And we desperately need to stop hating the “other” part of ourselves. 

But! Maybe we need to NOT give a gun and the protection and “authority” of a badge with the assumption they’ll “do the right thing” to people who appear to have a tendency toward violence, aggression, a lack of self-control. Anybody who wants a job where they take on the responsibility of watching out for, investigating, hunting down, and/or punishing other people really should have ongoing training in de-escalation of potentially violent situations. And they should ABSOLUTELY be required to pass some stringent psychological tests before and during their employment. 

Sure there are plenty of decent cops out there who don’t go around murdering the people they’re supposed to be protecting and serving, but there are clearly way too many who are. These are not isolated incidents when they keep happening all over the country. When you look back at the records of these thugs in blue uniforms who acted in “self-defense” and murdered some person of color, why is it that you’ll often find prior complaints against them of excessive force, etc.? What the fuck is wrong with these people? And all the other assholes who protect and defend them when they murder people? 

Wake up, America! This is not okay.