Two Videos

There are two videos from this weekend that I want to talk about. They could easily be bookends for each other, one beginning with the summoning of police, the other ending in a black man’s murder. In the past, these crimes and others like them might have never been uncovered if it weren’t for modern video recording technology. I cannot bear to think of how many innocents have paid for white supremacy. That is what lies at the heart of these incidents.

No creature appears to be as fragile and easily frightened as a white woman in America, especially when her privilege is challenged. There’s a reason why the phrase “Karen” is popular. Not because it’s funny and a little hateful, but because it so accurately encapsulates a particular person and their behavior that all a person needs to hear is one word to understand the hysteria on display. I worry this has tinges of sexism. I hate connecting women to hysteria in any way because for so long it was used by unevolved men to shame their equals into denying emotions. But watch that video and tell me you don’t see a hysterical person. If there’s a better word, tell me and I’ll use it.

For starters, she was the aggressor. Make no mistake about it. She was breaking the law and harming the environment. I’m glad she was confronted. In the park near my house, a protected reservation, people often allow their dogs to roam free. This is bad and illegal for several reasons. One, loose animals disrupt critical environmental areas, sniffing, shitting, and chasing things however they see fit. Two, my right to not be harried by your dog supersedes your dog's right to wander. OK, yes, your dog is very nice and cute and is a very good boy/girl. This has nothing to do with the dog but the entitled idiot who owns them. There are off-leash parks. Take them there. Fence your yard. Whatever. But in public spaces, keep them on a fucking leash.

I’m not a huge fan of his ominous “I’m going to do something, and you aren’t going to like” or whatever he actually said. This case has a bit of hearsay before the video starts. It’s a threat, for sure, and he intends it to be one. But the threat was not aimed at the dog and it certainly wasn’t aimed at the human owner. It’s an interesting leap to think that he is poisoning the dog, as if a man is doing this in Central Park, and nobody is aware of it. I mean, what? He goes out there every day with poisoned treats hoping to finally see someone breaking the law? It’s a weird thing to think and I wonder if he looked more like her if she wouldn’t have dealt with it differently. The situation was not an emergency and no harm was befalling anyone. That is until…

The 5-0 show up. CP Karen, in a remarkable few minutes, shows both her awareness of her white privilege and also how white supremacy has ensured that people of color are second class citizens. Whatever threat she thought she was encountering triggered in her the most basic of instincts: survival. And what’s the easiest way to get rid of a black man in 2020 America? Call the cops. She threatens him ahead of time, giving him a chance to cede back her privilege voluntarily. But when he refuses, actually encourages the ridiculous confrontation she hopes for, her bluff is called. And rather than leash her dog (again, what she is supposed to be doing) and apologize, she makes good on her threat, calling the police and heightening the drama.

Police have a tough job. They’re expected to be many things when often the skillsets to be good at those myriads of things contradict each other. That’s a conversation for another day. Today let’s talk about the easy part: not murdering. Sounds simple enough but yet every week or month there is yet another example of a policeman killing an unarmed black man. The most recent comes from the Twin Cities, my home. In the video, a black man, suspected of a crime (maybe?) is on the ground with a white police officer pressing his knee very hard into his neck. Remember: no one has been found guilty, there were no weapons at the scene, and even if he initially resisted arrest, he was well under control by the time the video starts. For more than five minutes we can see a murder take place in real-time. The man begs for air. The crowd begs the officer for mercy. His partner stands by, trying to block the view of onlookers. It’s the kind of scene that requires very little context. One man is committing a crime and his partner is the lookout. Eventually the black man loses consciousness and the video ends with him being loaded into an ambulance.

There’s this weird notion that permeates throughout American culture that criminals have somehow forfeited their rights to be people. They’re stripped of their right to vote. Discriminated against by employers. Minorities are punished far harsher than their white counterparts. The general notion seems to be “well, hey, don’t commit crimes if you don’t want the consequences”. And there is some truth and wisdom in that idea. But at what point does the reaction to the crime become worse than the crime itself? At what point should we start killing white teenagers for minor infractions, like skateboarding or vandalism? This is not a world I want to live in. And I guess, that’s my biggest issue with this way of thinking. Criminals are still people. They’re your brothers and aunties and daughters. Certainly, there are some people beyond redemption. But the percentage is very, very low.

A lot of information is still unclear about the case. And in time I’m sure we’ll see a few things emerge: the cops will circle the wagons (the PBA will get involved); if the victim, George Floyd, has anything criminal in his background everyone will hear about it; months will go by before there is any kind of resolution. I know this because it’s happened too many times already. Jamar Clark. Justine Damond. Philando Castile. God knows how many other names we haven’t heard about.

My heart is crushed anytime something like this emerges. I feel helpless. I try to be a good ally when I can and confront things when I see them. No amount of protesting or writing will bring those lives back. Our society needs to stop thinking that the only way to feel safe is to remove everyone who scares you. White people need to stop using the police force as the manager. It literally kills people.

Stay safe everyone. The world is crazy. It has always been crazy. We can just record it now.