What if Derrick Chauvin didnt asphyxiate George Floyd? Kim Potter didnt shoot Daunte Wright? They'd still be alive, of course. But George & Daunte would still have been subjected to normal, brutal systemic physical & emotional violence. Like tens of thousands nameless every day.
The epidemic of police *murders* (call it what it is) underscores the ultimate & inevitable result of hypermilitarized policing w/o accountability. The ultimate loss for George Floyd, Duante Wright, & 1000s other Black men & families. But there's so much more invisible violence.
Millions of people each year suffer violence short of death. Unnecessary interactions not just with the police, but the legal system that go unnoticed. Not talking about just physical violence -- although state violence short of murder is also an epidemic. Emotional violence.
Let's say George Floyd was "just" arrested. Not murdered. He shouldn't have been. He allegedly used a fake $20. He wouldve been arrested for poverty. For his struggle w/ substance use. Health issues that shouldn't be crimes at all. Police shouldn't be a part of this at all.
People overlook the trauma of an arrest alone. Approached, stopped, searched, cuffed, police car, fingerprinted, held for hours in a cell, treated like sh*t, taken to central bookings, held for hours longer, interrogated, identified in some cases, separated, unfed, fear, hell.
Once hauled into criminal court, George Floyd might be caged pretrial. Coerced into pleading. Short jail time. Or probation. At very least unaffordable fines/fees. Forced to come back to court. A warrant for failure to pay. Further marginalized. Trauma & fiscal waste w/o benefit.
If Daunte Wright was "just" arrested and not murdered, he still would have been the victim of a racist car stop, made to continue to feel imprisoned in his own community, hauled through the system. Daunte, his family, and society would be measurably worse off for it.
Last notes: The visible state violence in the streets is inextricably linked to the invisible violence of court process. Laws & practices--pretrial detention, sheer number of "crimes," coercive sentencing, dehumanization, the process--silences truth. Insulates bad police conduct.
People ask me what I think about the Chauvin trial. I think about how the vast majority of people public defenders represent don't have the opportunity for a trial. Convicted by guilty plea 95% of the time. Whether guilty or innocent. Whether stopped/searched unconstitutionally.
What do I think about the Chauvin trial? Think about how he shouldve been fired long before after one of his 22 complaints & how accountability doesn’t exist.
I think about all those who suffer physical & emotional violence short of death every day & the impact on all of us.
I think about all those who suffer physical & emotional violence short of death every day & the impact on all of us.
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