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This morning is heavy.
I keep circling back to a conversation I had in a pub with a cop in the UK in 2016, which is when I first found out that most police there don’t carry guns.
As an American, this seemed unthinkable. /1
I keep circling back to a conversation I had in a pub with a cop in the UK in 2016, which is when I first found out that most police there don’t carry guns.
As an American, this seemed unthinkable. /1
“Haven’t you ever been afraid for your life?”
“Yeah,” he shrugged.
“Do you wish you had a gun?”
He didn’t hesitate: “Never”
I was floored. “But why?”
“Because I think it would make my job harder.”
“Which is?”
“Descalating the situation. Keeping the peace.”
“Yeah,” he shrugged.
“Do you wish you had a gun?”
He didn’t hesitate: “Never”
I was floored. “But why?”
“Because I think it would make my job harder.”
“Which is?”
“Descalating the situation. Keeping the peace.”
In that moment, he looked at me and I saw somebody who worked a “rough” neighborhood and had been frightened for his life plenty of times, but took pride in trying not to make people’s worst days any worse. /2
This is not to say that the UK police don’t have their own systematic problems, especially when it comes to race.*
But I think a lot about the line that’s been crossed in America—how police are militarized enforcers, rather than community guardians and peacekeepers. /3
But I think a lot about the line that’s been crossed in America—how police are militarized enforcers, rather than community guardians and peacekeepers. /3
I’m sad and angry.
Give to @MNFreedomFund.
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#BlackLivesMatter
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Give to @MNFreedomFund.
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#BlackLivesMatter
*Months after the conversation in the pub, an officer would show up at my flat, pound on the door, and threaten to break it down. He was looking for my black landlord.
This officer assumed I was my landlord’s girlfriend (I vaguely matched her discription). /5
This officer assumed I was my landlord’s girlfriend (I vaguely matched her discription). /5
I won’t say anything ignorant like “In that moment, it was like I was black” but the violence that officer treated me with when he assumed I was “with” the black man he was after was unlike anything I had experienced or have experienced since. /6
By protecting a black man, I was not worthy of respect or courtesy. I was threatened. I was told that I was living in my flat illegally (I was not) and that this officer could have me evicted. It was 20 minutes of threatening before I could explain I was renting. /7
Even then, I was treated suspiciously and told if I was lying, I would be punished. That he would come back and break the door down.
I think a lot about what would have happened if my black landlord had answered the door. And if the officer had had a gun. /8
I think a lot about what would have happened if my black landlord had answered the door. And if the officer had had a gun. /8
The police came back 3 times that we know of to that flat, once when I was away and my boyfriend was asleep at 6am.
We gave out his phone number again & again. We never found out what our landlord was wanted for, but I doubt it matched the aggression with which we were chased./9
We gave out his phone number again & again. We never found out what our landlord was wanted for, but I doubt it matched the aggression with which we were chased./9
If you haven’t read it already, Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by @renireni talks about racism in Britain. I’m going to try to find more resources and add them to this thread. Feel free to reply with anything else you think would be helpful. /10
