When I was arrested, as part of a mass arrest in 1991
following the Rodney King excessive police force incident, the cops had
little access to all this weaponry. They simply surrounded around the 400
people peacefully participating in the protest, handcuffed us and hauled us away. Today
what cops are engaged in is more like a live staging of World of Warcraft.
Let me state unequivocally that racism plays a huge
role in out-of-control policing in this country. There exists a rampant, unbridled
fear of young, black males in our society. Beyond that, the government and its
enforcement arm are tremendously afraid of resistance of any kind and invest
everything they have in crushing rebellions before they can spread and take
hold. This has been of utmost importance since the economic collapse of 2008.
Sure, the NSA and its defenders will say that heightened
security dates back to the September 11th attacks of 2001. But why
then has the collection of metadata increased to a loud crescendo at this point
in time. Why are racism and all forms of ethnic hatred being constantly and continually promoted just as labor unions, job security and workers’
rights and the right to a living wage are being hammered into non-existence?
It's a simple divide and conquer tactic to perpetuate capitalism. The existence of a cheap, disposable underclass is the foundation that buttresses the wealth of the one percent. Those in power are especially
afraid of young, black males but they are afraid of all of us. They know they
are sapping our life-blood both as low-wage workers and as an unemployed poverty class.With the highest incarceration rate in the world, the USA is now rounding up folks who can't pay their bills, thus reinstituting debtors' prisons. Economic inequality here has reached an all-time high and that's not going to change anytime soon. The bottom line is: as
long as WE are at each other’s throats, THEY are safe. The second we begin to
rise up, they beat us down with ten times the force required to do so.
Racism is a real problem but it is not a "black" issue. It is an American issue that affects all of us. “We must all hang together, or
assuredly, we shall all hang separately.” That quote is from Ben Franklin at the signing
of the declaration of independence. And he wasn’t including women, everyone considered "non-white," immigrants, non-landowners and a whole host of others. But he still has a point. We can all
learn from his mistakes and try to do it right this time!
