Ta-Nehisi Coates, “Nonviolence As Compliance“

[kpete]

Ta-Nehisi Coates, “Nonviolence As Compliance“

When nonviolence begins halfway through the war with the aggressor calling time out, it exposes itself as a ruse.

Rioting broke out on Monday in Baltimore—an angry response to the death of Freddie Gray, a death my native city seems powerless to explain. Gray did not die mysteriously in some back alley but in the custody of the city’s publicly appointed guardians of order. And yet the mayor of that city and the commissioner of that city’s police still have no idea what happened. I suspect this is not because the mayor and police commissioner are bad people, but because the state of Maryland prioritizes the protection of police officers charged with abuse over the citizens who fall under its purview.

The citizens who live in West Baltimore, where the rioting began, intuitively understand this. I grew up across the street from Mondawmin Mall, where today’s riots began. My mother was raised in the same housing project, Gilmor Homes, where Freddie Gray was killed. Everyone I knew who lived in that world regarded the police not with admiration and respect but with fear and caution. People write these feelings off as wholly irrational at their own peril, or their own leisure…

.........

Now, tonight, I turn on the news and I see politicians calling for young people in Baltimore to remain peaceful and "nonviolent." These well-intended pleas strike me as the right answer to the wrong question. To understand the question, it's worth remembering what, specifically, happened to Freddie Gray. An officer made eye contact with Gray. Gray, for unknown reasons, ran. The officer and his colleagues then detained Gray. They found him in possession of a switchblade. They arrested him while he yelled in pain. And then, within an hour, his spine was mostly severed. A week later, he was dead. What specifically was the crime here? What particular threat did Freddie Gray pose? Why is mere eye contact and then running worthy of detention at the hands of the state? Why is Freddie Gray dead?

............

When nonviolence is preached as an attempt to evade the repercussions of political brutality, it betrays itself. When nonviolence begins halfway through the war with the aggressor calling time out, it exposes itself as a ruse. When nonviolence is preached by the representatives of the state, while the state doles out heaps of violence to its citizens, it reveals itself to be a con. And none of this can mean that rioting or violence is "correct" or "wise," any more than a forest fire can be "correct" or "wise." Wisdom isn't the point tonight. Disrespect is. In this case, disrespect for the hollow law and failed order that so regularly disrespects the rioters themselves.


the rest (xlnt read):
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/04/nonviolence-as-compliance/391640/

[madashelltoo]

1. When the Captain said,

"They attacked these officers for no reason." I wanted to have a line into his ear to yell, "That's how all of this started! They snapped the spine of a young man who had done NOTHING, NO REASON! When the shoe is on the others foot, it doesn't feel good, does it?"

Anytime you fight back in America, you are labeled a savage, a thug. Occasionally, America, you reap what you sow.

[appalachiablue]

2. It's more than clear to many who are the real THUGS & SAVAGES destroying this nation,

the people and the world. The group's name begins with B- but not for blacks or African Americans.

K & R this OP

[JaneyVee]

3. Another masterpiece by the great Tanehisi Coates.

ESPECIALLY THIS:

The money paid out by the city to cover for the brutal acts of its police department would be enough to build "a state-of-the-art rec center or renovations at more than 30 playgrounds." Instead, the money was used to cover for the brutal acts of the city's police department and ensure they remained well beyond any semblance of justice.

[WillyT]

4. K & R !!!