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Minneapolis Leader: Fear About Dismantling The Police Department Is Just Another Example Of Privilege

download-5Today we discussed the vow of the majority of the Minneapolis City Council to “dismantle” the police department as well as some historical comparisons to such radical actions.  That effort was led in part by Minneapolis City Council President Lisa Bender who appeared today on CNN.  When CNN’s Alisyn Camerota asked about those who are concerned about their personal safety, Bender said that such concerns “comes from a place of privilege” and that people are now experiencing the reality of life for African Americans.  While not explored further by CNN, there is at least a possibility that the fear of a home intruder is not “coming from a place of privilege” but a place of self-preservation.

Camerota asked “Do you understand that the word, dismantle, or police-free also makes some people nervous, for instance? What if in the middle of [the] night, my home is broken into? Who do I call?”  Bender’s response was:

“I mean, I hear that loud and clear from a lot of my neighbors. And I know — and myself, too, and I know that that comes from a place of privilege. Because for those of us for whom the system is working, I think we need to step back and imagine what it would feel like to already live in that reality where calling the police may mean more harm is done.”

Bender went on to detail how the police department could be removed from a variety of incidents from mental health calls, for some domestic violence calls, for health-related issues.”  She did not address the primary question and Camerota did not press her to answer.  There are some very good ideas for reform, including the possible use of non-police resources.  However, none of that involves “dismantling” the department as opposed to addressing such insular reforms for reform as the Mayor has suggested.

Bender attended the same rally where Mayor Jacob Frey was booed for not agreeing to dismantle the police.  The organizers and supporters chanted “no more cops.”

Bender however has been fueling such calls at the rally and on social media.

Bender notably did not respond when asked point bank whether she wanted to get rid of the the police: “So what are you trying to do?” Are you hoping by dismantling the Minneapolis Police Department that you will be getting rid of the police department?”

Bender responded: “I think in Minneapolis, watching George Floyd’s death, and the four — the actions of the four police officers that were involved has been a huge wake-up call for so many in Minneapolis to see what many already knew, which is that our police department is not keeping every member of our community safe.”

The city council now appears to have a veto proof majority to dismantle the police department. Other jurisdictions are considering similar moves and Los Angeles just announced a major cut in funding.  Again, the silence of other politicians is perfectly deafening as they try to avoid any public criticism or conflict with the most radical elements of this movement.  

What I find odd is that the fear of being without police is a form of privilege but it is still viewed by Bender as somehow beneficial because it makes non-African Americans experience fear.  Wouldn’t it be better (indeed a form of leadership) to seek to remove the fear from the African-American community rather than making the fear universal?  It is likely solving the greater threat of fire in one community by telling another community to go without fire protection.  You achieve equity but hardly the equity that you would want. That however was not part of this interview.

There is also no idea what is meant by a “transformative new model of public safety.” That might be a useful detail to work out before vowing to dismantle the police department. People just may need police rather than platitudes before Bender “imagines” her  new “vision.”

What is left is uncontested jargon where any questions or doubts are dismissed as admissions of privilege.

 

120 thoughts on “Minneapolis Leader: Fear About Dismantling The Police Department Is Just Another Example Of Privilege”

  1. Pingback: The Jackson Press – After Voting to Eliminate Police, Minneapolis City Council Now Complains About Crime Increase

  2. This is about the election. COVID didn’t bring down the economy, they figure this can do it. No one is going to want to go into cities where they can get shot and robbed. So, a few cities that go down in flames should do the trick.

  3. MORE WHITE PEOPLE THEN BLACK ARE KILLED BY THE POLICE. When Officer Noor murdered Justine Dumond, no one cared enough to even talk about it. And now its too much privilege to care about our homes and our businesses and our children being destroyed by criminals. TOO MUCH!

  4. When was the last time the Democrats⁩ knelt for a fallen police officer, soldier, fire fighter or first responder?

    No one can remember. They kneel for drug addicts and then attack cops, villifying them all.

    If cops and first responders cast a vote to elect Biden and put the Democrats back in power this November, shame on you. Shame on all of you.

  5. It shouldn’t take too long. As a nation we’ll go through this exercise in utter stupidity. And after everything is said and done we will be back to square one and have our police departments back bigger and better equipped than ever before.

    1. This is about the election. Market is still rallying. They figure COVID didn’t kill it maybe George Floyd will. This is all about winning in November.

  6. I used to work out with a cop who told me that the vast majority of 911 calls come from low income neighborhoods. So, this is not scientific information with a citation, but this is what he told me. Black people are the first ones who are going to pay the price for this harebrained scheme, just as otherwise law-abiding illegal immigrants are the first to pay the price for sanctuary policies which protect dangerous felons. If you’re an illegal alien picking tomatoes and your daughter gets raped by an illegal drug dealer, who do you call? Nobody. You suck it up. That’s why the hypocrisy of the left is so tragic. It seems to me that the ultimate goal of black people should not be limited to not getting murdered by cops, and therefore let’s get rid of the cops. It seems to me that the goal should be, was supposed to be, the dream of MLK’s I have a dream, was for black people to take their rightful place in American society. Granted that’s going to take a lot of work because we have a whole cycle of poverty to break, but anarchy is not the way. The people who are telling black people that anarchy will get them anywhere but in a much deeper world of pain are lying to them as they always have, but they lie so well that they continue to be believed. There’s a Portuguese proverb which says: Uma estrada ruim nuna leva ao destino certo, i.e. a bad road never leads to a good destination. Too bad that by the time we get to that bad destination it will be too late to turn back.

  7. Where does it come from? It’s for good reason and history Minnesota’s real name is Minisovieta.

  8. “Wouldn’t it be better (indeed a form of leadership) to seek to remove the fear from the African-American community rather than making the fear universal?”

    Yes, this is the whole problem with the term privilege, and the various sloppy discourses in which it is embedded, in a nutshell.

  11. This is what rank voting systems have brought to the cities of America folks. Jacob Frey won the mayoral race in Minneapolis with less than 27% of the vote.

    1. Hey, have you seen what the mostly winner take all Electoral College has done to America Mimi? We have a minority running the country for now 11 years out of the last 20, including a SC which should have been majority liberal since the Gore Presidency.

  15. The Corona virus has created wackos. Mental illness. Defund the police departments?
    Wacko.
    Arm the bears. You will need policing.

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