Many Blacks Would Welcome Police Exit from Their Communities

Glen Ford, BAR executive editor

10 Dec 2019

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“The whole battlefield array of weapons is now deployed in Black and brown communities.”

Donald Trump’s Attorney General, William Barr, is a comedian. He must have been joking when he warned certain communities that they better start showing more “respect and support” for the police. Otherwise, said Barr, these communities “may find themselves without the police protection they need.”

Well, there are lots of people in Black communities that would like nothing better than to see the cops withdraw back to their suburban enclaves and never return. Black folks know that calling the police to help with a family problem is rolling the dice with death. Attorney General Barr has got to be joking, when he pretends that the cops just might withdraw their so-called “protection” from the Black community if folks don’t start giving them proper respect. But, why should anyone respect an occupation army whose mission is to incarcerate and terrorize the community. We need protection from THEM, and will ultimately have to provide that, ourselves.

The movement for community control of the police is gaining ground, working towards abolishing the police altogether, and creating new and democratic ways of providing community security.

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