Mark Chupp
July 7, 2020
We are in a new era. The demand to defund the police, while not universally understood, has changed the Overton Window, the range of ideas the public is willing to consider as viable options. However, even with a groundswell of support for change, there is no consensus on what it should be.
Defund the police, abolish the police, abolish prisons—each has a different meaning but all point to a recognition that these systems are not serving the needs of all Americans. In fact, many would argue that from the start, they were intended to be used against certain populations, or at least to control them. In this sense, they are serving their intended purpose, which is why prisons and policing as institutions need to be replaced.
Yet, even as radical as these changes might sound, they do not go far enough if they do not confront systemic racism that negatively affects communities. Systemic racism, at its core, denies resources and opportunities of some to the benefit of white citizens at all levels: education, housing, employment and economic development, health and wellness. Systemic racism results in public investment in well-off communities, providing an array of opportunities while denying those opportunities in low-income communities, often comprised of a majority of people of color. Instead of investing in these communities, public resources are used to create control mechanisms (policing) and reactionary responses (homeless shelters, foodbanks, etc.).
What is the alternative we are trying to create? What does it look like if we defund or abolish the police? What are the new systems? Rinku Sen does an excellent job articulating the many forms of resistance that people raise about #DefundThePolice as a strategy. Despite the resistance, she proclaims it as a genius strategy. As an organizing strategy it shifted accountability to specific people who can actually make needed change. Rather than trying to convince police and criminal justice officials, it made the target elected officials (mayors, city councils, school boards and governors) who have to respond to the public. This strategy also shifted the focus away from debating what often end up being ineffective reforms. The Minneapolis Police Department was a model with extensive training on implicit bias and de-escalation. The training is helpful but not effective alone.
With #DefundThePolice we are in a new conversation about reinvesting in communities themselves. This is a needed conversation that has been ignored far too long as education, housing, and economic development have all been reduced over decades, under both Democrat and Republican leaders.
One major challenge today is how to coalesce around needed changes. First and foremost, we must listen and support the leadership of Black organizations calling for change. On July 7, the Movement for Black Lives unveiled the Breathe Act, which demands:
- Divesting Federal Resources from Incarceration and Policing & Ending Criminal-Legal System Harms
- Investing in New Approaches to Community Safety Utilizing Funding Incentives
- Allocating New Money to Build Healthy, Sustainable & Equitable Communities for All People
- Holding Officials Accountable & Enhancing Self-Determination of Black Communities
The Breathe Act is an affirmative vision for Black Lives—essentially, a modern-day Civil Rights Act. Six years of policy work has led to a comprehensive and bold strategy that if enacted would go a long way to dismantle systemic racism and lead to the creation of just and equitable communities.
Everyone benefits from these changes. We know that systemic problems negatively affect all of us. MLK, “No one is free until we are all free.” White Americans are negatively affected by racism and its centrality to the founding of this country. Our identity is based on the exclusion and oppression of others. One is not truly free if their freedom rests on the backs of others.
We must come together and keep the pressure on and continue to advocate for systemic change. We must connect with and support BIPOC experts and the leadership of Black organizations.
Ultimately, we must build community. Our dis-ease is in part due to the fact that we are disconnected, we have othered each other. Coming together does not mean we minimize differences and the need for dialogue. In doing so, we can find common ground and build solidarity for action.
Safety is achieved by knowing your neighbors and being in networks of mutual support and accountability. Law enforcement cannot make that happen. Let’s invest in that. There are many best practices and knowledgeable professionals with proven alternatives to calling the police for non-safety issues. Building healthy, safe communities is more cost effective, creates producers in society rather than receivers of services and it creates communities where people choose to stay.
We must recognize that all of our liberation is connected together. No one is free until everyone is free.
撤资警察，投资社区
作者：Mark Chupp 翻译：崔馨元
2020年7月7日
我们处在一个新时代。撤资警察的要求虽然没有得到普遍理解，但已经改变了奥弗顿窗口(Overton Window)，也就是公众愿意考虑的可行方案的范围。然而，尽管支持变革的呼声高涨，但对于变革应该是什么却没有达成共识。
撤资警察，废除警察，废除监狱 —— 每一项都有不同的含义，但都表明已有的制度并不能满足所有美国人的需求。事实上，许多人会认为，从一开始，这些制度就打算用来对付某些人群，或至少控制他们。从这个意义上说，它们正在发挥其预期的作用，这就是为什么监狱和警务机构需要被取代的原因。
然而，即使这些变革听起来很激进，但如果不直面系统性种族主义对社区产生的负面影响，它们就不会走得足够远。系统性种族主义的核心是，在教育、住房、就业和经济发展、健康和福利等各个层面剥夺人们的资源和机会，而这些被剥夺的资源和机会却有利于各级别的白人公民。系统性的种族主义导致了对富裕社区的公共投资、并为他们提供了大量机会，而低收入社区则被否认和遗忘，因为往往这些低收入社区往往由大多数有色人种组成。公共资源并没有用来投资这些社区，而是用来建立控制机制(警务)和反动反应(无家可归者庇护所、食物银行等)。
我们试图创造的替代方案是什么?如果我们撤资或废除警察会怎么样?新系统是什么？Rinku Sen很好地阐述了人们提出的各种形式的抵制，并把警察撤资作为一种策略。尽管遇到了阻力，她还是宣称这是一个明智的策略。作为一种组织策略，它将责任转移到能够真正做出必要改变的特定人员身上。它没有试图说服警察和刑事司法官员，而是将目标锁定在那些必须回应公众的民选官员(市长、市议会、学校董事会和州长)身上。这一策略也将人们的注意力从争论通常最终无效的改革上转移开来。明尼阿波利斯警察局(Minneapolis Police Department)是一个在隐性偏见和降级问题上接受过广泛培训的典范。培训本身是有帮助的，但不是有效的。
随着对警察的撤资，我们进入了一个关于对社区自身再投资的新对话。由于教育、住房和经济发展在过去几十年里都在民主党和共和党领导人的领导下被忽视了太久，这是一个必要的对话。
今天的一个主要挑战是如何结合必要的改变。首要的是，我们必须倾听和支持黑人组织呼吁变革的领导。7月7日，「尊重黑人生命」运动公布了《呼吸法案》，要求:
- 将联邦资源从监禁、治安和终结犯罪法律体系的损害中剥离出来
- 利用资金激励措施投资于社区安全的新途径
- 拨出新的资金，为所有人建设健康、可持续和公平的社区
- 让官员负起责任，增强黑人社区的自决权
《呼吸法案》是对黑人生活的一种肯定愿景——本质上，是现代民权法案。六年的政策工作产生了一项全面和大胆的战略，如果该战略得到实施，将大大有助于消除系统性的种族主义，并导致建立公正和公平的社区。
每个人都从这些变化中受益。我们知道系统性问题对我们所有人都有负面影响。马丁·路德·金说过，“只有我们都自由了，才会有人自由。”“美国白人受到了种族主义及其在建国过程中的核心地位的负面影响。我们的身份是建立在对他人的排斥和压迫之上的。如果一个人的自由建立在别人的背上，那么他就不是真正的自由。
我们必须团结起来，继续施加压力，继续倡导系统性变革。我们必须联系和支持黑人、原住民以及有色人种专家和黑人组织的领导。
最终，我们必须建立社区。我们的不安部分是由于我们是分离的，毕竟我们是相互联系的。团结在一起并不意味着我们减少分歧和对话的必要性。而是在这一过程中，我们可以找到共同点，并建立团结的行动。
安全是通过了解你的邻居，在相互支持和负责任的链接中实现的，执法部门无法做到这一点。让我们在这方面投资。有许多最有成效的实践和知识渊博的专业人员证明了非安全问题报警的替代方案。建设健康、安全的社区更具成本效益，在社会中创造了生产者，而不是服务的接受者，它创造了人们选择居住的社区。
我们必须认识到，我们所有的解放是联系在一起的。在人人自由之前，没有人是自由的。