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https://www.themarysue.com/the-whole-damn-barrel-is-bad/
We’re all familiar with the proverb, “one bad apple ruins the whole barrel.” Sometimes it’s a bushel, or a bunch, or a basket, but while the phrasing changes, the meaning remains the same. It’s a well-worn refrain of politicians and police chiefs who trot it out whenever the cops are behaving badly. This is meant to reassure the public that we shouldn’t fear the police, that these violent, corrupt individuals are the exception and not the norm when it comes to the men and women in blue.
But the past week of protests have proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that it is not just a few bad apples. The whole barrel is rotten and must be thrown out entirely. Of course, people of color and those paying attention have known this for quite some time. But America has never experienced the international exposure of our violent and vicious police presence in this way before.
Social media is flooded with countless images and videos of cops brutally beating protesters, attacking crowds, and inciting panic. These images are traumatic and painful to watch, and the shock of viewing them is eclipsed by the brazen, openly repugnant behavior of the cops themselves.
After the video of Martin Gugino, 75, being pushed down by the Buffalo police went viral, Buffalo Police Commissioner Byron Lockwood suspended Officers Robert McCabe and Aaron Torgalski without pay and ordered an internal investigation. This was, of course, after the Buffalo police’s spokesperson claimed that Gugino “tripped and fell.”
In response to the suspensions, all 57 officers have resigned from Buffalo’s Emergency Response Team. And they didn’t resign in protest of the behavior; they resigned in solidarity with the cops that shoved Gugino to the ground and walked over his bleeding body. The barrel is bad.
The cops have since been charged with felony second-degree assault and have entered a plea of not guilty. Gugino remains in serious but stable condition. The charges were made this morning, which Erie County District Attorney John Flynn
Flynn delayed because he “didn’t want to pour gasoline on the fire” after he learned about the mass resignation. “I was generally concerned about what could potentially happen if I did this yesterday afternoon and there wasn’t enough security downtown,” he said, “so I decided to do it this morning.” That’s right, the DA was pressured into delaying charges because he was worried the cops wouldn’t do their jobs. The barrel is bad.
Once the officers left the courthouse, they were greeted with a round of applause from the cops who resigned on their behalf. You can watch the video below showing the crowd cheering for the two men who shoved an elderly man to the ground.
Buffalo police officers applauded by their colleagues as they leave the courthouse pic.twitter.com/t9DGC07ijZ
— Acyn Torabi (@Acyn) June 6, 2020
As the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, I often wonder how Hitler managed to mobilize an entire country of people to commit genocide. Was there not one nazi disturbed by the mass murder of innocent men, women, and children? Was there not one soldier sickened by the starving bodies wasting away as they performed manual labor? Were all these people just following orders or do they collectively lack a soul?
The same question could be asked of any soldier or employee of an authoritative regime. How can you support this violence, this hatred, this brutality? How can you walk over the body of a bleeding man in the street? How can you kneel on a man’s neck for 8 minutes until he stops breathing? And how are you SO emboldened by your acts that you perform them willingly in front of dozens of cameras?
For every police officer walking by, or looking away, or standing in solidarity with these bad apples, I have bad news for you. You’re just as rotten. The fight you’re so desperate to have is happening and history will remember you as monsters. The barrel is bad, and the people are coming to burn your orchard down.
(via CNN, image: screengrab)
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—The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—
We’re all familiar with the proverb, “one bad apple ruins the whole barrel.” Sometimes it’s a bushel, or a bunch, or a basket, but while the phrasing changes, the meaning remains the same. It’s a well-worn refrain of politicians and police chiefs who trot it out whenever the cops are behaving badly. This is meant to reassure the public that we shouldn’t fear the police, that these violent, corrupt individuals are the exception and not the norm when it comes to the men and women in blue.
But the past week of protests have proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that it is not just a few bad apples. The whole barrel is rotten and must be thrown out entirely. Of course, people of color and those paying attention have known this for quite some time. But America has never experienced the international exposure of our violent and vicious police presence in this way before.
Social media is flooded with countless images and videos of cops brutally beating protesters, attacking crowds, and inciting panic. These images are traumatic and painful to watch, and the shock of viewing them is eclipsed by the brazen, openly repugnant behavior of the cops themselves.
After the video of Martin Gugino, 75, being pushed down by the Buffalo police went viral, Buffalo Police Commissioner Byron Lockwood suspended Officers Robert McCabe and Aaron Torgalski without pay and ordered an internal investigation. This was, of course, after the Buffalo police’s spokesperson claimed that Gugino “tripped and fell.”
In response to the suspensions, all 57 officers have resigned from Buffalo’s Emergency Response Team. And they didn’t resign in protest of the behavior; they resigned in solidarity with the cops that shoved Gugino to the ground and walked over his bleeding body. The barrel is bad.
The cops have since been charged with felony second-degree assault and have entered a plea of not guilty. Gugino remains in serious but stable condition. The charges were made this morning, which Erie County District Attorney John Flynn
Flynn delayed because he “didn’t want to pour gasoline on the fire” after he learned about the mass resignation. “I was generally concerned about what could potentially happen if I did this yesterday afternoon and there wasn’t enough security downtown,” he said, “so I decided to do it this morning.” That’s right, the DA was pressured into delaying charges because he was worried the cops wouldn’t do their jobs. The barrel is bad.
Once the officers left the courthouse, they were greeted with a round of applause from the cops who resigned on their behalf. You can watch the video below showing the crowd cheering for the two men who shoved an elderly man to the ground.
Buffalo police officers applauded by their colleagues as they leave the courthouse pic.twitter.com/t9DGC07ijZ
— Acyn Torabi (@Acyn) June 6, 2020
As the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, I often wonder how Hitler managed to mobilize an entire country of people to commit genocide. Was there not one nazi disturbed by the mass murder of innocent men, women, and children? Was there not one soldier sickened by the starving bodies wasting away as they performed manual labor? Were all these people just following orders or do they collectively lack a soul?
The same question could be asked of any soldier or employee of an authoritative regime. How can you support this violence, this hatred, this brutality? How can you walk over the body of a bleeding man in the street? How can you kneel on a man’s neck for 8 minutes until he stops breathing? And how are you SO emboldened by your acts that you perform them willingly in front of dozens of cameras?
For every police officer walking by, or looking away, or standing in solidarity with these bad apples, I have bad news for you. You’re just as rotten. The fight you’re so desperate to have is happening and history will remember you as monsters. The barrel is bad, and the people are coming to burn your orchard down.
(via CNN, image: screengrab)
Want more stories like this? Become a subscriber and support the site!
—The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—
Source: Spencer Platt / Getty
Even though the overall unemployment rate has dropped, it has risen for African-Americans. According to a recent report by the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, the overall rate dropped to 13.3 % but the unemployment rate for African-Americans have risen to 16.8 %. This means that there are now 87,000 more black workers who are unemployed due to the coronavirus pandemic.This is the highest the black unemployment rate has been since 2011.
“At a time of unprecedented anguish for our country, today’s jobs report demonstrates just how far we have to go to rebuild the economy, especially for Black Americans,” former U.S. labor department economist William Rodgers said in a statement to CBS. “This is consistent with previous recessions and recoveries: Blacks are the first to get fired and the last to get rehired.”
In May of 2019, the black unemployment rate was only 6.2 %. Last month, it skyrocketed to 16.7 %. Recent data shows that as of May 2020 16.5 % of African-American women are unemployed while 15.5 % of African-American men are unemployed. The unemployment rate among whites is at 12.4 %, a drop from the 14.2 % rate in April, according to the data.
The Center for Economic Policy Research has shown that African-Americans are more likely to work in front-line careers like transportation, maintenance, grocery and convenience stories, postal service, warehouse, trucking and social services. African-Americans account for 29.7% of the workforce in the fields while white people make up 19.2 %.
Bill Spriggs, chief economist at the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, told CBS that these rates confirm that blacks were the first to get fired from their jobs and have not been called back to work even though jobs are reopening.
Besides being hit hard by the unemployment caused by the pandemic, African-Americans are said to also have experienced COVID-19 at higher rates. According to research from the APM Research Lab, African-Americans died at a rate of 50.3 per 100,000 people, compared with 20.7 rate for whites,
Saturday, June 6, in a wide-ranging, powerful conversation, Mary Hooks, Director, Southerners on New Ground (S.O.N.G.); Kandace Montgomery, Director, Organizers with Black Visions; and Miski Noor, Organizer, Organizers with Black Visions, joined Kirsten West Savali, Executive Producer, ESSENCE, to discuss what it means to defund police and defend Black lives.
Montgomery and Noor joined us live from the uprising in Minnesota, while Hooks joined us from Georgia. The dynamic organizers not only discussed defunding the police, but also white supremacy being a party crasher, agents infiltrating the movement, why we must lift up Black women and Black trans folks when we talk about defending all Black lives, why Donald Trump most resign, and more.
Sensitivity trainings and diversity aren’t enough. We are done explaining our humanity, while more unarmed black bodies are killed in the streets or in their homes.We need to rethink our public safety system and build one based on compassion. https://t.co/0YxinzYaEW
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) June 6, 2020Earlier this week, ESSENCE announced that we stand in solidarity with the Movement for Black Lives to amplify the organization’s work for the liberation of Black people, including their Week of Action which concluded Friday.
Minneapolis Uprising — The community and comrades take to the streets in support of George Floyd (Movement for Black Lives)M4BL’s demands are clear:
We demand the rights of protestors be respected.
We demand a divestment from police and investment in Black communities.
We demand immediate relief for our communities.
We demand community control.
We demand an end to the war on Black people.
“The Black press plays a critical role in framing and amplifying the power building efforts of social movements,” Fresco Steez, digital strategist for Movement for Black Lives, says. “The collaboration between ESSENCE and Movement for Black Lives illustrates a powerful collaboration to educate, politicize and move people to take action to defend Black lives.”
Check out the discussion above and stay tuned for more M4BL x ESSENCE conversations.
The post Live From The Uprising: M4BL x ESSENCE Discuss Defunding Police, Defending Black Lives appeared first on Essence.