The blue stripe.
I’ve seen the Blue Stripe, and #bluelivesmatter quite frequently over the past weeks and months. It’s been on bumper stickers, social media posts, t-shirts, etc., and shared by a range of people on the spectrum from random to family. I realize this is a controversial topic for some, but wanted to share some thoughts because addressing the implications of these representations is important.
I want to start by saying that I am not a person of color, nor have I personally been hurt by inappropriate use of police force in any way. I do not hate the police.
In contrast, I am father to a Black son, and cannot escape the grief and foreboding fear that I have begun to feel thinking of him growing up under the current criminal justice system — a terror that has long been felt by Black people in America.
Police Brutality is a Real Problem
This year has seen a new volley of national highlights on police brutality surrounding the murders of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks and Jacob Black — to only name a few. While these were all horrendous occurrences, they truly are the tip of the iceberg.
I have personally been exposed to countless (I’ve literally lost count) of videos and news stories in which police exercised violent, and many times deadly, force; and these are only instances that have been filmed/documented — and that I have personally seen.
The bottom line is that police brutality — and the system that supports it — is a problem. This has been a theme of many a protest and social media post of late. Sadly, this has been met with volley’s #bluelivesmatter and stories of cop’s being heroes.
Police Receive Special Treatment
When a teacher is exposed for having had sex with a student they are met with an appropriate calls for action — removal from their position, assessment for needed change within the school, etc.
The reality is that police are held to a different standard. To say nothing of Qualified Immunity and other laws that leave room for law enforcement to break the law (irony?) without consequence, the social support that law enforcement receives regardless of their actions is indicative of special treatment.
As an example, my wife shared a video of policemen brutalizing a person of color without reason and was met with antagonistic comments some of which included:
“Well, since you hate the police so much, who will you call when someone breaks into your home and tries to rape your kids”
Not once, has my wife said that we don’t need police, that all police are bad or that she hates police. She simply shared evidence of police brutality and expressed her concern, grief and anger in response.
If you find yourself siding more with the commenter than my wife, or myself, I would ask you to consider that a large part of the problem with policing has to do with the supportive response to their violent, illegal or inappropriate actions.
Policing Needs Reform
There have been many conversations, political and otherwise, relating to Defunding the Police and the need for police reform, and I do not intend to address the appropriate response to police reform in this post.
That said, to ignore the fact that the police system needs to be changed and improved is to continue supporting a system that is oppressing communities around America; and while not exclusively, this oppression is disproportionately affecting Black people and people of color.
For me, and for many, the Blue Stripe stands for unyielding commitment to police no matter the form it takes. It says, “Let’s get more information” in the face of tortuous murder. It says, “We don’t know the full context” when young men and women are harassed, arrested and beaten for no reason other than the color of their skin. It says “We don’t need reform.”
So yes, support the men and women who work in law enforcement who do their jobs well, but don’t sully their hard work and commitment by supporting the many failing facets of the current system without question.
