You F*ck the Police…I’ll Watch

Hazing cops may be fun for White kids, y’all, but it’s trauma for Blacks — for realz!

Okay, I’m generalizing, but I see White kids showin’ they asses in front of cops way too often. It’s beyond me. What do people get out of it? You know that cops are restrained by procedure from showing excessive force, and the last thing a police officer want to get caught on video is batting a petite White 20-year-old upside the head. It may look cool going nose to nose with a cop holding a shield, but actually it looks pretty lame when you consider all the factors.

I was talking to a family member who happens to be White passing (like it ain’t the point). They was miffed ‘cause a Black member of a group taking an action, spent twenty minutes lecturing everybody about behavior in front of the cops. The family member agreed it was an important issue but not worth shutting down the whole meeting. I was like, “Maybe not, but what you think happens to Black people when White people act out against the cops?”

This family member hadn’t considered that, while White folks go hang out after an action, drinking beers and congratulating themselves for being “part of the solution,” many Black people go home to neighborhoods where they’ll get overly policed, and where the police can take retaliatory action that won’t affect most White activists. I doubt, based on the prevalence of the behavior I see, White activists think about what happens in Black communities during times of social unrest.

I also doubt White people engaged in police hazing think about the trauma caused when Black people imagine how those police officers would react if it was a Black person in they face cussing them out. As a Black person, I have to relive violence suffered at the hands of the police when they see White people acting out and getting away with it. Maybe it’s unreasonable for me to feel that way, but it underlines the disparity when White people bear arms, while Black children get shot over water-pistols.

I hadn’t ever voiced an opinion about it before this family member brought it up and before I knew it, twenty minutes had passed and I was still ranting. I was all ready to apologize when I caught myself and just let the lesson land how it was gonna land. Now I’m sharing it with y’all and hopefully I’ll hear what y’all think about it.