Society's ChildS


Brick Wall

The Age of Disposability: State terrorism & racist violence

Henry A. Giroux
Truth-out
Sun, 10 Jul 2016 15:16 UTC
State terrorism
© Christopher Lee / The New York TimesDemonstrators record a crowd of police officers on hand in New York's Times Square, where a large crowd protested after fatal police shootings in Louisiana and Minnesota, July 7, 2016.
Note from Henry Giroux on July 10, 2016: The racist killing machine is in full bloom in the age of domestic terrorism. Once again, Americans and the rest of the world are witness to a brutal killing machine, a form of domestic terrorism that is responsible for the deaths of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling.

Castile and Sterling were both shot point-blank by white police officers who follow the script of a racist policy of disposability that suggests that Black lives not only do not matter, but that Black people can be killed with impunity since the police in the United States are rarely held accountable for such crimes. What we are witnessing is not simply the overt face of a militarized police culture, the lack of community policing, or the toxic consequences of a culture of violence that saturates everyday life. We are in a new historical era, one that is marked by extreme violence and a policy of disposability fueled in part by a culture of fear, a deeply overt racist culture that is unapologetic in its racism, and a culture of cruelty that is the modus operandi of neoliberal capitalism. This culture of cruelty is a cage culture, a culture of combat, a hyper masculine culture that views killing those most vulnerable as sport, entertainment and policy.

We are witnessing not simply the breakdown of democracy but the legitimization of a society in the grips of what might be called a politics of domestic terrorism. The US is deep into the entrails of fascism, and until that is recognized, the violence will escalate, people of color will be killed, whites will claim they are the real victims and the discourse of racial objectification will continue to be a visible if not embraced signpost of our politics at every level. The face of white supremacy -- with its long legacy of slavery, lynchings and brutality -- has become normalized, if not supported by one major political party.

Today, I am sharing one of my reflections on this racist culture that appeared previously in Truthout because it is even more relevant today than when it was first posted at the beginning of 2015.

Comment: Read more of Henry Giroux's essays:

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War Whore

A black ex-cop tells the real truth about race and policing

Redditt Hudson
Vox
Mon, 11 Jul 2016 03:27 UTC
Police brutality protest
© Ricky Rhodes/Getty Images A protest in Cleveland, Ohio, after police officer Michael Brelo was acquitted for the shooting deaths of Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams.
On any given day, in any police department in the nation, 15 percent of officers will do the right thing no matter what is happening. Fifteen percent of officers will abuse their authority at every opportunity. The remaining 70 percent could go either way depending on whom they are working with.

That's a theory from my friend K.L. Williams, who has trained thousands of officers around the country in use of force. Based on what I experienced as a black man serving in the St. Louis Police Department for five years, I agree with him. I worked with men and women who became cops for all the right reasons — they really wanted to help make their communities better. And I worked with people like the president of my police academy class, who sent out an email after President Obama won the 2008 election that included the statement, "I can't believe I live in a country full of ni**er lovers!!!!!!!!" He patrolled the streets in St. Louis in a number of black communities with the authority to act under the color of law.

That remaining 70 percent of officers are highly susceptible to the culture in a given department. In the absence of any real effort to challenge department cultures, they become part of the problem. If their command ranks are racist or allow institutional racism to persist, or if a number of officers in their department are racist, they may end up doing terrible things.

It is not only white officers who abuse their authority. The effect of institutional racism is such that no matter what color the officer abusing the citizen is, in the vast majority of those cases of abuse that citizen will be black or brown. That is what is allowed.

Comment: A scathing indictment of the law enforcement system as it stands today. Unfortunately, the top-to-bottom reformation of such a corrupt system can't be done overnight. Those who enjoy the power to abuse and terrify won't give up that power so easily.

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Handcuffs

Thousands protest against police brutality across US, cops arrest over 100


RT
Sun, 10 Jul 2016 00:07 UTC
phoenix BLM protest
© Luis Alvarez/ YoutubeBlack Lives Matter protest in Phoenix, Arizona
After police increased their vigilance following the deadly shooting of policemen in Dallas, US law enforcement across the nation went on to arrest over 100 people protesting against police brutality and racism on Friday night.

As mourners for the five police officers killed in Thursday night's shooting in Dallas ambush concluded their vigils, Black Lives Matter protests engulfed the country with renewed fervor.

Thousands of activists marched across US cities Friday night, demanding justice for Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, black men who were shot dead by police officers earlier in the week.

The largest number of arrests was made in Rochester, New York, where protesters blocked downtown streets after a crowd began to gather from around 9:45pm.


Comment: See also:

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Pistol

Flashback Lakota People's Law Project: Police are killing Native Americans at a higher rate than any race - media remains silent

Matt Agorist
Free Thought Project
Sun, 02 Aug 2015 14:45 UTC
native lives matter
Americans are up in arms right now over the near epidemic number of deaths of African-American at the hands of police, and rightfully so. African-Americans make up only 13 percent of the population, yet they are the victims in 26 percent of all police shootings. That is nearly 3 times the rate of whites.

The outrage by the #Black Lives Matter movement is founded in statistical evidence which shows that the system inherently and with extreme bias disproportionately targets blacks.
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Handcuffs

Another brutal police attack: Cop drags woman by her hair and punches her in the face

Claire Bernish
The Free Thought Project
Sun, 10 Jul 2016 14:42 UTC
Providence police
© localsonly401
Cellphone video of a brutal arrest by Providence, Rhode Island, Police on May 23 is being reviewed by the department after Mayor Jorge Elorza questioned whether the use of force would be considered excessive.

'Excessive,' however, could be considered a major understatement whether or not the officers' claims the suspects acted violently toward them.

Footage uploaded to Facebook on July 7 begins with Patrolman Michael Place growling, "Get the fuck up," as he yanks a woman, identified later in police reports as Carolinmar Torres, to her feet from the steps of a front porch — violently striking her head first into the side of the home.

Apparently alarmed by the officer's actions, a man approaches, is thrown back by a second cop who punches him in the face, screaming, "Get the fuck off!" — as Place grips a handful of the Torres' long hair and forcibly jerks her away from the porch.
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Passport

New German study finds no link between national origin and crime


RT
Sun, 10 Jul 2016 13:27 UTC
refugees praying
© Stefanie Loos / Reuters Migrants pray after the Iftar (breaking fast) meal at a refugee shelter in a former hotel in Berlin, Germany June 9, 2016.
Over a million refugees came to Europe in 2015, and when mass sexual assaults left many nations in shock, migrants were the first to be blamed. However, a new study suggests there is no direct link between national origin and crime.

The Berlin-based organization Mediendienst Integration (Integration Media Service) compiled the study, led by the Münster criminologist Christian Walburg.

The research is largely based on data from Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office and claims to refute any connection between national origin and crime.

Since the past year, there has been no jump in the number of offenses per 100,000 people for the most frequent types of crimes, Münster told the Deutsche Welle media outlet.
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Airplane

Denver Delta flight diverts to Tulsa, 12 passengers fall ill with elevated levels of carbon monoxide

Qin Xie
Daily Mail
Sat, 09 Jul 2016 19:26 UTC
ambulences
© www.kjrh.com
A Delta Airlines flight was diverted to Tulsa International Airport after multiple passengers fell ill at the same time. Flight 1817 was traveling to Denver from Atlanta on Saturday when it was diverted at around 3pm. Tulsa Fire Department said elevated levels of carbon monoxide was found in the bodies of some of the passengers, according to ABC News. The cause of the higher levels has not yet been determined but an investigation continues.

Initially it was reported that nine flyers felt ill and were complaining of nausea and sickness but fire department spokesman Stan May later said it was actually 12. May said that once passengers had got some fresh air, their levels returned to normal. Mel Gillen, one of the passengers on board, told Fox News that people 'put their head down because they were feeling so nauseous' and some had also vomited.

Emergency Medical Services Authority spokeswoman Kelli Bruer said one passenger was taken to the hospital as 'non-emergent'. Another passenger was taken to a hospital for unrelated medical issues according to Bruer.

The airline says 152 passengers were on board the plane when its crew decided to divert to Tulsa after 'a few' passengers reported feeling ill. A second plane was sent to Tulsa to take the passengers on to Denver on Saturday evening. Passengers were being re-screened at about 8.30pm local time to get them on another Denver-bound plane.

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Info

First Russian Orthodox monastery could be opened in vicinity of US capital


Sputnik
Mon, 11 Jul 2016 12:23 UTC
Russian cities
© Sputnik/ Varvara Gertje
The first Russian Orthodox monastery could be opened in the US capital of Washington D.C. or in its vicinity, Metropolitan Jonah, a bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR), told Sputnik.

"In the area, not necessarily in D.C... It will be Russian tradition, of course, you know, the services will also be in English, as well as in [Church] Slavonic... [The monastery] has a very specific outreach [program] to educate people about Orthodoxy and Russian culture and Russian spiritual culture," Metropolitan Jonah said, answering a question about his plans to establish a monastery in Washington D.C.
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Info

All Russian civil servants and politicians may face anti-corruption polygraph tests


RT
Mon, 11 Jul 2016 11:58 UTC
Lie detector test
© Sergey Pyatakov / Sputnik
The Russian public chamber has proposed a nationwide program in which civil servants, politicians and even civil activists undergo universal polygraph tests to detect and purge those previously engaged in corruption schemes.

"We propose that these tests are taken by all candidates for positions in the civil service before they are officially employed and also by any public figures," deputy head of the Public Chamber's commission for public control and expertise, Dmitry Galochkin, said in comments with the Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper. He noted that this also applied to all Lower House MPs.

However, currently polygraph tests are strictly voluntary, partly because Russian law does not contain any regulations concerning this procedure. To correct this, the Public Chamber intends to prepare some legislative basis surrounding polygraph tests and cases when they can be used. After these bills are prepared and drafted, the activists intend to promote universal and systematic checks.
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Quenelle - Golden

Stunning civil disobedience: Black woman in flowing dress faces police down in Baton Rouge, social media lit up


RT
Mon, 11 Jul 2016 10:17 UTC
Gorgeous legendary Black woman
© Jonathan Bachman / ReutersA demonstrator protesting the shooting death of Alton Sterling is detained by law enforcement near the headquarters of the Baton Rouge Police Department in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S. July 9, 2016
A picture of an unarmed young black woman in a long dress, standing calmly in front of two police officers in full riot gear who arrest her during a Black Lives Matter protest has awed social media. Users called the image "legendary" and "symbolic."

The powerful photo was taken by Reuters photographer Jonathan Bachman during the Black Lives Matter rally in the city of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. People had gathered to protest police brutality following the shooting of African-American Alton Sterling.

The picture was reportedly shot near police headquarters - the woman in floating dress stands right in front of two police officers in full gear. She looks calm and peaceful confronting the men who are approaching to arrest her.


Comment: The all-important context of Ms. Evans' bravery: Police shootings: Yes, they are about race

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