I Can't Think Of A Catchy Phrase For Such A Middle Of The Road Approach

Every day, in all kinds of ways, the struggle to end racism is framed as a competition between black people and white people. There are black problems and white problems, and if your skin isn’t the relevant colour, you can safely ignore what’s happening to your fellow countrymen.

Even, believe it or not, when they’re the same problem.

In my article, Let’s Just Say It — Black Lives Matter Has Been A Disaster For Black People, I argued that BLM’s focus on race has made it harder, not easier, to end police brutality (that and the embezzlement). I asked whether it makes sense to frame police brutality in a way that turns it into yet another culture war battleground. I pointed out that everybody should feel invested in fixing police brutality. Even the police. 

I was a little surprised to see how many people who, despite all this, still believed that the focus on skin colour was important. Todd tried to help me understand.

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Todd:

I agreed with some of your points (the broad problem of police brutality, public misperceptions), and not others (BLM had some problematic leadership, but it has already had some positive impact on law and police procedures). However, putting aside admittedly small victories, I think you missed the point which made BLM and the focus on race less "wrong," and more useful, than you suggest.

You wrote that ending police brutality matters in part "because ending police brutality will save black lives." However, there's more than just a straightforward connection between police brutality and black lives, simply because we have black citizens...

Ending police brutality will save black lives, and impact black dignity, and help black communities, DISPROPORTIONATELY because of the realties of crime and policing (and crimes we choose not to police) in the USA. That's why I wish the message had been something midway between "black lives matter" and "police brutality matters"... Because while all police brutality matters, it matters disproportionately for black Americans, black lives, black safety, and black communities, due to both straightforward discrimination and systemic and structural realities... Regardless of how anyone understands the connections between race and poverty, poverty and crime, racial disparities in crime rates, and the lack of policing of white collar and financial crimes along with the overpolicing of (only certain) non violent crimes.

Not sure what the catchy slogan for that would be...

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Steve QJ:

“Because while all police brutality matters, it matters disproportionately for black Americans”

Yeah, agreed. As I said, I'm not arguing with anybody who says black people have it worse, I'm saying that doesn't change the need to focus on fixing the entire problem.

For example, prostate cancer disproportionately affects black people from certain parts of the world. But we don't say Black Cancer Matters. Nobody is demanding that funding be transferred from skin cancer research to prostate cancer research. We just want to cure cancer.

The disproportionality of it isn't really the point. Solving the problem is the point. This is the correct approach in my opinion. And the one least likely to waste energy on in-fighting and ever diminishing identity politics.

And, in fact, if there were a campaign to focus on "black" cancers, especially if that focus led to more black people dying of other conditions, and didn't even reduce the problem of black people dying of cancer, I'd be just as quick to point out how badly that campaign missed the point.