| > I never took the "defund the police" movement as "abolish the police." I thought equating it to "abolish the police" was just a right wing hit-job. No, not really. Some on the left actually took it that far. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/12/opinion/sunday/floyd-abol... > Yes, We Mean Literally Abolish the Police > By Mariame Kaba (Ms. Kaba is an organizer against criminalization.) > ...I’ve been advocating the abolition of the police for years. Regardless of your view on police power — whether you want to get rid of the police or simply to make them less violent — here’s an immediate demand we can all make: Cut the number of police in half and cut their budget in half. Fewer police officers equals fewer opportunities for them to brutalize and kill people. The idea is gaining traction in Minneapolis, Dallas, Los Angeles and other cities. > ...People like me who want to abolish prisons and police, however, have a vision of a different society, built on cooperation instead of individualism, on mutual aid instead of self-preservation. What would the country look like if it had billions of extra dollars to spend on housing, food and education for all? This change in society wouldn’t happen immediately, but the protests show that many people are ready to embrace a different vision of safety and justice. That was published a couple weeks after George Floyd's death. |