Reforms and What is Next.

Yesterday, Trump signed his executive order on policing. Like usual, it was a moderate order that doesn't address systematic racism or systematic economic oppression. It condemns the police use of chokeholds. It creates a federal database of police officers with a history of using excessive force. He said that police brutality against African Americans are done by a tiny amount of officers. Over 1,000 police killings a year in America alone is not tiny, and the suffering of families is definitely not tiny. The order encouraged police officers to adopt the highest and strongest professional standards. He publicly opposed defunding police departments that use funds to invest in the infrastructure of communities. He demanded law and order. That is a coded phrase to make the police control communities as an occupying force instead of advancing community development. The problem is that many cops are acting lawless and creating disorder. That is why protests are worldwide as this problem in an international problem. There are police killings of black people in France, in Toronto, in the UK, in Brazil, and in other places of the world not just in the United States. Police brutality harms people of every color and of every background, disproportionately harming black people in America. Trump said that without the police, there is chaos. Trump refuses to support dismantling and banning Confederate statues and symbols. He's a racist, so he does glorify Confederate traitors and wicked enslavers who have brutalized black people. Trump can say words about equality, but deeds are more important than words. You can't just condemn racism by words. You can to use deeds in being an anti-racist activist.

In New Mexico, reactionary extremists fought protesters over the statue of a conquistador. Later, one protester was shot and one militias person was arrested along with others. This shows that we face not only the evil of bigotry and historical revisionism (that celebrates imperialists like conquistadors). We also face far right extremists who seek to shoot at protesters. Congress (when Mitch McConnell refuses to support legislation banning racial profiling) should act to advance bold solutions to real problems. There is more news coming about like 2 black men lynched in California (whose names are Robert Fuller and Malcolm Harsch), a woman activist abused and murdered (whose name is Oluwatyoin Salau), and the landmark Supreme Court decision. All of these stories show how we have to follow the Golden Rule. Many officers are quitting in America. If they can't handle common decency in promoting human rights, then they don't deserve to have a badge in the first place. While I oppose the views of reactionary, far right extremists, I realize that foundation money and NGOs fund many of the liberal establishment (not true progressives) groups. So, we should be progressive in our thinking while embracing our independence ideologically.

The news in Atlanta, Georgia is tragic. We see a massive protest in the Capitol of Atlanta. Many people are calling for justice. The emotional words of the family and friends of Rayshard Brooks calling for justice signify the era that we see. There is a serious epidemic of the mistreatment and killing of black people worldwide. There is massive racism, colorism, sexism, and other injustices in the world too. Therefore, we aren't naive about the real world. Racists criticize black culture (when real black culture is about innovation, invention, creativity, and building community power), but they ignore the reactionary aspects of policing culture that seeks to shoot first without using alternative methods in de-esclating situations. Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said that she would enact a series of police reforms in response to the killing of Rayshard Brooks. Trump plans on signing an executive order on policing tomorrow. We shall see what it is. It is rumored that it would be a moderate measure. This problem is beyond just policing problems. It is about a system that is filled with capitalist exploitation, imperialism, international racism, and other evils that harm humanity. The only way a solution will come is diverse actions coming about. Also, funds in the billions of dollars must address poverty, health care inequalities, economically distressed communities (as over 40 years have taught us that austerity measures and massive neoliberal policies don't work), racial injustices, and other complications. Dr. King was right to say that there must be a radical redistribution of economic and political power.

The events in Atlanta is not limited to Atlanta. We have America in crisis. For years and decades, we have many communities of America experiencing economic dislocation, health care disparities, police brutality, and other evils. We have more than 20 days of protests across America after the unjust death of George Floyd. The issues that remains on the minds of us deal with race and policing. For centuries, black people have told America that we have a serious policing problem. In 2020, more people have woken up about it. The incident of Rayshard Brooks was about Brooks parking a car. Brooks fell asleep in his car. The police told him to park the car in another location. Brooks did. When the police encountered him again, there was a struggle. Brooks took a taser form one officer. Brooks ran, and one officer shot and killed Brooks.

Immediately, protests existed in Atlanta and across America. Most of the protesters have been peaceful (executing their First Amendment rights) despite what anyone says. Then, a Wendys restaurant was burned to the ground. Do I agree with all of the actions of Brooks? No. Do I agree with a Wendys being burned? No. Yet, human life is more valuable than property. One Atlanta police chief resigned, one officer was fired, and an investigation is on ongoing. The officers picked up shell castings instead of immediately seeing if Brooks is alive or not. The Fulton DA County office said that he's not ruling out Officer Rolfe being charged. Brooks is one person whose death shouldn't have existed. Video footage have shown a lot of what has taken place. Some say that we must be perfect in order for us to live in the midst of the police institution (which relates to the promotion of the lie of respectability politics). Imperfection is no justification for unjust death or murder.

 By Timothy