The social unrest we’re seeing in America is unlike any that young people have seen in our lifetime. These mass actions have spread from Minneapolis to every state in the country and across the world. The huge numbers of people flooding the streets in a mass show of rage feel like a fundamental shift. While George Floyd’s killing might have been the spark, the flame that keeps this movement ignited is the antipathy that we all feel toward not only the police but the whole system that police were designed to protect. Black people have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, economic recession, police killings and harassment, and incarceration. If anything, these riots are past due.
The past three months have revealed for many that the priorities of the U.S. government are protecting capital and private property. This has been displayed during the coronavirus pandemic through the neglect of “essential workers,” and the speed with which both Democratic and Republican governors rushed to “reopen” the economy. It’s even more obvious now through the show of military force against peaceful protesters.
It may be too soon to call this a revolution, but it has the makings to be one. That’s exactly why those in power — including the police — are shook, and are working tirelessly to destroy this wave of unrest before it becomes a tsunami they cannot control.
Know how to read the room
George Floyd’s killing by police came just a week after the video of Ahmaud Arbery was leaked, and in the same week that Amy Cooper went viral for weaponizing whiteness. The outcry was immediate, and loud. Protests began in Minneapolis and spread to cities like Los Angeles and Atlanta. In this immediate aftermath, mayors and their police chiefs across the country spoke against Floyd’s death and in support of the emerging protest movement.
In Los Angeles, where I live, police chief Michael Moore told the Washington Post, “The lack of compassion, use of excessive force, or going beyond the scope of the law, doesn’t just tarnish our badge — it tears at the very fabric of race relations in this country.” L.A. mayor Eric Garcetti, whose father served as an L.A. district attorney for two terms, echoed Moore's words, tweeting, “George Floyd was killed before our eyes — and we have every reason to be angry, to cry out for justice, to say never again.”
But since then, the city of Los Angeles imposed a curfew and called in the National Guard. Between May 29 and June 2, 2,700 people were arrested. Reports of excessive police force were reported nationwide by protesters and journalists covering the protests.
Politicians and police chiefs like Garcetti and Moore knew how to read the room. When they publicly stated that they supported the protests and opposed police brutality, they set the PR stage to appear as the good guys: liberal, supportive authorities in power who will allow for protests to take place as long as they stay peaceful. And this is how they set it up for the next step: Push the myth of the “peaceful protest.”
The myth of the peaceful protest
The problem with the idea of a peaceful protest is who gets to decide what is seen as peaceful vs. what is violent. A protest that is surrounded by hundreds of militarized police officers with guns, metal batons, and chemical weapons where there is no property destruction or looting is not a peaceful protest. If peaceful means that only the police are allowed to display violence, that contradicts the very reason for these protests: the violence of the police.
By creating the dichotomy between peaceful protest and nonpeaceful (e.g., riotous), we are giving the police justification to inflict violence. If property destruction happens, and the media and state powers decide that this is an act of violence, then police use-of-force is justified. Isn’t that what led us to George Floyd being killed in the first place? The cops who arrested him thought they were justified in their use of force because they believed he did something that violated the social order.
When Donald Trump tweeted “when the looting starts, the shooting starts,” people were outraged that the president of the United States would threaten violence against protesters. But this is what we’re seeing. Police have shot protesters and “looters” with metal bullets encased in rubber. You can’t say you’re against police violence and killings but then agree that protesters deserve to be shot, teargassed, or beaten by the police for attending demonstrations, breaking curfew, or even for committing illegal acts.
As long as the police exist, there is no such thing as a peaceful protest. Those who continue to push that narrative are only aiding the powers that be. In reality, it takes a lot of violence to enforce peace.
Curbing public opinion
The media played a crucial role pushing narratives about “outside agitators.” From MSNBC host Joy Reid to progressive representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, these mysterious agitators were all of a sudden showing up everywhere that confrontational protests occurred. We also started seeing videos of Black organizers yelling at non-Black people who were apparently committing vandalism. But this erases the Black and Brown youth who were taking these actions in their communities — part of a long tradition of erasing the Black radical from political discourse. From my own experience on the streets in Los Angeles, it was Black and Brown youth looting a system that has looted them for countless generations.
The outside agitator narrative was a convenient way to avoid acknowledging the true rage of the youth who feel so betrayed by this society. The media succeeded in shifting public opinion away from these harsh displays of rebellion and toward displays of resistance that were easier to consume.
In a power vacuum, everything is up for grabs
This past weekend saw a major shift in the character of street demonstrations across the country. The burning cop cars, broken windows, and “ACAB” graffiti walls seem distant now. The protests that once felt like they could topple the police state appear to have fallen to one of the United State’s oldest tactics: counterinsurgency.
Twitter feeds have been filled with photos of protesters and cops kneeling, dancing together, and hugging, all in the name of Black lives. Corporate websites swapped out their disclaimers about COVID-19 for messages about solidarity with the Black lives movement.
A recent commitment by the city of Minneapolis to disband its police department has been heralded as a win for abolitionists. Yet as of this writing, this pledge is little more than that, and the majority white commentariat has already worked to water down the concept of police abolition by assuring their white audiences that it doesn’t mean the abolition of law enforcement.
But the rage that put abolition on the national stage has been arrested, and is now being overshadowed by interests profiting off the unrest. This turn is also far more palatable to white people, who’ve shown up in droves to marches nationwide.
In this second wave of actions we saw: #BlackOutTuesday where people posted a black square on Instagram as a sign of solidarity; “Empty your pocket books,” which has led to celebrities and corporations donating to nonprofits in the name of Black Lives; former president Barack Obama writing that we need to vote for change; and policy directives like Campaign Zero’s #8CantWait plan, which suggest we can reduce police violence through minor reforms. (After widespread pushback, Campaign Zero’s DeRay McKesson publicly voiced his support for a form of abolition.) None of these efforts can resolve endemic police violence.
The goal cannot be for less police violence. We must demand no more police violence, which would require the complete abolition of the police. Often in social movements the goalpost gets moved to create fake victories, but we have done this for too long. To any legislators or organizations that claim to have a cure for the police violence, I ask: Where was your policy before? In places where police reform efforts have been implemented, police abuse remains.
Repression is everywhere
Over the course of these protests, we’ve seen elaborate displays of excessive force. In Los Angeles, I watched armored vehicles roll past the Staples Center, where just this past January Angelenos mourned the deaths of Kobe and Gigi Bryant. On one of the nights that I covered local protests, I was held in a kettle and detained by police, despite stating that I was a journalist with my Teen Vogue press pass in hand. Journalists all over the country have reported being attacked and arrested by police. This effort to suppress the media so that there is limited coverage, and therefore limited accountability, is one form of repression; another is through mass arrests. Over 10,000 people total were arrested during the first week of unrest against police violence.
As long as police exist, there will always be repression. This is why we must accept nothing less than abolition of all law enforcement. In its place we must invest in the very people our society has claimed to value during the pandemic: medical workers, caregivers, grocers, delivery people, and others who provide life and joy for our communities. Beyond that, we also need mass investment in housing, education, and health care.
They are trying to kill this movement. We cannot let them. Stay in the streets.
Want more from Teen Vogue? Check this out: What to Know Before Heading to a Protest
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