leaving disenfranchised whites to fend for themselves.
T
he most disturbing footage of police brutality I’ve seen to date, out of dozens, is the senseless killing of the 26 year-old pest exterminator Daniel Shaver. In 2016, this working class white kid was shot by a power-tripping white cop at a shitbag La Quinta Inn in Mesa, AZ. In the bodycam video, we see Shaver grovelling on the ground in the hotel hallway. The amped up police officer, who was answering a complaint that someone had a gun, yells at Shaver to crawl forward. The kid is crying, begging the cop not to shoot. You can see his gym shorts slipping from his waist. The cop turns his alpha vibe to maximum volume. Shaver gets more and more confused. In the end, the kid reaches down to grab his loose shorts one too many times. The cop unloads his assault rifle, turning another working class white boy into chopped liver. Investigators found a couple of pellet guns in Shaver’s hotel room. Apparently, the kid used them to kill pests. As usual, the policeman was suspended with full pay. Other than Reason magazine and the Atlantic, this story got almost no coverage. Daniel Shaver wasn’t deemed worthy enough to become a symbol. Whatever their intentions, the left’s exclusive focus on the black per capita death rate masks the staggering number of whites who die by police hands. It ignores the parallel trajectories of oppressed blacks and underclass whites. The key to cooperation is common
The left’s focus on the black per capita death rate masks the staggering number of whites who die by police hands cause. But the current cult-like fixation on blackness produces divisive half-truths. It alienates potential allies in the campaign against police brutality. Maybe that’s the point. If political dominance is the goal, the fastest route to mobilisation is tribal antipathy. “All Lives Matter” may be a tone-deaf slogan, typically used to antagonise, but it’s still relevant. Year after year, whites make up the numerical majority of police shootings. Yet we see no serious attempt to galvanise the public around these incidents. It’s as if their lives don’t matter. l In 2019, police shot 405 whites (25 were unarmed), and 249 blacks (14 unarmed) l In 2018, police shot 454 whites (25 were unarmed), and 229 blacks (23 unarmed). l In 2017, police shot 459 whites (31 were unarmed), and 224 blacks (22 unarmed). l In 2016, police shot 468 whites (22 were unarmed), and 234 blacks (19 unarmed). l In 2015, police shot 497 whites (32 were unarmed), and 258 blacks (38 unarmed). This trend is thoroughly documented by the “Fatal Force” index at the Washington Post (updated 6/6/20), and corroborated by the Guardian’s aborted catalogue of
police killings, “The Counted”. So where are the heart-wrenching exposes and challenging think pieces? Where are the marches and memorials for slain whites? Because public discourse rarely touches on this reality, a large swath of American whites remain unconcerned about authoritarian overreach. They believe police brutality won’t affect them or their kids, so they tend to side with the authorities. Especially in times of crisis. When tribal whites – roughly half of the country – see footage of burning cities and other whites getting curb-stomped in the name of “justice,” they don’t worry about alpha dog cops. They come away fearing black thugs and white agitators. As their deplorable hearts harden, an increasingly militarised police force comes to represent a safe society.
S
ince the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, the motif of white alpha dogs attacking black victims has become America’s dominant cultural narrative. So far in 2020, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd have been selected to represent cosmic reality for white liberals and people of colour. The other half of America is also confronted by their tragic deaths, whether they like it or not. Meanwhile, a parallel narrative is unfolding out in MAGA country. It’s the forbidden history of black-on-white murder. No one can understand racial tension in America without first grasping this profane inversion of the prevailing mythos. If government statistics are to be trusted, violence within racial
ColdType | Mid-June 2020 | www.coldtype.net
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