Just being nice won’t change police culture

Chief O’Hara’s remarks (Jan. 25, Minnesota SpokesmanRecorder) disappointed me. While it’s very nice that he makes every effort to attend community events as well as crime scenes to communicate that he cares, I believe he was hired to be more than nice.

The George Floyd killing and subsequent trial revealed for all to see the need to overhaul the way police work is done, starting with a redefinition of what good police work even means.

The need for a thoroughgoing re-do of the workings of the MPD was made very clear by virtually all Minneapolis residents in the initiatives and elections that followed.

We need MPD to hire and train people to use their police powers differently than what we’ve seen.

To “change the culture” we need different job duties of all

After viewing the horrific video of the beating of Tyre, I heard news reporters and commentators, primarily White, question whether the murder of Tyre was a racial issue, pointing out that the officers were also Black. These questions reveal either a sincere ignorance or a willful indifference to racism in America. I submit that being Black does not preclude a Black person from subscribing to anti-Blackness and supporting racist ideologies.

They saw Tyre the same way, so many Americans— White and Black—see Black people—as interlopers in a society built by the forced labor of our enslaved ancestors.

For example, Candace Owens, a Black conservative, and anti-Black activist said, “Black Americans are the most murderous group in America,” in a 2021 Fox News interview with Tucker Carlson.

There is no evidence to support her assertion. However, this is what she—a Black woman— and other Black people believe about Black people. Do not be deceived. Anti-Black, self-hatred held by Black people does not negate the reality of racism. Race is a social construct, but racism is real and is facilitated by global White supremacy.

Black lives still matter, even when Black lives are taken by Black people. I believe the five Black police officers who murdered Tyre Nichols were acting according to the societal norm of racism and anti-Black hate.

In the “Myth of Race, The

Reality of Racism: Critical Essays,” Dr. Mahmoud El-Kati eloquently said, “Custom is more powerful than the force of written law. Habits and social conventions influence individual attitudes. A collective outlook, a collective myth, produces collective behavior patterns.”

It doesn’t make a difference how many anti-racism laws are passed or how much “racial sensitivity” training a person is forced to undergo to keep their job or even how many Black people are elected to office, lead organizations, or corporations: anti-Black sentiment is pervasive in American culture.

The Black officers freely and readily beat Tyre Nichols. They knew they were being recorded because of the body cameras they wore. They did it knowingly and without shame or fear of any consequences.

They treated Tyre as if his life didn’t matter and as if he was expendable. They wrongly believed they could do what White officers have done and still do to many Black men, women, and children with impunity, for far too long. They saw Tyre the same way, so many Americans—White and Black—see Black people—as interlopers in a society built by the forced labor of our enslaved ancestors. Anti-Blackness still prevailed.

In his book, “The Racial Contract,” Charles Mills writes, “We live in a world which has been foundationally shaped for the past five hundred years by the realities of European domination and the gradual consolidation of global White supremacy.” submissions@spokesman-recorder.com submissions@spokesman-recorder.com submissions@spokesman-recorder.com. the police, different hiring standards, different training manuals, and different expectations for promotion. We need MPD to hire and train people to use their police powers differently than what we’ve seen.

Let’s be clear, the pathology of White supremacy, which produced anti-Black hate, murdered Tyre Nichols. I am not saying the five Black police officers are not responsible for his death. On the contrary, they are 100 percent accountable and should be punished to the law’s limit. They deserve whatever punishment they receive and probably more.

What I am saying is that anti-Black hate was the driving force and underlining cause of Tyre’s murder, as it was in the murders of Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Eric Harris, Walter Scott, Freddie Gray, Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, Stephone Clark, Botham Jean, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Daunte Wright, Patrick Lyoya, Nina Adams, LaShanda Anderson, Deresha Armstrong, Kisha Arrone, Crystalline Barnes, India Beaty, Dereshia Blackwell, Jonie Block, Alexia Christian, Decynthia Clements, Monique Jenee Deckard, Cynthia Fields, Janisha Fonville, Korryn Gaines, and Francine Graham. And the list goes on. Until anti-Blackness is slain, there will be more Tyre Nichols.

James Trice is the CEO of the Public Policy Project.

And as the recent outrage in Memphis makes clear, just hiring more “from the community” is not enough if the standards of good police work aren’t dramatically upgraded and enforced.

Minneapolis

Steven Mayer,