Page 24
November 11, 2019
WEST CHESTER POLICE CONTROVERSY AND GLOBAL FEMINISM By Ali Kochik Columnist
S
everal weeks ago, I wrote an article which explained the idea of “global feminism” as depicted in a podcast by musician and activist, Annie Lennox. As she defined it, the concept of global feminism is rooted in intersectionality and advocating for the experiences of someone whose identities shape their experience and position in the world in a way that is potentially different than your own. Last weekend, a video surfaced of an incident that occurred in the borough of West Chester in which two police officers were shown violently arresting a man, throwing him to the ground and punching him directly in the face, before aggressively wrenching his arms behind his back and pinning him down with a knee, despite the fact that the man did not appear to be resisting. While I know for a fact that we have all seen the videos of the grotesquely violent police officers treating specific groups of people, particularly members of the black community, in a way that is beyond inhumane, it can be easy to feel detached and distant from the issue when it is not something that you can visibly see happening in your vicinity, and especially when it is something that your racial identity allows you to not experience. But this happened in our town. In our borough. On our streets. This incident was made visible. We have a video; it is something tangible that we have access to and cannot dispute. What we must realize, however, is that for every one video that surfaces, there are undoubtedly countless similar occurrences that we haven’t seen. This is a local issue just as much as it is a national one. If you were able to detach yourself from the problem up until this point, allow the fact that this happened in your home to make you realize what this means. I speak directly to feminists and non-feminists alike when I say, when we ignore this issue, it’s not peaceful
neutrality. Our inaction has a literal, direct link to the murder of innocent human beings. Using the lens of global feminism and the universal fight for equality, we are able to understand that feminism as a practice is truly for everyone, inclusive of all identities such as gender and race. If the police officers in our area are not serving to keep the entire population safe, then we are not safe as a whole. As a school of thousands of students who are working to educate ourselves so that we may soon shape the world as we see fit, we are entirely responsible for acting now to hold our overtly violent police officers accountable for their actions. At this point, there is no way to be absolved of this duty.
According to a statement released by the West Chester Police Department, “The Department has a protocol to review such matters and will review the entirety of the incident and gather all of the facts and information. The West Chester Police Department takes representations of misconduct very seriously and has not, and will not tolerate any misconduct on the part of its officers.” But that’s it. That is all we have heard as of now, and it seems dangerously close to the cycle that we’ve seen play out nationally, time and time again. It’s a cycle that repeats itself as so many people pretend it’s not happening, simply because it hasn’t happened to them. This is a form of privilege that not
B
S
everyone has, and until all citizens obtain the right to have equally fair and safe interactions with law enforcement, we are all accountable for fighting the system which denies anyone those rights. By adopting the values of global feminism and applying them to a larger scale, we are all agreeing to hold ourselves accountable for combating the issues that affect every identity, even the ones that may not necessarily affect our own, so as to mobilize our society towards a system that is actually safe and protective of all humans. Ali Kochik is a second-year student majoring in English writings track with a minor in journalism. AK908461@wcupa.edu.
“When we ignore this issue, it is not peaceful neutrality. Our inaction has a literal, direct link to the murder of innocent human beings. ”
Y
Photo by Matt Popovich via Unsplash
ou ing aes walks an it feel like faces and you in. It way, how West Che sity and m West C respected state scho beautiful ability. U and hous sunshine roofs and