Callousness towards Blacks as policy

The Washington Post spoke with Paul Butler, Georgetown University Professor of Law, about recent open displays of white supremacist privilege via police and city governments.  Well … they didn’t actually call it that ... but that’s what it is. They specifically asked Butler about what was up with the city of Cleveland trying to shake down Tamir Rice’s family for $500; the Chicago cop who killed Quintonio LeGrier suing his estate; and the city of Ferguson’s rewriting of a federal consent decree designed to protect its black residents because it would cost too much money—all issues that have been previously reported on here, here, and here.

Butler created some noise last summer in the immediate aftermath of Dylann Roof’s massacre of nine African Americans at Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church. The subject was efforts to remove the white supremacist symbol of the Confederate flag. Speaking on MSNBC’s All In with Chris Hayes, Butler had to break it down for a caller to the show. The caller said she respected her ancestors who fought for the Confederacy even though she didn’t think the flag should fly. Butler’s response was that he had no respect for her ancestors, which is both understandable and sensible. Stating that the caller’s response was typical of white privilege, Butler explained that you would never—EVER—hear a German saying that the Holocaust was bad but they respect their Nazi ancestors, and that the reason the caller—and others—say such things is because black lives don’t really matter much to people. You can view that segment here.

Some of the quick points made by Prof. Butler in the Washington Post include what might the three parties be trying to accomplish:

Cleveland is just trying to get paid – any way it can. A child has been shot dead by the police. The city then demands $10 per mile for the ambulance ride and $450 for “advanced life support.” Does not one city official say, “Hold up. Is this right?”  Not until the city’s cold-heartedness becomes national news. Again. It’s the parts of the bill that say “Due by 03/11/2016” and  “Detach along line and return stub with your payment. Thank you.” that really express the banality of this evil. Tamir Rice’s family has been treated this way for generations.

Ferguson is also trying to save money. It costs too much to police its citizens fairly, so it’s attempting to get the court to lower the standard to something that’s good enough for black people.

The Chicago cop is trying to salvage his reputation, but his lawsuit confirms why his reputation is damaged in the first place.

I was born and raised in an African American neighborhood in Chicago, and the police were notorious. My mom spanked me once for talking back to cops. She said they could have killed me, because that’s what they did to black boys who challenged their authority.

In terms of legal protections against this kind of nonsense, Butler had this to say:

In general, however, the law is not especially friendly to poor people. It’s easier, for example, for Flint to go after people who don’t pay their water bill than for Flint residents to sue government officials for giving them poisoned water.

And low-income folks don’t have nearly as many protections against lawsuits as do the police. Often, they can’t afford lawyers to defend them when they get sued.

And of course, Butler was asked about the usual refrain of “black on black” violence which is inserted into conversations about state violence:

Of course [the two issues are] different. One is official violence by government employees; the other is a consequence of many systemic and complex problems: racism, segregation, poverty, the availability of guns and horrendous policing. And when black people commit crimes against other black people, they are usually prosecuted. When cops commit crimes against black people, they are usually not prosecuted. That’s the concern.

Sounds like Prof. Butler reads Daily Kos kinda regularly.