There is a difference between conducting a media campaign against an Ivy League university and addressing racial and youth profiling of young bike-riders in Prince George's County, MD. I talked with GM who has a lot of experience in local goings-on and has lived in the area for a long time. Here are some notes on the conversation (not direct quotes):
msn (me): i had a conversation today (friday) with the students in our summer camp bike program about racial profiling, or "biking while black/brown." it reminded me a lot of the work i did at brown university to try to connect racial profiling on campus with police brutality off campus.
GM: it's really important to express support for the victim(s) so that they know that they are not suffering alone.
it's a problem though when campaigns become all about cultivating empathy for the victims and the victimized.
msn: that may have been the main problem with our efforts to address racial profiling at brown. that's why we also tried to start a cop-watch (where civilians document police encounters and make sure they don't abuse their powers), but in the end it was too much for such an inconsistent student body. how do you have a copwatch if people keep flying off to mexico or brazil for a semester?
GM: there has to be a way to talk about the ugly history. but in terms of tactics that make change with authorities, you have to acknowledge their agenda, that "bike theft is a problem" and frame racial profiling as bad law enforcement. racial profiling highlights the incompetence of the authorities who carry it out because it alienates the communities law-enforcers should be trying to protect. the discretion of whether or not to use force should not be left up to the individual law-enforcement official (the police), because in a hierarchy and esp. in hierarchies of violence, the discretion must be mandated from above.
msn: so we should talk to the heads of jurisdictions for support. (MMH suggested talking to the principal of the middle school that we work with before we talk to the Chiefs)
GM: you can talk to the Police Chief in Hyattsville (Chief Holland) who is pretty progressive. the other jurisdictions are going to be informed by city councils that are really against immigration [therefore they will not be receptive to stopping the practice of racial profiling since that is how they catch "illegal immigrants"). you could also talk to N. Brentwood, University Park, and Campus Police at UM College Park, in order to set up a registration and ID program.
msn: but the ID program might require state IDs and a lot of the students here don't have their papers.
GM: in that case you should also have your own institutionalized identification program.
msn: MMH and I had talked about putting ID stickers on all the bikes that the students earn through the program and giving them cards as proof of ownership.
GM: you should also go around and ask people - of all backgrounds - how many times they have been stopped by the police and asked to provide proof of ownership of their bicycles.
none of these tactics can or should be done in isolation and nobody should be doing these things on their own.
msn (me): i had a conversation today (friday) with the students in our summer camp bike program about racial profiling, or "biking while black/brown." it reminded me a lot of the work i did at brown university to try to connect racial profiling on campus with police brutality off campus.
GM: it's really important to express support for the victim(s) so that they know that they are not suffering alone.
it's a problem though when campaigns become all about cultivating empathy for the victims and the victimized.
msn: that may have been the main problem with our efforts to address racial profiling at brown. that's why we also tried to start a cop-watch (where civilians document police encounters and make sure they don't abuse their powers), but in the end it was too much for such an inconsistent student body. how do you have a copwatch if people keep flying off to mexico or brazil for a semester?
GM: there has to be a way to talk about the ugly history. but in terms of tactics that make change with authorities, you have to acknowledge their agenda, that "bike theft is a problem" and frame racial profiling as bad law enforcement. racial profiling highlights the incompetence of the authorities who carry it out because it alienates the communities law-enforcers should be trying to protect. the discretion of whether or not to use force should not be left up to the individual law-enforcement official (the police), because in a hierarchy and esp. in hierarchies of violence, the discretion must be mandated from above.
msn: so we should talk to the heads of jurisdictions for support. (MMH suggested talking to the principal of the middle school that we work with before we talk to the Chiefs)
GM: you can talk to the Police Chief in Hyattsville (Chief Holland) who is pretty progressive. the other jurisdictions are going to be informed by city councils that are really against immigration [therefore they will not be receptive to stopping the practice of racial profiling since that is how they catch "illegal immigrants"). you could also talk to N. Brentwood, University Park, and Campus Police at UM College Park, in order to set up a registration and ID program.
msn: but the ID program might require state IDs and a lot of the students here don't have their papers.
GM: in that case you should also have your own institutionalized identification program.
msn: MMH and I had talked about putting ID stickers on all the bikes that the students earn through the program and giving them cards as proof of ownership.
GM: you should also go around and ask people - of all backgrounds - how many times they have been stopped by the police and asked to provide proof of ownership of their bicycles.
none of these tactics can or should be done in isolation and nobody should be doing these things on their own.
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