Two Years After George Floyd’s Death, "Defund the Police” Is a Tool for Authoritarians
Two years ago today (May 26), 47-year-old George Perry Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. What should have been a routine arrest for a suspected petty crime became a national horror show, as bystander video showed Chavin with his knee on Floyd’s neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds even though he was handcuffed face down in the street.
Two other officers assisted in restraining Floyd and a fourth held onlookers back as Floyd repeatedly pleaded that he could not breathe. During the final two minutes Floyd was motionless and had no pulse, but Chauvin kept his knee on Floyd's neck and back even as emergency medical technicians arrived to treat Floyd.
When he was a boy, George Floyd said he wanted to touch the world. His death resonated with millions of Americans, who were horrified, energized and angry. The now-ubiquitous cell phone camera recording made the noise of the drum more real.
Floyd’s life didn’t matter to the cops. In a larger sense, he was collateral damage from the mass destruction of the War on Drugs and representative of the sort of human deemed unworthy by politicians seeking to transfer government support to the more worthy, namely their corporate masters.
Still, for many of the rest of Americans, his death was personal, evocative of the torn fabric of their daily lives.
Black mothers prayed for their children to make it home from school. Fathers felt obliged to give their sons “the talk.” No matter how successful the offspring of the civil rights era were, the perception that they were marked existed. And they were right.
Floyd’s death resonated in other ways. As societal and legal taboos on interracial relationships faded in many places, a new generation of mixed race couples did what couples do everywhere: they produced children. By June 2020, non-white children accounted for the majority of the nation’s 74 million children.
Though there was plenty of anger, the protests following Floyd’s death contained an element of hope.
Surely, the changing makeup of the nation and a newly found sense of the possibilities of activism combined with the irrefutable evidence of a wrong could force a change.
Surely, the nation would see the 21st century protests asking for recognition of a caste of Americans who historically hadn’t mattered and were more peaceful than the activism of the 1960’s Civil Right movement merited recognition.
Surely, the overwhelming support of a stellar coalition of activists and politicians normally too timid to walk a picket line would be the start of a new era. It felt powerful, marching on the streets of San Diego for a cause whose time was way past overdue.
Surely the wheels of progress would once again begin to turn.
And then…
…in the grand tradition of just about anything having to do with Black people, the only sure thing here was that little beyond symbolic acts would happen, and further humiliation was in store.
Elements of a reversal of fortune were already in play, brought on by the election of the country’s first Black president and the market-firster-led collapse of a social contract that made the United States middle class the envy of the world.
The cat was out of the bag when white supremacists dressed in alt-right clothing marched through Charlottesville Virginia chanting you [or Jews] “will not replace us.”
Former Vice President Joe Biden knew what he was looking at as that day’s horrors unfolded. deciding on the spot that his fatherly presence in the Oval Office was the only way to end this “schism” with less bloodshed.
Today, as President, he’s honoring Floyd’s memory using the power of executive orders to direct all federal agencies to revise their use-of-force policies and mandate the creation of a national registry of officers fired for misconduct.
Even this mostly symbolic action was nearly derailed after an early draft was leaked and pummeled by cop union-types, upset that wading into questions about use of force didn’t adequately consider their feelings.
Yes, folks, on the ground, where it really counts, the struggle to elevate Black Lives to the point where they matter is headed in the wrong direction.
Former President’s Trump’s contempt for anything connected to social justice has become a calling card for a whole new class of politicians subservient to the Big Lie . They are actually proud of their bigotry, deeming criticism of their cause as proof that it themselves who are the real victims. .
Instead of learning from history, something the New York Times 1619 Project and a host of other forces hoped would happen, the movement at the school board level is to keep the realities of the past tucked away.
Removal of a non-controversial children’s book about Ruby Bridges, the first Black student at an all-white New Orleans school, was the goal of a group called Moms for Liberty, organizing with support of the usual suspects on a national level.
Words like "injustice," "unequal," "inequality," "protest," "marching," and "segregation" in textbooks were deemed as markers for Critical Race Theory.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis recently signed legislation establishing guidelines involving race-based discussions in businesses and schools.
And then there’s the issue of voting rights, one of the central struggles of the civil rights movement in the last century.
At least 27 states this year have introduced or enacted 250 pieces of legislation designed to restrict voting, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. This comes on the heels of a record year in which 19 states enacted 34 restrictive voting laws.
Whether or not these laws will effectively suppress minority vote counts is dubious. Black voter turnout in Georgia, which contemplated criminalizing giving water to people waiting in line to vote, is reportedly higher than ever for the upcoming primary election.
The 95% of protests following George Floyd’s death that were peaceful (a number way higher than those in the civil rights era) have been effectively erased from public consciousness.
The Heritage Foundation, ‘fact’ provider for much of the right, claimed there were ‘riots’ in dozens of American cities in 2020. (While also predicting increased leftist violence no matter who won the 2020 election)
Right wing politicians, seeking cover for the actions of the January 6th insurrectionists, are saying cities are still burning. (Not true, except in Portland, Oregon, where street disorders are considered a varsity sport)
My point here is that George Floyd’s death is nowadays widely considered the trigger for acts of violence.
This is especially true in San Diego, where a lack of preparedness on the part of the La Mesa police department contributed to acts of violence, arson, and looting on May 30th.
There were more than fifty protests and demonstrations throughout San Diego County following Floyd’s death, some of which involved many thousands of participants.
There was a looting incident in downtown San Diego, several incidents where protestors were attacked by right wingers, and acts of civil disobedience at several locations.
The only locale where things really got out of hand was La Mesa. Yet, the violence in that city remains top-of-mind in many quarters throughout the city.
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Liberals wanted to “defund the police” is a contemporary battle cry for law enforcement political types, who are quick to use it as a defense for the indefensible. My personal favorite use of this non-excuse comes from Los Angeles, where a sign on the door of a closed police station blamed budget cuts, even though the budget had been increased for the year.
The reality is that most cities have steadily increased their police budgets in recent years. A few attempts were made in 2020 to shift law enforcement funding to mental health services and the like; most cities were quick to fall back to the old ways.
San Diego is a fine example of how little actually transpired in the wake of George Floyd’s death. The city has increased the SDPD's budget for the last 10 years, an increase of more than $213 million since 2011.
The City Council voted to create a new office of race of equity and to maintain the police budget.
The Council then voted 7-1 to approve the upcoming police budget, which included a 5% increase.
On June 1 SDPD Chief David Nisleit announced an end to the use of the cartoid neck restraint, a move quickly picked up by the sheriff's office and other local law enforcement agencies.
In late June, then-Mayor Kevin Faulconer and Police Chief David Nisleit announced new de-escalation policies, including a requirement for officers to intervene if they see another officer using excessive force.
In July, the City Council unanimously approved putting Measure B on the 2020 ballot, creating an Independent Review Board of Police Practices. Voters approved of this measure in November with 74.6% of the vote. The board has yet to hold a meeting, with its implementation being delayed by posturing from the City Attorney office and the local police union.
In April 2021 Mayor Todd Gloria proposed a $19 million dollar increase to the police budget, citing increased costs for pensions of retired police officers and rising utility charges.
Next year’s SDPD budget (not approved yet) proposal includes an increase of $13.8 million for the city's Police Department.
In the wake of severe officer retention problems within the SDPD, largely brought on by the refusal of many officers to get vaccinated for COVID, the police union attempted to blame an increase in crimes in local parks on a City Council member who merely suggested re-examining the way resources are allocated.
The bottom line for San Diegans is that changes in policing have been mostly symbolic with minimal actual policy impacts since George Floyd died. And things are going to stay that way, since the powers that be really don’t want to rock the boat.
It’s politics over people. Other than rhetorical styles, the differences between our current mayor and his predecessor are non-existent.
Even if Todd Gloria wanted to (and there’s plenty of debate on that) any wholesale changes in policing operations will never make it past the guardians of the present order on the City Council and in the City Attorney’s office. The man can count votes, and the votes just ain’t there.
Email me at WritetoDougPorter@Gmail.com