Shortly after George Floyd was killed by a white Minneapolis police officer (May 25, 2020), many graffiti and street artists responded. Tags, throw-ups, and memorial style work appeared throughout the country honoring Floyd’s memory; the legacy of black lives taken at the hands of law enforcement; and, expressing dissatisfaction with police, the criminal justice system, and the presidency of Donald Trump. Like graffiti and street art in general, much of this creative activity motivated by anger, creativity, frustration, opportunity, and sadness is illegal and unsanctioned, while other pieces were sanctioned murals.
The graffiti and street art that appeared in the United States and around the world varied in terms of its type, content, complexity, the colors used, and the surfaces in which it appeared. In other countries, not only did the protests and the graffiti and street art that accompanied it mirror many of the themes seen in the United States, but it also featured homages to individuals who died at the hands of the police under questionable circumstances.
A considerable amount of the visual communication on the streets has been murals of George Floyd; large colorful panels of his face often accompanied with his dying words “I can’t breathe” written below or on top. (Already some of these pieces have been defaced by individuals who did not like the political message undergirding these images, including counter tags with the message #whitelivesmatter).
Numerous expressions of discontent that were seen on protest signs were also replicated as graffiti and street art. These included “I can’t breathe,” or #defund the police. Acronyms such as ACAB (i.e., All Cops Are Bastards) and familiar expressions such as “Black Lives Matter” or BLM appeared to be almost everywhere.
Since it is no longer necessary to see graffiti and street art up close or via print media, on can see this activity via different social media platforms, and sometimes in real time as the writers affixed these visual communications on walls, etc. The replication effect was not simply via social media as our 24 hour cable news networks that have been covering the protests and riots have also captured the graffiti and street art as well.
Not only walls, but numerous monuments, memorials, and commemorative plaques to people and events, relics to a bygone era, have been hit with tags with the words “racists,” or “murderers” spray painted on them. (In some cases they were destroyed or even torn down).
Numerous boarded up storefronts of businesses have also provided useful canvases. In some cases, the sheer number of people on the streets provided a makeshift camouflage for the activities of the spray painters and wheat pasters, and provided them with a level of anonymity to do their work unfettered.
As the graffiti and street art laden plywood panels covering the windows of storefronts and buildings are removed, contractors and Department of Public Works employees start their power washers and the grey ghosts (i.e., anti-graffiti/street art vigilantes who paint over graffiti and street art) start doing their work, and some cities (e.g., Washington, DC) pay lip service to government sanctioned Black Lives Matter murals, it’s worth remembering that just because most graffiti and street art is ephemeral, it also has the power to raise the collective consciousness of our country.
It reminds us that we must continuously struggle for racial equality, ending police violence, and fighting for a leadership that places the will of the people before the desires of a few, the rich and the powerful.
https://jeffreyianross.com/wp-content/uploads/Screen-Shot-2020-06-17-at-1.01.20-PM.png431870Jeffrey Ian Rosshttps://jeffreyianross.com/wp-content/uploads/jeffrey-ian-ross-logo-04.pngJeffrey Ian Ross2020-06-17 17:04:552024-09-22 12:24:45Graffiti & Street Art in reaction to the death of George Floyd
It was predictable. With the sheer number of people across America in the streets, protesting the killing of Minneapolis resident George Floyd by white police officers, many officers would respond with violence.
Over the past week, we have experienced or witnessed firsthand or via social media a lot of uncalled for and unprovoked police use of force and excessive force (i.e., choke holds, knee pinnings, tear gas, use of police vehicles to move people, rubber bullets, etc.) as a response to peaceful protestors.
As someone who has studied police use of force, this practice has deep-roots in the history of our country, and despite the gradual delimitation of situations in which force can be legally applied (e.g., the use of force continuum), the practice has largely remained intact due in part to the legal system (e.g., qualified immunity), the power of police unions, and other powerful social institutions. One of the most dominant themes in the history of American policing have been calls for change and the necessity of reform. But changing the police has been an uphill battle; few wins, and lots of backsliding.
At the same time as the Democratic party attempts to pass police reform legislation through Congress, two relatively radical proposals have recently garnered attention via the protests, news, and social media: abolishing/dismantling the police and defunding the police. Although these calls are gaining some support, they are also predictably encountering push back from conservative politicians and pundits, and police unions because these constituencies feel that their power is being challenged, fear of groups who are advocating these positions, and the alternatives have yet to be clearly specified. There’s also the perception that we can’t just get rid of the police because if we do who will protect and keep us safe from criminals, and other dark elements in our society?
These recent developments beg the question, is abolition really a utopian idea? Not entirely. For example, Quakers, and a large constituency in the academic field of criminology and criminal justice, who have been advocating for the abolition of prisons for a very long time. In addition to forming the International Conference on Penal Abolition, holding biannual meetings, regular panels at learned conferences, and a burgeoning amount of scholarship, their greatest success has been in raising awareness of the costliness of prisons both financially, but also in terms of the human toll they exact on those who are incarcerated, their loved ones, and the rest of society. When we consider dismantling the police we are forced to consider other possible mechanisms that may achieve the same goals as we entrust to police departments.
An intermediate position is the reallocation of police budgets. Most Americans are shocked at the ridiculously large sums we spend on our police and the percentage they consume in our municipal and county budgets. For example, the NYPD alone spends 6 billion dollars a year.
How does this happen? Every year chiefs and commissioners of police, armed with fancy PowerPoint presentations, stand in front of city hall and/or county executives and make their case why they deserve more money. As a matter of organizational survival this makes sense. And, few elected politicians want to appear weak on crime (remember Willie Horton), so they capitulate and almost rubber stamp these inflated police budgets. Likewise police unions and accrediting bodies have pushed police departments and the governmental bodies that they are beholden to increase their budgets to alarming levels.
Assuming that budgets will largely remain intact, we need to insure that police budgets are spent on the kinds of things communities (not just the police) want it spent on (i.e., reallocation) such as improved police training, better police community relations, police accountability measures, police athletic league programs (similar to the one that operated Baltimore example), etc. But in the proportions that citizens want.
The alternative option is defunding. Defunding the police makes budgetary sense. Since the 1960s we have asked our policy makers and legislators to cut back the ridiculous amounts we spend on the military. As a response we have public (aka governmental) watch dog agencies that monitor government agency spending, to keep it in check.
There are plenty of ideas floating around regarding what to do with the surplus of police budgets or with their proposed budget increases. We can channel the remaining money into programs and professionals (e.g., social workers, public school teachers, etc.) that better help the community in various ways. For example, why call a police officer when a homeless person seems to be disruptive? A better professional might be a social worker who’s trained to deal with this population.
https://jeffreyianross.com/wp-content/uploads/IMG_3905.jpg392640Jeffrey Ian Rosshttps://jeffreyianross.com/wp-content/uploads/jeffrey-ian-ross-logo-04.pngJeffrey Ian Ross2020-06-09 22:33:202024-09-22 12:24:45Eliminating or reducing police violence by abolishing or defunding the police?
Despite my past struggles educationally, professionally, and financially, I’m privileged. It’s not because of my job, where I live, my marital or health status, although these factors don’t hurt; it’s because I am first and foremost a white male.
In part because I am a foreigner, I didn’t grow up here, and in part because I haven’t been subjected to racial discrimination, I never really considered being white to be an advantage for me. Like every other white person in the United States, I hear the rhetoric of equality that are standards that all institutions are supposed to live up to and assume merit at the root of my success. In reality, being white gives me a huge advantage.
Don’t get me wrong- I’m not suggesting that I or anyone else should wallow in liberal guilt, but I am calling for a deeper self-examination of white privilege, both seen and unseen.
When I go into a store, no matter what I wear, or how disheveled I look, the sales clerks and loss protection folks (regardless of what race they are) do not look at me as a potential shop-lifter. This not the experience that an African-American shopper who might be immaculately coiffed, groomed, and dressed has. In 2020, the systemic racism that exists in the United States often tends to be implicit and more subtle than it was two decades ago. The numerous situations where racism may be mediating an interaction are the kinds of things that African-Americans have to continuously pay attention to (or confront) when they are in public space. I can’t imagine, and will never be able to imagine, the amount of daily stress this type of racist scrutiny puts people under. As time goes on, this stress snowballs into innumerable negative outcomes such as poor health, suicide, educational choices, etc.. These toxic and stressful interactions are not relegated to private spaces such as clothing stores, they are also dominant in public spaces such as pools, parks, playgrounds, and privately owned public spaces like shopping malls and plazas.
Baring the hourly COVID-19 news updates, this past week has put in to bold relief some of the more damning problems of race relations in the United States. From the Amy Cooper Central Park story, to the Louisville no-knock raid that resulted in the death of Breonna Taylor, to the murder of George Floyd at the hands of white police officers in Minneapolis, African Americans in our society are seen as less than second class citizens.
Unfortunately, the racist incidents that occurred in the past few weeks are not new. They are on a continuum of oppression and racism of 400 years of history. What is new is the mechanisms for capturing this immoral behavior. We now have access to smart phone videos of these kinds of interactions and within minutes, and from multiple angles, we can learn about these brutal acts in real time.
The audio and visual information shared on social media is critical in drawing attention to the multiple instances of egregious acts of racism, but it is not enough. We need a formal and informal national conversation on race and white privilege. I have my doubts that this is going to take place anytime soon under the current president that has incited underlining hatred. Perhaps when a new administration is in power we purposively address this challenge. This can be similar to the gut wrenching Truth and Reconciliation Commission that countries like Argentina, Rwanda and South Africa, went through. (By last count there have been close to 45 of these throughout the world). These are imperfect solutions, but it will also be a place to start to critically examine, draw attention to, and possibly heal some the most abject and longstanding problems or race-relations dogging the United States.
While we wait to get leaders who can guide us, we can all do our part via informal conversations. If you see a racist act, call it out. Educate yourself about the inequities in your own community. Engage in self-reflection about y our own values, beliefs, and implicit bias. Learn about the ways that other communities contribute to our society,
There are also numerous anti-racist reading lists you can consult, and encourage people in your network (i.e., family members, friends, neighbors, colleagues, and students) to read. You can also consider donating your time or money to anti-racist organizations, and voting in candidates who not only profess a desire to improve race relations, but have a track record of doing so.
https://jeffreyianross.com/wp-content/uploads/Screenshot-2020-06-01-at-11.12.59-AM-1.png448640Jeffrey Ian Rosshttps://jeffreyianross.com/wp-content/uploads/jeffrey-ian-ross-logo-04.pngJeffrey Ian Ross2020-06-02 17:29:512024-09-22 12:24:46Questioning my white privilege, African-Americans, and space
Graffiti & Street Art in reaction to the death of George Floyd
/by Jeffrey Ian RossShortly after George Floyd was killed by a white Minneapolis police officer (May 25, 2020), many graffiti and street artists responded. Tags, throw-ups, and memorial style work appeared throughout the country honoring Floyd’s memory; the legacy of black lives taken at the hands of law enforcement; and, expressing dissatisfaction with police, the criminal justice system, and the presidency of Donald Trump. Like graffiti and street art in general, much of this creative activity motivated by anger, creativity, frustration, opportunity, and sadness is illegal and unsanctioned, while other pieces were sanctioned murals.
The graffiti and street art that appeared in the United States and around the world varied in terms of its type, content, complexity, the colors used, and the surfaces in which it appeared. In other countries, not only did the protests and the graffiti and street art that accompanied it mirror many of the themes seen in the United States, but it also featured homages to individuals who died at the hands of the police under questionable circumstances.
A considerable amount of the visual communication on the streets has been murals of George Floyd; large colorful panels of his face often accompanied with his dying words “I can’t breathe” written below or on top. (Already some of these pieces have been defaced by individuals who did not like the political message undergirding these images, including counter tags with the message #whitelivesmatter).
Numerous expressions of discontent that were seen on protest signs were also replicated as graffiti and street art. These included “I can’t breathe,” or #defund the police. Acronyms such as ACAB (i.e., All Cops Are Bastards) and familiar expressions such as “Black Lives Matter” or BLM appeared to be almost everywhere.
Since it is no longer necessary to see graffiti and street art up close or via print media, on can see this activity via different social media platforms, and sometimes in real time as the writers affixed these visual communications on walls, etc. The replication effect was not simply via social media as our 24 hour cable news networks that have been covering the protests and riots have also captured the graffiti and street art as well.
Not only walls, but numerous monuments, memorials, and commemorative plaques to people and events, relics to a bygone era, have been hit with tags with the words “racists,” or “murderers” spray painted on them. (In some cases they were destroyed or even torn down).
Numerous boarded up storefronts of businesses have also provided useful canvases. In some cases, the sheer number of people on the streets provided a makeshift camouflage for the activities of the spray painters and wheat pasters, and provided them with a level of anonymity to do their work unfettered.
As the graffiti and street art laden plywood panels covering the windows of storefronts and buildings are removed, contractors and Department of Public Works employees start their power washers and the grey ghosts (i.e., anti-graffiti/street art vigilantes who paint over graffiti and street art) start doing their work, and some cities (e.g., Washington, DC) pay lip service to government sanctioned Black Lives Matter murals, it’s worth remembering that just because most graffiti and street art is ephemeral, it also has the power to raise the collective consciousness of our country.
It reminds us that we must continuously struggle for racial equality, ending police violence, and fighting for a leadership that places the will of the people before the desires of a few, the rich and the powerful.
Eliminating or reducing police violence by abolishing or defunding the police?
/by Jeffrey Ian RossIt was predictable. With the sheer number of people across America in the streets, protesting the killing of Minneapolis resident George Floyd by white police officers, many officers would respond with violence.
Over the past week, we have experienced or witnessed firsthand or via social media a lot of uncalled for and unprovoked police use of force and excessive force (i.e., choke holds, knee pinnings, tear gas, use of police vehicles to move people, rubber bullets, etc.) as a response to peaceful protestors.
As someone who has studied police use of force, this practice has deep-roots in the history of our country, and despite the gradual delimitation of situations in which force can be legally applied (e.g., the use of force continuum), the practice has largely remained intact due in part to the legal system (e.g., qualified immunity), the power of police unions, and other powerful social institutions. One of the most dominant themes in the history of American policing have been calls for change and the necessity of reform. But changing the police has been an uphill battle; few wins, and lots of backsliding.
At the same time as the Democratic party attempts to pass police reform legislation through Congress, two relatively radical proposals have recently garnered attention via the protests, news, and social media: abolishing/dismantling the police and defunding the police. Although these calls are gaining some support, they are also predictably encountering push back from conservative politicians and pundits, and police unions because these constituencies feel that their power is being challenged, fear of groups who are advocating these positions, and the alternatives have yet to be clearly specified. There’s also the perception that we can’t just get rid of the police because if we do who will protect and keep us safe from criminals, and other dark elements in our society?
Radical or not, efforts are underway in Minneapolis to “dismantle” the police department and create a new mechanism to provide public safety to the residents of that city. And in New York City, Mayor Bill De Blasio, heavily criticized in the wake of police actions surrounding the recent protests, announced late Sunday night he plans to decrease funding to the NYPD.
These recent developments beg the question, is abolition really a utopian idea? Not entirely. For example, Quakers, and a large constituency in the academic field of criminology and criminal justice, who have been advocating for the abolition of prisons for a very long time. In addition to forming the International Conference on Penal Abolition, holding biannual meetings, regular panels at learned conferences, and a burgeoning amount of scholarship, their greatest success has been in raising awareness of the costliness of prisons both financially, but also in terms of the human toll they exact on those who are incarcerated, their loved ones, and the rest of society. When we consider dismantling the police we are forced to consider other possible mechanisms that may achieve the same goals as we entrust to police departments.
An intermediate position is the reallocation of police budgets. Most Americans are shocked at the ridiculously large sums we spend on our police and the percentage they consume in our municipal and county budgets. For example, the NYPD alone spends 6 billion dollars a year.
How does this happen? Every year chiefs and commissioners of police, armed with fancy PowerPoint presentations, stand in front of city hall and/or county executives and make their case why they deserve more money. As a matter of organizational survival this makes sense. And, few elected politicians want to appear weak on crime (remember Willie Horton), so they capitulate and almost rubber stamp these inflated police budgets. Likewise police unions and accrediting bodies have pushed police departments and the governmental bodies that they are beholden to increase their budgets to alarming levels.
Assuming that budgets will largely remain intact, we need to insure that police budgets are spent on the kinds of things communities (not just the police) want it spent on (i.e., reallocation) such as improved police training, better police community relations, police accountability measures, police athletic league programs (similar to the one that operated Baltimore example), etc. But in the proportions that citizens want.
The alternative option is defunding. Defunding the police makes budgetary sense. Since the 1960s we have asked our policy makers and legislators to cut back the ridiculous amounts we spend on the military. As a response we have public (aka governmental) watch dog agencies that monitor government agency spending, to keep it in check.
There are plenty of ideas floating around regarding what to do with the surplus of police budgets or with their proposed budget increases. We can channel the remaining money into programs and professionals (e.g., social workers, public school teachers, etc.) that better help the community in various ways. For example, why call a police officer when a homeless person seems to be disruptive? A better professional might be a social worker who’s trained to deal with this population.
Questioning my white privilege, African-Americans, and space
/by Jeffrey Ian RossDespite my past struggles educationally, professionally, and financially, I’m privileged. It’s not because of my job, where I live, my marital or health status, although these factors don’t hurt; it’s because I am first and foremost a white male.
In part because I am a foreigner, I didn’t grow up here, and in part because I haven’t been subjected to racial discrimination, I never really considered being white to be an advantage for me. Like every other white person in the United States, I hear the rhetoric of equality that are standards that all institutions are supposed to live up to and assume merit at the root of my success. In reality, being white gives me a huge advantage.
Don’t get me wrong- I’m not suggesting that I or anyone else should wallow in liberal guilt, but I am calling for a deeper self-examination of white privilege, both seen and unseen.
When I go into a store, no matter what I wear, or how disheveled I look, the sales clerks and loss protection folks (regardless of what race they are) do not look at me as a potential shop-lifter. This not the experience that an African-American shopper who might be immaculately coiffed, groomed, and dressed has. In 2020, the systemic racism that exists in the United States often tends to be implicit and more subtle than it was two decades ago. The numerous situations where racism may be mediating an interaction are the kinds of things that African-Americans have to continuously pay attention to (or confront) when they are in public space. I can’t imagine, and will never be able to imagine, the amount of daily stress this type of racist scrutiny puts people under. As time goes on, this stress snowballs into innumerable negative outcomes such as poor health, suicide, educational choices, etc.. These toxic and stressful interactions are not relegated to private spaces such as clothing stores, they are also dominant in public spaces such as pools, parks, playgrounds, and privately owned public spaces like shopping malls and plazas.
Baring the hourly COVID-19 news updates, this past week has put in to bold relief some of the more damning problems of race relations in the United States. From the Amy Cooper Central Park story, to the Louisville no-knock raid that resulted in the death of Breonna Taylor, to the murder of George Floyd at the hands of white police officers in Minneapolis, African Americans in our society are seen as less than second class citizens.
Unfortunately, the racist incidents that occurred in the past few weeks are not new. They are on a continuum of oppression and racism of 400 years of history. What is new is the mechanisms for capturing this immoral behavior. We now have access to smart phone videos of these kinds of interactions and within minutes, and from multiple angles, we can learn about these brutal acts in real time.
The audio and visual information shared on social media is critical in drawing attention to the multiple instances of egregious acts of racism, but it is not enough. We need a formal and informal national conversation on race and white privilege. I have my doubts that this is going to take place anytime soon under the current president that has incited underlining hatred. Perhaps when a new administration is in power we purposively address this challenge. This can be similar to the gut wrenching Truth and Reconciliation Commission that countries like Argentina, Rwanda and South Africa, went through. (By last count there have been close to 45 of these throughout the world). These are imperfect solutions, but it will also be a place to start to critically examine, draw attention to, and possibly heal some the most abject and longstanding problems or race-relations dogging the United States.
While we wait to get leaders who can guide us, we can all do our part via informal conversations. If you see a racist act, call it out. Educate yourself about the inequities in your own community. Engage in self-reflection about y our own values, beliefs, and implicit bias. Learn about the ways that other communities contribute to our society,
There are also numerous anti-racist reading lists you can consult, and encourage people in your network (i.e., family members, friends, neighbors, colleagues, and students) to read. You can also consider donating your time or money to anti-racist organizations, and voting in candidates who not only profess a desire to improve race relations, but have a track record of doing so.