Defunding and abolishing the police will shift us into sharing more power and centering communities that have not historically been centered. The fact of the matter is that white people need police to maintain a status quo that is harmful to so many non-white people. So what happens when Black or Indigenous people stage a future protest? The police maintaining “law and order” will invariably maintain the status quo, and chances are our newfound comrades in the defunding movement will again fall silent about it…just as they have been in the past. What happens if police forces do clean up their act and start maintaining the status quo again? That means that borders are open, the good people of Ottawa can go about their normal day, and that people in the convoy go back to their homes to grumble. Not having this at the root of ones understanding as to why police should be defunded, creates shaky ground for support. Police were created to maintain a status quo of peace and order for white landowners that comes on the backs of racially marginalized, impoverished, and disabled communities. Moreover, the movements to defund or abolish police stem from a belief that the police were never about protecting people, rather the oppression of largely Black and Indigenous people’s to secure land and labour for wealthy white people. “We pay taxes, you protect our property and status quo.” Their newfound belief in defunding the police doesn’t come from a place of knowledge or conviction, but from a stance of a broken contract, so therefore police must be punished. Because it isn’t the ongoing police violence towards Black and Indigenous peoples that propelled them forward, but that the police aren’t upholding their end of the bargain. Although I am sure people will say that we should be thankful for the support, the intention behind the support does require some examination. In between the shock at police inaction, are small murmurs from well-meaning white people who are now climbing onto the defunding the police bandwagon. They even set up an Instagram account where they recycle photos of the same person and throw in a Malcolm X quote every now and then, but the undeniable facts are that this convoy is largely dominated by white people, and one of the organizers, Pat King, has abhorrent views on anyone who is not from “superior Anglo Saxon bloodlines.” Yes, we’ve seen BIPOC people dragged out to be tokenized as supporting the cause. The difference between the groups is that one is Indigenous, and one is largely white. Two years ago, young Indigenous people doing a round dance in downtown Ottawa, (with a permit!), warranted snipers on rooftops, but if you’re in this convoy, by all means, set up bouncy castles, a hot tub, speakers and terrorize local residents for weeks on end. We are met with violence, dogs, water cannons, tear gas, and guns, just for marching on any particular day. The brutality we face when we so much as hint at civil disobedience is painted throughout our history books. This isn’t a surprise to Black and Indigenous organizers who saw this coming for years, decades, hell, even centuries.
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