Submitted by oxidadapanda t3_113o0wz in washingtondc
worthysimba t1_j8r7qzi wrote
Is there more info besides this article?
JasterMareel t1_j8r87md wrote
Take your pick:
worthysimba t1_j8ri4py wrote
Thanks. That CNN article had a lot more info. The AP one was very sparse. I’ll check the others as well. This can serve as a great resource to point to regarding far right infiltration into forces.
Acoustic_Ginger t1_j8rl8e6 wrote
the right can't infiltrate something built to enforce white supremacy. It's been theirs from the start
KerPop42 t1_j8rmuao wrote
That's a cool and edgy comment, but also historical revisionism. White supremacist groups did make a concerted effort to take over police forces, under Bush Jr. Part of the reason why the report was ignored was that they were radicalizing Iraq veterans as well, and that perceived smear against veterans during the 00s made it toxic to anyone's career to bring up.
crnelson10 t1_j8rnx6s wrote
Modern American policing started with slave patrols.
It isn’t “edgy” to say that white supremacy was baked in from the start.
KerPop42 t1_j8rpnbm wrote
The article you linked says it's a mixed history, that in the north it started as a copy of english patrols and in the south it started as slave patrols. You're just ignoring one to elevate the other, exactly what you're accusing me of doing.
FlimFlamMagoo728 t1_j8s2jq6 wrote
We’re located in the South my guy. Alexandria was one of the leading slave-trading ports in America.
Gilyon01 t1_j8s31be wrote
The article also addresses the evolution of slave patrols to modern police departments in only one sentence: "After the Civil War ended, the slave patrols developed into southern police departments." It doesn't say anything about how this happened or what the actual connection is between the two beyond that. It instead goes on to talk about the various racist laws that were passed in the south following the civil war, and how the police departments participated in them. Which doesn't actually address the thesis that these departments evolved specifically from groups specifically dedicated to the enforcement of slavery.
justmahl t1_j8talty wrote
https://naacp.org/find-resources/history-explained/origins-modern-day-policing
"Slave Patrols continued until the end of the Civil War and the passage of the 13th Amendment. Following the Civil War, during Reconstruction, slave patrols were replaced by militia-style groups who were empowered to control and deny access to equal rights to freed slaves. They relentlessly and systematically enforced Black Codes, strict local and state laws that regulated and restricted access to labor, wages, voting rights, and general freedoms for formerly enslaved people.
In 1868, ratification of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution technically granted equal protections to African Americans — essentially abolishing Black Codes. Jim Crow laws and state and local statutes that legalized racial segregation swiftly took their place.
By the 1900s, local municipalities began to establish police departments to enforce local laws in the East and Midwest, including Jim Crow laws. Local municipalities leaned on police to enforce and exert excessive brutality on African Americans who violated any Jim Crow law. Jim Crow Laws continued through the end of the 1960s."
justmahl t1_j8tbcjw wrote
So I guess according to you, the same men that participating in the slave patrols, who saw it as their right to control and keep blacks in line just gave up their mission and retired once the 13th and 14th amendments were passed?
Then comes along the concept of police forces in these exact same areas giving police officers the exact same authority that the slave patrols had, specifically with regards to cracking down on Jim Crow laws. These police had free reign to terrorize, beat and kill blacks legally, and....the slave patrolmen weren't interested?
Gilyon01 t1_j8tgd2e wrote
I'm saying that there existed a generalized law enforcement in both colonial and post colonial United States. A sheriff, or constables, or marshals, or a citizen based night watch. I'm not sure why the existence of groups dedicated to the enforcement of slavery has more of an importance to the history of law enforcement in the US than the actual law enforcement apparatus in place at the time. I'm also not saying that people who were part of slave patrols couldn't have turned into municipal police as they were formed. Neither am I saying that municipal police didn't enforce racist laws.
The statement that "Policing in the United States came from Slave Patrols" is saying that the origination of the enforcement of law in this country came directly from a desire to enforce slavery. The fact that racist laws and policies exist doesn't lead to the conclusion that these departments were created for the purpose of enforcing those laws specifically. It's more that the departments were complicit along with other aspects of government in the oppression. Which isn't the same thing.
justmahl t1_j8tlljl wrote
I think where you're tripping up as that the statement should be "modern day policing in the US" developed as a response to Jim Crow laws. Focusing on the fact that the idea of policing existed before and in other countries is missing the point, possibly deliberately. It's also ignoring the fact that there are aspects to the US law enforcement and judicial system that are very unique to this country. That is because slavery/racism is woven into the fabric. It's not just something that kind of happened along side it.
OctoberCaddis t1_j8sc7jt wrote
Your link literally says that it started in cities like Boston modeled on English law enforcement at the time, and notes the scenario you’re referring to occurred in the south.
Acoustic_Ginger t1_j8rnert wrote
Many police departments literally started as slave patrols. Police have never had a purpose other than enforcing white supremacy. I wasn't trying to be edgy, I was accurately describing policing in the US.
justmahl t1_j8ro1sf wrote
Calls it historical revisionism but clearly doesn't know the actual history smh.
denarii t1_j8s83ep wrote
> Police have never had a purpose other than enforcing white supremacy.
Well, they also have an origin in strike breakers too.
Their purpose has always been enforcing white supremacy and keeping the working class in their place more broadly.
Iconophilia t1_j8so1gy wrote
You realize police departments exist outside the U.S.??
Acoustic_Ginger t1_j8so912 wrote
Yup. But they aren't the topic of this conversation.
KerPop42 t1_j8rp8ua wrote
Many informal police departments in slave states started as police patrols. But you contradict the logic of your source when you say, "Police have *never* have a purpose other than enforcing white supremacy." When your article mentions that the first fully funded full-time police force was founded in Boston half a century after slavery was abolished there. What you're doing is revising history to make it quippier.
Edit: you're also revising history in arguing that there was no infiltration of the police in the Bush Jr administration because your version where they're already infiltrated is quippier.
Acoustic_Ginger t1_j8rqso6 wrote
Boston has been known as one of the most racist cities in the North East, at least. White supremacy does not begin and end with slavery.
Loud white supremacists infiltrated the police department. They were already built on it. here's another article that highlights that: https://sites.uab.edu/humanrights/2021/12/08/the-history-of-policing-in-the-us-and-its-impact-on-americans-today/
KerPop42 t1_j8rrb36 wrote
Now you're moving the goalposts. You started saying that the white can't infiltrate police departments, and now you're saying they did. Fuck off, this conversation isn't worth having.
Acoustic_Ginger t1_j8rrv06 wrote
you've also ignored an additional source that backs up the "they can't be infiltrated since they were already white supremacists" claim
Acoustic_Ginger t1_j8rrjs3 wrote
why are you hung up on me using language that is trying to meet you where you are. me saying that was because you got so up in arms about me saying they couldn't be infiltrated. I still maintain they can't. The fear was that more people would catch on if they were too explicit about it
OctoberCaddis t1_j8sce0f wrote
This person isn’t arguing in good faith. Name any city you like and they’d claim it was the most racist in America.
bubbameister33 t1_j8retm3 wrote
Lol
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