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On police violence, the “re-” words are better than the “de-” words

Written on April 14, 2021 by Messaging Matters in Democratic Messaging

“Black Lives Matter” response to police racism and violence

The United States is experiencing the latest chapters of the continuing tragedy of police violence against people of color. Just as Derek Chauvin is being tried for the 2020 murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, protests have broken out another incident occurred just about 10 miles away in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center, where a police officer killed Daunte Wright in a traffic stop over a hanging air freshener last weekend.

These latest police attacks on our citizens of color caused some liberals to repeat the call to “defund the police” that was in heavy rotation over the last couple of years. For example, U.S. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib expressed this view on Monday, going even further to write “no more policing”:

It wasn't an accident. Policing in our country is inherently & intentionally racist.

Daunte Wright was met with aggression & violence. I am done with those who condone government funded murder.

No more policing, incarceration, and militarization. It can't be reformed.

— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) April 12, 2021

However, defunding the police is an unpopular idea which hurt Democrats in the 2020 elections. Furthermore, defunding the police to reduce racism and violence is counterproductive, since even a hollowed-out, nearly bankrupt police department could be just as racist and trigger-happy as always, and some proposals to reduce citizen murders by police, such as stricter training and recruiting, might require more, not less, funding.

Perhaps that’s why former President Barack Obama released a different kind of statement yesterday on behalf of himself and former First Lady Michelle Obama, regarding the killing of Daunte Wright:

Our hearts are heavy over yet another shooting of a Black man, Daunte Wright, at the hands of police. It’s important to conduct a full and transparent investigation, but this is also a reminder of just how badly we need to reimagine policing and public safety in this country. pic.twitter.com/sgcbRjlApr

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) April 13, 2021

Note the term “reimagine policing” that Obama used, and how different that is from “defund the police.” President Obama realizes that, when it comes to police violence, the “re-” words are better than the “de-” words.

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Tags: Brooklyn Center, Daunte Wright, Defund the Police, Derek Chauvin, George Floyd, gun violence, Michelle Obama, Minneapolis, Minnesota, police violence, President Barack Obama, Rashida Tlaib

2020, meet 1968

Written on June 2, 2020 by Messaging Matters in Democratic vs. Republican Presidents, Good Government

President Lyndon Johnson and Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, 1968

America torn apart by unrest. An overarching issue that has caused the deaths of many thousands of Americans. Separate protests and riots over the death of a black man. It’s a good description of 2020, right? Actually, this also describes the year 1968. There are some striking parallels between these two years, and they do not bode well for Donald Trump or the Republican Party.

In 1968, Lyndon Johnson, who had become president after John F. Kennedy‘s assassination in November 1963, faced the twin issues of the Vietnam War and racial unrest. The war so mired President Johnson and tore apart the country that, in March 1968, Johnson announced that he would not run for reelection. And then, just four days later, as if to ensure that America would remain in strife through the election, black civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. Coming after years of bloody civil rights battles and documented police brutality, King’s murder led to protests and riots around the country. Johnson’s decision not to run for another term was already based in part in the reality that his approval rating throughout 1968 mostly hovered in the low forties range, having declined steadily from the highs of nearly 80 percent in his first few months after taking office, and was largely attributable to the Vietnam War.