Defund the police

[BmorePat87]

(11-13-2020, 12:02 PM)hollodero Wrote: "Defund the police" has to be amongst the most astonishingly badly chosen slogans ever.

this was my take back in June. I still think it's dead on:

http://thebengalsboard.com/Thread-Bad-Boys-II?pid=875980#pid875980

Quote:I see a lot of people mentioning defund the police. I think it's a terrible phrase for a few reasons.


1. "Defund" traditionally means to remove all funding. I understand that colloquially or informally it can be used to describe any reduction in funding, but given the absolute meaning it usually holds, you're going to confuse people.

2. There's multiple meanings of "defund the police". The most popular one seems to be a fundamental reform where various community based services replace traditional tasks of the police. But others use it to describe an abolition of the police. The mixed messaging hurts the sell.

3. The insistence of activist for using this term over "reform" comes at the cost of winning over public and political support. I get that systemic racism continues to exist because complacent white people are afraid of challenging the existing social structures that are quite comfortable, but you still need public support. Politicians aren't going to risk votes.

4. A week ago this wasn't on anyone's radar, so outrage over politicians not immediately endorsing it is silly.


Fundamental reforms are necessary, and there's a number of things in the "defund the police" agenda that would be beneficial, but they really need a new phrase.