“ When we think about the cops, it’s scary, on one level, to conclude that a cop can basically arrest you on a whim. It’s scarier still to think that this is what Americans want, that this country is as we’ve made it. And then finally it’s even scarier to understand that no president can change that. It’s not why he’s there. He is there to pass health-reform—not make us post-racist, or post-police power, or post-whatever. Only the people can do that. And they don’t seem particularly inclined.
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Ta-Nehisi Coates, Where It All Leaves Us. More smart words about police power, race, and society in America. He’s right: as scary as it is to think that some cop having a bad day can ruin your life — it’s scarier still to think that there are whole constituencies — even majorities — of citizens out there who hope that he does.
I can’t help, based on my own biases and beliefs, to think that those vengeful types are the same ones who would enforce all kinds of (christianist) social morality on society.
