Sinclair Lewis said, “When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” I think people expect the end of America’s free society to look like a violent apocalyptic scene in some Hollywood film, but that’s not how it will happen. Government officials figured out that suppressing riots with bullets is bad PR. They have learned to do it quietly, and in a way where they can claim they’re being humane about the whole thing. Look! We don’t shoot people anymore! We taser them!
The end product is the same, though. Rebellion is suppressed. Activism is thwarted.
It’s no coincidence that in the era when the US government passed the most progressive, civil rights-oriented legislation, the activist culture was thriving, and the police had not yet been issued their “toys” with which they could neatly euthanize dissent.
The activist-police clashes in the sixties were bloody and violent. They were loud and terrible, and they made the news. Black protesters were attacked by police dogs. The moment the populace saw those images, everything changed. “The black community was instantaneously consolidated behind King,” said David Vann, who would later become mayor of Birmingham.
Now, imagine if dogs hadn’t been used, but the police instead utilized “non-lethal personal suppression projectiles.” In this world, the civil rights protesters in the sixties didn’t scream and fight. They just got kind of loopy, smiled, and walked home. Yes, technically the police prevented injuries, but the larger damage is much more severe. The police prevented political change. That may be a good thing for the regime of the moment, but it’s a bad thing for justice and society at large.
Article Submission: Bobby Ward
This Article Appeared in The Black Truth News Volume 4 Issue 5