Post 9ilsJnuLcVBHTOmTQW by Leucrotta@awoo.space
(DIR) More posts by Leucrotta@awoo.space
(DIR) Post #9ilsJnuLcVBHTOmTQW by Leucrotta@awoo.space
2019-05-13T14:47:20Z
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My grampa joined the NYPD in 1936, since it was a job that wasn’t going away (I guess that is kinda mercenary at least), and left sometime in the 50s after a concussion from going over the top of a car which hit him. I really admire him and we were really close when he was around, so I hate feeling like I have to question him, or whether police have really become something he wouldn’t have wanted.
(DIR) Post #9ilsJo9Ej95gDZkMdM by noelle@elekk.xyz
2019-05-13T15:03:34Z
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@Leucrotta The sense that I get, and this may be ahistorical, is that in most of the US, police as a tool of oppression on behalf of the powerful really started in the late 50s and 60s, during the rise in civil-rights upheaval and race riots. Police corruption has always been a thing, and some parts of the country were worse than others, but before that point it was possible to be a cop and not be complicit in authoritarianism - a peacekeeper, not a catspaw.
(DIR) Post #9ilsJoJs5bb6kYirD6 by a_breakin_glass@cybre.space
2019-05-13T15:04:59Z
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@noelle @Leucrotta weren't police used against strikers, along with the army? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Blair_Mountain
(DIR) Post #9ilsjtWBNrEqOzv1Oa by noelle@elekk.xyz
2019-05-13T15:09:41Z
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@a_breakin_glass @Leucrotta That doesn't really contradict what I said. Local police forces in the US started as slave patrols in the southern states, looking for runaways. There have always been bad cops, and there have always been authoritarians looking to use police as a tool of oppression; my point was that until the civil rights movement it was still possible to be a good cop.
(DIR) Post #9ilz0H8hvYNK1M8Hwm by Leucrotta@awoo.space
2019-05-13T16:19:54Z
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@a_breakin_glass @noelle historically yes. That goes back a long while.