Upheaval Brings Change

I just read an open letter written by a white, male officer seeking sympathy for everything he has seen and gone through in the line of duty and how much "hatred" he is receiving from Seattle residents. He calls himself one of the "good ones", and the whole letter reads like a massive pity party. It's all personal hurt feelings, but no real higher perspective.

Here's the thing. It doesn't fix the larger issue if there are "good ones" mixed into a hugely flawed system. That doesn't change the need for dramatic and historical police reform and change. The cop felt Seattle police had come a long way, he felt they were trying to change. But even if that's what he thought, the truth is he is wrong. It would never be enough left in the hands of an institution that didn't believe in its own prejudice. Humans resist real change for as long as they possibly can until they are forced to do differently. Humans hate change.

Sometimes huge things like this have to happen. Sometimes, in history, there must be a massive shift in thinking, action, and the way we run our society. Does that mean we end up abolishing the way we used to do something and reinventing it? Yes. Absolutely. Will there be hurt feelings and backlash on an individual level within the institutions that need to change? Absolutely. Does that negate what has to be done? Absolutely not. There have been cops that have stepped down and left the police force because they understood this. They get it. They didn't cry victimhood because they knew, even if they had been trying to do all the right things, their larger institution was broken and refusing to be fixed. They were sad about the whole thing, but they got it

We've had to rise up and protest for the right thing across the course of our history several times, from an end to slavery, which took a damn Civil War, I might add, to finally allowing women their right to vote and an end to segregation. Just because you feel like you are acting with dignity within a very flawed institution, doesn't mean that institution should remain in place, nor does it mean that said institution deserves only praise and fawning. If you are a cop who feels they have lived an honorable life and done the right things, take that to heart and confidently know that about yourself. Maybe it's very true. If so, I commend you on a personal level. But try to see the bigger picture. It takes swallowing of the ego and a larger perspective of history. I know that won't be possible for most cops. It's too personal for them. But it will be for some. And inevitably, given enough history gone by, it will be for most.

Sometimes, anger and overhaul is necessary, even if it offends some people, even if it's hard to watch. The bigger picture is more important. For those caught up in defending individual cops with good character and using that to vilify protesting and the movement toward actual, significant change, you're not seeing the forest for the trees. Wouldn't it be nice if human nature had evolved enough that we need only ask for justice and it would be done? But we all know that's not the case. Our desire to remain comfortably the same means that, in order for any significant changes to happen, it must be insisted upon--especially in stubborn American history. Maybe you can't see that right now. But your grandchildren will.