Day: June 10, 2020

Yes, it is possible to be safe without the police, at least in some places for a limited time

benfell

I’m going ahead and publishing this now. The weather has gotten interesting north of here—apparently a tornado near Beaver Falls—and a severe thunderstorm warning has been posted for at least very close to my area.

George Floyd

With so many examples of how humanity is not ready for anarchism, it’s quite a surprise to read an account of how a community protected itself without the police and without replicating the problems of the police.[1] I don’t know how sustainable this is or how widely applicable, but it’s quite a story and certainly worth looking at.

Meanwhile Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor looks more broadly, both historically and topically, at the issues the U.S. needs to address[2]—and of course, won’t. I had not seen her article when I tweeted my response to Chuck Wendig above, but I think we’re on the same page.

Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, “How Do We Change America?” New Yorker, June 8, 2020, https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/how-do-we-change-america

Hahrie Han, “What Happened When the Minneapolis Police Lost Legitimacy?” New York Times, June 10, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/10/opinion/floyd-minneapolis-police-protests.html

  1. [1]Hahrie Han, “What Happened When the Minneapolis Police Lost Legitimacy?” New York Times, June 10, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/10/opinion/floyd-minneapolis-police-protests.html↩
  2. [2]Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, “How Do We Change America?” New Yorker, June 8, 2020, https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/how-do-we-change-america↩

Even with the best of intentions, these graffiti artists exploited structural racism

benfell

George Floyd

black-lives-matter-downtown-pittsburgh-graffiti
Fig. 1. Looks lovely, doesn’t it? Except that this graffiti, painted by whites costumed as a construction crew and unmolested by police in a city that treats graffiti artists harshly, was enabled by structural racism, which is the larger subject of protest. Photograph by Jared Wickerham, undated, via Pittsburgh City Paper, June 9, 2020,[1] fair use.

Amanda Waltz, “Black Pittsburgh artists respond to graffiti protest mural produced by white team,” Pittsburgh City Paper, June 9, 2020, https://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/black-pittsburgh-artists-respond-to-graffiti-protest-mural-produced-by-white-team/Content?oid=17431125

Pandemic

Fingers in ears, singing “la la la” loudly, we refuse to hear that the pandemic still rages:[2]

Data from states that are now reporting some of their highest seven-day averages of new cases is disproving the notion that the country is seeing such a spike in cases solely because of the continued increase in testing, according to data tracked by The Washington Post.

Many of these states that have experienced an increase in cases have also had an increase in hospitalizations, with a handful of states also nearing bed capacity. Hospitalizations nationwide are difficult to track, with states reporting hospitalization numbers in varying ways, or not at all. Even states that do report hospitalization numbers may not have always received complete data from every hospital in the state at the time of their reports.[3]

Associated Press, “Pennsylvania GOP seeks to dismantle Wolf’s shutdown,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, June 9, 2020, https://triblive.com/news/pennsylvania/pennsylvania-gop-seeks-to-dismantle-wolfs-shutdown/

Samantha Pell, Candace Buckner, and Jacqueline Dupree, “Coronavirus hospitalizations rise sharply in several states following Memorial Day,” Washington Post, June 9, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/06/09/coronavirus-hospitalizations-rising/

Dominic Rushe, “Fauci: coronavirus pandemic that ‘took over the planet’ is far from over,” Guardian, June 9, 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/09/anthony-fauci-coronavirus-pandemic-far-from-over

  1. [1]Amanda Waltz, “Black Pittsburgh artists respond to graffiti protest mural produced by white team,” Pittsburgh City Paper, June 9, 2020, https://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/black-pittsburgh-artists-respond-to-graffiti-protest-mural-produced-by-white-team/Content?oid=17431125↩
  2. [2]Dominic Rushe, “Fauci: coronavirus pandemic that ‘took over the planet’ is far from over,” Guardian, June 9, 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/09/anthony-fauci-coronavirus-pandemic-far-from-over↩
  3. [3]Samantha Pell, Candace Buckner, and Jacqueline Dupree, “Coronavirus hospitalizations rise sharply in several states following Memorial Day,” Washington Post, June 9, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/06/09/coronavirus-hospitalizations-rising/↩