Etan Thomas

Police Brutality and White Supremacy is a collection of interviews by Etan Thomas of people in the movement for police reform and accountability, in the press, and even in the police. Thomas approaches each person with warmhearted openness that inspires them to open up to him, showing personal vulnerability that is seldom shown to the public.

There is a charming moment in his interview with Raymond Santana, one of the Exonerated Five (Central Park) when Santana mentions Mrs. B who was Thomas’ grandmother and who raised Thomas. His grandmother worked at the juvenile corrections facility and told the then-teenaged Santana that she believed him. It was just a moment of sweet synchronicity.

His list of people he interviewed is eclectic and surprising, but he makes the connection clear as he investigates different aspects of police brutality from the point of view of the victims, of police reformers, activists, and the media. He asks white people what they are doing to influence other white people to see their privilege. As a professional athlete, he also looks at the activism in athletics by interviewing fellow athletes, but also team management/CEOs like Mark Cuban. He interviews religious and education leaders to examine how racism is woven into our society and cultivated generation after generation.

Police Brutality and White Supremacy is an excellent collection of interviews. Thomas approaches each person with such warmth and good feeling that they are disarmed and are very open and revealing in their interviews. He mentions his children and how they are affected and makes such strong personal connections that each interview seems like a conversation between friends.

Thomas’ choice of who to interview seemed strange at first glance. I mean why Jake Tapper and Mark Cuban? But then, as his overarching theme becomes apparent it makes complete sense. His interviews start with the personal, with the victims of brutality and injustice and then widen to the systemic as he deftly proves his case.

I received an ARC of Police Brutality and White Supremacy from the publisher through LibraryThing.

Police Brutality and White Supremacy at Akashic Books
Etan Thomas on Twitter and author site

https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2022/07/15/police-brutality-and-whit...… (mais)

First person accounts presented in an interview format that while easy to read on the surface are actually much harder to digest. The horrors experienced by Black Americans at the hands of police made this book one that I could only read a single chapter at a time with a long pause for self reflection.

It has been two years since George Floyd was killed under the knee of a St. Paul Minnesota police officer. At the time my daughter lived a short quarter mile from where the murder and subsequent protests took place. The neighborhood seemed like one where everyone just wanted to get along. St. Paul seemed like a progressive city. If this could happen here it made me realize it could happen anywhere in America.

Everyone who is not a person of color (like myself) needs to go through a process of learning about how racism is still very much alive today. This book can provide one venue for starting that process.… (mais)

I've read a bunch of books about America's history of state violence against non-white people, and for the most part I keep them on the shelves after I read them for referring back to them later. This is one of the few books I've ever had where it doesn't feel right for me to keep it on a shelf, because it needs to be out being read by someone else who is in a different life situation than I am and will be able to make better use of it than me. This is less of a compilation of history and more of an exhortation for people to go out and make their world better.

As the book is a compilation of interviews, it is unsurprisingly conversational and easy to read. This is not to say that it is simple, but rather that concepts like cop gangs relying on their unions and other city officials to avoid accountability for their crimes are described in direct language, instead of academic jargon or the cowardly "both sides"-style descriptions favored by the media. It covers a wide range of both current and somewhat older issues, from unnecessary police violence against Black women today to LAPD officers assaulting Rodney King in the 1990s. Interviewees include nationally famous athletes (the author himself is a well-known former NBA player), TV media figures, former police officers, the families of people murdered or otherwise brutalized by police, and people best known for their skill on Twitter, namely Bishop Talbert Swan and Rex Chapman.

Without rewriting the entire book here it is impossible to list all of the issues and concepts discussed in it. Some of the most important are the omnipresence of white supremacy, the near-total impunity of the police when they decide they want to abuse or kill non-white people, the resistance of police departments to change from any direction (including other police officers trying to uphold internal codes of conduct or the law), Black political leaders trying to dictate how their communities react to police violence, Black police chiefs being used as de facto token public faces to make police departments look more tolerant than they are, the inherent racism of the "Make America Great Again" slogan, and the media's habit of accepting police excuses and lies in place of facts without bothering to treat the victims equally. The list goes on much farther, but these are some of the most relevant entries.

Perhaps the most valuable part of this book is the fact that it condenses so many important points into something that is so easy to read. This is the main reason why I'm going to find somewhere to donate it rather than keep it on the shelf - it needs to be out somewhere else instead of on my shelf.… (mais)