Commentary: We must demand what we need, not just what is palatable to the ruling class

While this is happening now (from Time magazine):

“On Wednesday, the George Floyd Resolution to Eliminate the Oakland Schools Police Department passed 7-0. The district will eliminate its police department by the end of the year and hire more social workers, psychologists or ‘restorative justice practitioners.’ In the coming months, the district will work with students, parents, teachers and the BOP [Black Organizing Project] to create a new school safety plan. … The public school board in Minneapolis voted unanimously on June 2 to terminate its contract with the city’s police department in response to Floyd’s death. Schools leaders in Portland, Ore.; Denver and Seattle have since made similar decisions.”

Okay, are we supposed to be happy about the Los Angeles Unified School District rejecting the 90 percent cut and instead cutting just $25 million from their budget? The school police chief is resigning and told his cops to not show up at the schools, exposing how much these pigs care about children’s safety since they say they are essential to it. 

So, the demand to take away some of the cops’ funds overshadowed and defeated and muffled the current and winnable demands to abolish these armed and dangerous cops from threatening and terrorizing our Black and Brown children in school and replace them with appropriate and more effective guardians of their safety. That’s what happened, and is happening everywhere in the country where defunding is the only and main demand, sidestepping the demands to disband; or abolish and replace; or impose community control. The weaker demand that was accepted leaves the cops ready for their next kill.

Some demands create reforms that empower our class and others create demands that disempower our class and allow the status quo to remain. When a new police chief for the LAUSD is found, the cops will be once again roaming the school halls with guns at the waist and at eye level of our children. We must demand what we need, not just what is palatable to the ruling class. The ruling class is desperate to find a way to soften the effects of the militancy in the streets that is now making changes at the speed of light. Let’s not help them turn off the light. 

#disarmthepolice 

#abolishthepolice

#communitytakeover 

#communitycontrol