Article Summary
The authors touch on the highly social topic of police defunding and systemic racism, which appeared in public discourse due to the tragic events in Minneapolis. Clare Proctor and Juan Pablo Garnham (2020) are as unbiased as possible and give several points of view that include city authorities, police associations, non-profit public organizations, and state residents. As it turns out, each side of the public dialogue agrees to partial police defunding, but the savings should be redistributed between public services to improve the living conditions of people of color. Moreover, the authors reveal the mechanisms of systemic racism that state law enforcement institutions, apply to African Americans.
Significance and Connection
There are three reasons why the author of this essay chose this article. This article is directly related to one of the most massive protest movements in all states, namely Black Lives Matter, as well as outdated government institutions that require reform (Proctor & Garnham, 2020). These current events and public changes affect not only our class or the United States but the entire Western world. It is also important to mention that in the current social climate, it is almost impossible to predict who will win the upcoming presidential election.
Two Questions and Opinion
After reading the article, a couple of unanswered questions remain. One of them is why the authors did not interview private security companies, although they were mentioned in the article (Proctor & Garnham, 2020). It is also unknown why the authors did not touch on the topic of increased arms purchases among the civilian population after riots in some cities. The personal opinion is that not only a partial police defunding is necessary but also the replacement of lethal weapons with non-lethal analogs, as well as constant video recording of the police officers’ actions.
References
Proctor, C., & Garnham, J. P. (2020). For these Texas organizers and officials, defunding the police means remedying effects of racism. The Texas Tribune. Web.