Concessions
After signing legislation to reform policing in New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo told protesters they didn't need to protest anymore, which was telling. According to Cuomo, the protesters won with the legislation he signed, so the protesting should've stopped. Cuomo expected the bill he signed to quiet people, which was his actual goal. Cuomo offered concessions.
Cuomo isn't alone. Trump offered concessions. Congress offers concessions. State legislatures offer concessions. Police departments offer concessions. Corporate America offers concessions. And white America’s new awareness and interest in Black lives is a concession.
In the book “The Wretched of the Earth,” Frantz Fanon warns about concessions:
“Historical examples have demonstrated that the masquerade of concessions and the heavy price paid by certain countries have ended in a servitude that is not only more discreet, but also more complete.
The people and every militant should be conscious of the historical law, which stipulates that certain concessions are in fact shackles. If there is no attempt at clarifying this it is surprising how easy it is for the leaders of certain political parties to engage in nameless compromise with the former colonizer.
The colonized must be made to see that colonialism never gives away anything for nothing. Whatever gains the colonized make through armed or political struggle, they are not the result of the colonizer’s good will or goodness of heart but to the fact that he can no longer postpone such concessions.
The militant must be supplied with further, more searching explanations so that the enemy’s concessions do not pull the wool over his eyes. These concessions, which are nothing but concessions, do not address the essence of the problem, and from the colonized’s perspective, it is clear that a concession does not truly address the problem until it strikes the heart of the colonial regime.
To be more exact, the occupier can easily phase out the violent aspects of his presence. In fact, this dramatic phasing out not only spares the occupier much expense but also has the further benefit of allowing him to better concentrate his powers. But there is a heavy price to pay: to be exact, the price of a more coercive control over the country’s future.”
The quote is lengthy, but it's relevant. It applies to this moment. It applies to policing. It applies to criminal justice reform. It applies to antiracism. And it applies to reparations.
It's time to go for the jugular and refuse to slow down or stop for concessions.
My Latest Pieces
The eight pieces below represent two months of thinking, and they relate to concessions. I hope you will take some time to read and share them.
”Whites Just Told Pollsters How Far They Are Willing to Go”
”The Washington Post Capitalizes the W in White for the Wrong Reasons” (for patrons and paid subscribers)
”End Policing to End Whiteness”
”What's Going on in Portland?” (for patrons and paid subscribers)
”Ending the NRA Is an Antiracist Move”
”Why It's Not Good Enough That the Biden Administration Will ’Look Like America’” (for patrons and paid subscribers)
”The Washington Football Team Change Is a Win”
”The Two Things Reparations Must Do” (for patrons and paid subscribers)
My Other Words
Here are a few of my essays from Medium that are relevant:
”Does Being Anti-Racist Mean You’re Anti-American Too?”
“Keep in mind, America is a racist nation.”
”No One Should Be Nonchalant About Native Lives”
“For a just society, America must make life right for Native people.”
Worth Seeing
”Don’t Forget the Antiracist Lens” by Kim Crayton on Twitter.
In a short video, Crayton makes an excellent point about the call to defund the police and redirect funds to other agencies and services:
“If you don't have an antiracist agenda, all you're going to do is fund organizations and systems that are still racist and anti-Black.”
Worth Reading
”What Is Owed”
An essay on reparations in The New York Times by Nikole Hannah-Jones:
“But critically, reparations must include individual cash payments to descendants of the enslaved in order to close the wealth gap.”
”Accept Nothing Less Than Police Abolition”
Lydia Pelot-Hobbs, Assistant Professor and fellow, in the Boston Review:
“If we are to weather disasters present and future, from pandemics to climate catastrophes, we require nothing less than abolition.”
”How I Became a Police Abolitionist”
Derecka Purnell, Human Rights Lawyer, in The Atlantic:
“We never should have had police.”
Last Words
Angela Davis makes a similar point as Fanon when she says, “Looking back at that period, we realized that the reforms actually helped to consolidate the institution itself and to make it more permanent, and that is the fear right now.”