It’s hard to ignore the damage that partisan politics have inflicted on our culture – a rotting of truth, diminished critical thought, unabashed tribalism, and a blindness to the human element that is being tossed about violently in the never-ending spin cycle of the political machine. In our current societal structure, we care more about our party “winning” or “making a point” than we do about the policies created by politicians who create legislation to appease the most extreme branches of their constituency. It’s an infinite cycle of sound and fury where the collective white noise of partisan ideologies drowns the voices of the people.
What’s been most concerning for me, however, is the inability of people to hold two opposing views simultaneously – to understand that a collective need for society may not necessarily align with one’s personal belief system.
For example, a fundamental evangelical Christian may personally disagree with same-sex marriage but can hopefully understand the right of a gay man or woman to pursue happiness through a covenant commitment. Or, maybe a person like me, who has never owned a gun and doesn’t plan on owning a gun, can understand the rights of a person to own a firearm as long as they take that right seriously and responsibly. Holding the tension of opposing and contrasting ideas is a lot to ask, and most people never reach a point of intellectual maturity to be able to do it. But the pursuit of it, I believe, is a worthwhile task.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot since last week when news broke that the City Council approved raises for the Jackson Police Department.
As someone who has been called every slanderous descriptor of a liberal or progressive person, I understand the narratives that exist left of center when it comes to the criminal justice system in America. As a veteran teacher in a majority-minority district, I understand the profiling that sometimes occurs when it comes to the pursuit of suspects and the violence that can accompany those pursuits. I don’t have to go into detail about the imbalance of punitive measures taken against minorities by law enforcement. If you don’t believe me, here are some reference points:
https://naacp.org/resources/criminal-justice-fact-sheet
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52877678
I could keep going, but I don’t want to belabor my point…which isn’t even about the disparity between races regarding treatment by law enforcement personnel. While that narrative is out there, it’s far more than simply a talking point; it’s the truth. Discussion of this issue shouldn’t be political; it should be human. There shouldn’t be good guys and bad guys, but when narratives are involved, there almost certainly are. We too often focus on the system of law enforcement and, by turn, villainize the men and women who work in it. On the flip side, people who blindly support law enforcement and the system in which it resides too often refuse to see the glaring warts that accompany it, especially when those warts involve officers of the law.
For the next few minutes, let’s leave our respective corners and meet in the middle because what I’m about to say may surprise some people. This ain’t a well-worn narrative; this is about people.
When the City Council passed the motion to increase the pay of JPD officers, I thought it was an excellent decision that was long overdue. Police officers are a necessity in any community and find themselves in situations that most of us try our best to avoid our entire lives. Officers place themselves in environments that are unstable, chaotic, and sometimes life-threatening. They stand in the gap so the majority of citizens can go about their daily lives without having to worry about something catastrophic happening.
So, here’s where the cognitive dissonance emerges: how can I believe there is something fundamentally wrong with the criminal justice system yet support monetary raises for police officers? It’s not easy, honestly, but it’s possible because I don’t belong to a specific ideology. At my core, I’m a humanist; I try my best to think about people. When I can do that effectively, I find that my beliefs are authentic and productive. They don’t belong to a political party or polarizing narrative.
Three years ago, the idea of “defunding the police” came to the forefront of the national conversation. It was quickly bastardized by the far-right and weaponized to use in “gotcha” arguments on social media. The heart of the movement, however, was never about taking money away from law enforcement; it was about reallocating funds to better serve communities and alleviate some of the overwhelming duties that officers face on a daily basis. That being said, I think it’s important to ask a few questions about our expectations of law enforcement and their roles in communities.
Are officers paid enough to juggle all of the responsibilities they face? NO.
Are we unnecessarily militarizing and hardening police forces to deal with civilians? Yes.
Are we putting officers and deputies in no-win situations without the proper training to deal with those situations? Yes.
Would reallocating some money to hire social workers to accompany officers on domestic disputes or non-violent calls help alleviate some of those challenges? Yes.
Should we defund police and take money away from officers and law enforcement? HELL NO.
Two months ago, I started my 20th year in education. I’ve been beating the drum for pay increases for teachers for a long time, and it’s difficult for me not to see the parallels between teachers and police officers. We both have to work in incredibly demanding jobs that most civilians outside of that space fail to understand. We have been grossly underpaid for a long time and have had adjectives used by politicians to satiate our hunger for more compensation to do a job that none of them would ever dream of doing because they couldn’t. We’ve been called rockstars, heroes, and essential workers rather than professionals. We both work in broken systems that are bureaucratic in the worst ways. We’ve been villanized and used as pawns in the chess game of politics by each side of the aisle. At our core, we’re the workers, the backbones of our communities that keep things straight while the higher-ups can smile for the camera and take two-hour lunch breaks.
In the last three years, the Jackson-Madison County School System has seen the results of a leader investing in his employees. The Jackson Police Department is now seeing the same thing. And while there are apparent flaws in the systems in which teachers and officers do their jobs, they are both necessary to a healthy community. The more often we can look at people instead of politics, the better off we’ll be.
I have a tattoo on my left forearm of the last line of The Great Gatsby. I honestly believe the last three pages of that book are some of the most beautiful words I’ve ever read; I revisit the book every year just to reach that stunning conclusion. However, what F. Scott Fitzgerald said about cognitive dissonance might be even more profound.
“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.”
I agree.
