One of the most destructive aspects of anti-Blackness is the belief that Black people always cheat the system.
Photography: Jonas Lindstroem
When BBQ Becky, Permit Patty, and Poolside Pete call the cops on harmless, innocent Black people, what they're doing is engaging in broken window policing. Broken window policing is a theory that if you stamp out petty neighborhood crimes -- graffiti, jaywalking, loitering, drug use -- you will improve the quality of life in the city and deter future, more extreme crimes because the minor criminals never got a chance to become bigger.
In theory, broken window policing might sound logical but in practice, it's a complete shit show. Cops use broken window policing to go hard on non-violent criminals and they end up incarcerating more people than they should have. These are people who contribute to the neighborhood economy and help the community grow, but because they're in jail for some bullshit petty crime, the neighborhood ultimately suffers. Broken windows policing separates mothers and fathers from their children which adds trauma, depression, and anxiety into the mix.
Photography: Gordon Parks
Broken windows policing is incredibly racist because it's a policy most often used against Black and Brown people. Do you know how many POC families have been destroyed because of this shitty theory? Do you know how many police stations still adhere to broken windows policing?
Thankfully, BBQ Becky, Permit Patty, and Poolside Pete were punished by the slipper of social justice, but what about all the white people who successfully called the cops on innocent Black folks? How many Black folks pre-social media had to suck it up and bend to the will of a random white person? How many Black folks continue to be removed from public places by the force of a white cop and the request of a white racist
Afraid that all of this will disappear if enough Black people swim in pools that don't belong to them, white people feel it necessary to play yard duty in a country they're convinced belongs to them. White people are convinced that the mere sight of Blackness is a symbol of white erasure, and it's up to them to eradicate the problem so they can satisfy an itch that was never there.
