Tag Archives: police

Trump and the battle of Portland

Posted on July 22, 2020 by David S. Meyer

The president of the United States is ready to sacrifice Portland, Oregon–to say nothing of the US Constitution–to buy into a longshot strategy for winning reelection. Portland, like virtually every city in the United States, has seen large and somewhat … Continue reading →

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Who organized the racial justice demonstrations?

Posted on July 13, 2020 by David S. Meyer

I want to know who’s put together these demonstrations against racialized police violence all across the United States.  The  police  killing  of  George  Floyd  was  a provocation,  but  protests  don’t  automatically  follow  from  injustice. Organizers make demonstrations happen. Those large … Continue reading →

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Putting activists and authorities on alert and cultivating allies

Posted on June 15, 2020 by David S. Meyer

One round of activism can clear the way for the next one–even by other people–to make larger gains. The wave of protests against racialized police violence has already effectively promoted changes. It started with the arrests and indictments of the … Continue reading →

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Why #JusticeforGeorge spurred a national movement

Posted on June 14, 2020 by David S. Meyer

Certainly the Minneapolis police officer who crushed George Floyd’s neck with his knee, or the three other officers who stood by as it happened, had no sense that they’d face punishment, much less spark a national campaign against racial violence.  … Continue reading →

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Statuary impacts: complex causality, the limits of social science, and striking Gen. Lee’s statue

Posted on June 8, 2020 by David S. Meyer

In the wake of a dozen days and nights of protest against racialized police violence, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam ordered the removal of a statue of General Robert E. Lee, that has loomed over the state capital’s Monument Park for … Continue reading →

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Police, provocation, and protest

Posted on May 31, 2020 by David S. Meyer

Bad policing poked an old open wound in American life, one that had suffered continual poking and scratching over the past few weeks, months, years, and turned thousands of people out into the streets in protest. Bad policing of the … Continue reading →

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Protest, Riot, and Rebellion in Minneapolis

Posted on May 29, 2020 by David S. Meyer

Protesters took to the streets of Minneapolis in response to the police killing of George Floyd. And they stayed. Some wore masks and tried to observe public health protocols for social distance. Some carried gas masks. Some broke windows of … Continue reading →

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Repression/Concession Digression and Hong Kong

Posted on September 5, 2019 by David S. Meyer

Social protest movements are messy collections of people and groups with different ideas about what they want and how to get it. They tend to do best when they can maintain some kind of unified presence in relation to authorities … Continue reading →

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How activists should respond to the racist right: 1. nonviolent counterdemonstrations

Posted on August 30, 2017 by David S. Meyer

Of course it’s heartening to see 40,000 explicitly anti-racist demonstrators turn out in Boston (August 20), dwarfing the assembly they were protesting against. Was it the best approach to countering white nationalist mobilization advancing in response to Trump adminstration policies … Continue reading →

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How Trump encourages and provokes political violence

Posted on August 17, 2017 by David S. Meyer

Donald Trump has done great damage to more than his presidency. With his remarks about the tragedy in Charlottesville, Trump dramatically increased the nourishment and encouragement he has been feeding the racist right. Activists respond to signals, and racist right … Continue reading →

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