Maybe an odd question, so I'll unpack it a bit. Back during the time of the Michael Brown shooting, I remember hearing about how black parents often have "the talk" with their kids about the pigs. About how they aren't there to help, about how to stay safe around them, etc.
I'm white, my kids are white, and I realized I need to have my own ACAB talk with them eventually. This weekend, my older toddler said to me "the police keep us safe". I'm guessing she picked it up from day care teachers because I don't let her watch any TV that glorifies pigs and I live in a kinda reactionary area.
When she asked, I kinda fumbled and just said "not really, the police don't keep people safe". I knew that wasn't a great answer but she's little so she just sorta heard it and then moved on to her next unrelated topic. I've been thinking about it. I have some time, but at some point I need to talk to her and tell her the truth about cops.
Do you all have any advice about how to explain the reality of policing in America to white kids? I'm making that "white" qualifier for a reason. In white spaces and communities, the copanganda kids face is intense. The cops are portrayed as these kind, benevolent peacemakers who are only there to help. And frankly, the cops themselves do a great job propagandizing white kids. They make sure to have all these positive interactions with them when they're young. That's what I have to fight against. I know because that was my experience as a white kid growing up. I never really had negative interactions with cops myself. Shitting on cops was very much socially forbidden among my Mayo-American social circle. And the last mental domino to fall in me becoming a leftist was realizing how absolutely shitty cops are and their real role in the system. I really want my kids to be able to see the cops for who they are, even though I know how much of an uphill battle that's going to be for me.
Jake on The Law - Adventure Time
Honestly, I'm not sure how you'd really explain it without also unraveling the very idea of America. One of the big things I've been doing these past couple of decades has been trying to unlearn all the mythology I was taught and it goes all the way back to the founding of the country, ya know? Zinn's A People's History was a big first step for me and they have a website with resources for teaching kids that might help as yours get older, because it's not just gonna be cops you have to teach them about. They're gonna get taught that Presidents are all good people, our military is always the good guy, etc...
Teaching People's History | The Zinn Education Project
Real History: Myths of the Founding Fathers (FULL) Michael Parenti - YouTube
That website looks pretty cool. Great for "we're learning about X in school".
Yeah, I follow them on insta and they're pretty on point.
That adventure time bit is so dope! I think that conservatives would agree with it too, for better or for worse. They always try and accuse oppressed peoples of being something like sore losers. That means that the takeaway will depend on the values of whoever is watching it, and I can assume that their kids at least have that.