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.

  • OgdenTO [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    My kids school is basically across the street from a police station, and cops come into the school to give copaganda presentations regularly. My kids are white, but the majority of the school is racialized kids.

    I also want to have a don't talk to cops/dont trust cops talk, and it hurts me when they roleplay as cops and talk about sending bad guys to jail. I do tell them that I don't like that kind of playing, and try to have a talk about bad guys -- that there aren't really bad guys on the sense that they're taught.

    I hope that someone here might have a good answer to your question, as I don't have a lot of insight into this. And countering the full on propaganda that is taught to them by daycare and teachers and the cops themselves is going to take some care. Luckily, I think they do listen to me about knowledge stuff.

    I do know that my kids are taught about racism, and a lot of their friends are non white, so I'm considering starting from that angle.

    • star_wraith [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      it hurts me when they roleplay as cops and talk about sending bad guys to jail

      I really like how you handled this, though; because it's probably inevitable that most kids are gonna role play this way at some point. Especially this idea of "the bad guys" which is so incredibly prevalent in US society.