Managing the Shock

Roger Berkowitz
The apparent murder of Tyre Nichols by five Memphis police officers has once again thrust the issue of racialized policing into the spotlight. This particular case has been called different because the five officers were black, as was Mr. Nichols. The officers have been charged with second-degree murder as well as kidnapping. The Mayor and Police Chief of Memphis condemned the killing. Juliette Kayyem argues that “All of this reveals the sad fact that, because of the sheer number of times Americans have now confronted videos of police officers killing Black citizens, public officials have gotten better at managing the shock.” On Twitter, the argument seems to be whether it is a sign of white supremacy when black officers murder a black man.  For Kayyem, police brutality is a fact of life, and we must learn to respond without becoming numb to it. She writes:

Anticipating unrest after police misconduct, and trying to minimize its likelihood, is no solution for the misconduct itself. Nor should the lack of violence in the streets be conflated with a lack of urgency for reform. But we have seen, possibly, how public officials and community leaders can at least prepare for the righteous anger and frustration that is sure to follow, and then anticipate how to support communities as they express that reaction in nonviolent ways. Like mass shootings, police brutality is, tragically, common enough in the United States that we are getting better at addressing its consequences. The challenge is to not become numb to it.