What I can't get out of my mind from the audio of the Sandra Bland tape (I haven't watched the video, I don't think I need to): it's harrowing, like a miniature play by August Strindberg, in the tranformation of the cop from cool-neutral and bureaucratic to freaked-out monster, while the victim remains the same, irritable and not very accepting, as you can understand. My inner racist is whispering, well, he's being respectful, he's being courteous, and she's not taking it. Though of course why should she? He has no reason to pull her over in the first place, no reason to arrest her, no reason to make demands on what she does in her private space.
It's that his politeness is a fraud from the start, based on his confidence in the power relations, that he's entitled to do with her whatever he wants. He thinks he's being a good person because he's not doing it with an angry voice, or because he's not hitting her. He thinks he's very patient and forebearing, and what freaks him out is that she's not impressed. His need to humiliate her is so great, and just keeps getting greater until it explodes.
No comments:
Post a Comment