The politics of harm: How conservative policies disguise their impact on our communities

Historically, there have been conservative political forces that have advocated policies that are harmful to Black people, while claiming these policies are good for us.

John Calhoun, the seventh vice president of the United States, once said in 1837 that “never before has the Black race of Central Africa, from the dawn of history to the present, attained a condition so civilized and so improved, not only physically, but morally and intellectually.” He said this in defense of an argument that slavery has been good for Black people. 

One of the underlying beliefs that is central to the collective American consciousness is that the mere presence of White people in Black communities is helpful for our advancement in society. White folks who decide they want to help Black people tend not to be vetted due to the “White savior” narrative that is heavily propagated in this society. This dynamic has usually resulted in a perverse, parasitic and exploitative relationship between our community and the White people who claim to want to help us. 

Policies that are designed to counter the dehumanization carried out by the criminal justice system against Black people are often opposed by major elements within the law enforcement establishment (prosecutors, fraternal order of police, etc). Their opposition is often framed in the context of protecting victims of crime. What is frustrating about that frame is that many of the people and political figures who oppose criminal justice reform efforts, in the name of victims of crime, are not meaningfully engaged with people in the community (non-law enforcement) that are actively fighting to address violence. In fact, there are very few places on the record (if at all) where Republicans and moderate Democrats who are opponents of substantive criminal justice reform policies have championed efforts to fight against the structural racism that defines much of the social reality of the masses of Black people. 

In other words, the law enforcement establishment seems to only care about victims who are killed mostly by Black people, but not about the victims of mass incarceration. There is a tolerance for the fact that Black people are 31 percent of the state’s population but are 72 percent of Maryland prison population, that indicates a tacit belief in the disposability of working class Black people that are most vulnerable to mass incarceration.