Friday, July 27, 2012
Normal Behavior
How did we become a society where police slamming kids against the pavement and kicking them in the face is considered normal behavior?
As Nicholas Mirzoeff notes, this is a question now being pondered in New York -- birthplace of Occupy Wall Street -- where free assembly and free speech are still being challenged by police batons and pepper spray. While hardly a new phenomenon when citizens rise up against tyranny, excessive force and police brutality since the 1999 Battle in Seattle has taken on a new function; not just to protect the interests of the rich and powerful, but to prevent the rest of us from even talking about it.
As Nicholas Mirzoeff notes, this is a question now being pondered in New York -- birthplace of Occupy Wall Street -- where free assembly and free speech are still being challenged by police batons and pepper spray. While hardly a new phenomenon when citizens rise up against tyranny, excessive force and police brutality since the 1999 Battle in Seattle has taken on a new function; not just to protect the interests of the rich and powerful, but to prevent the rest of us from even talking about it.
