The Value (or Lack Thereof) of Circulating Footage of Police Brutality
Some things to keep in mind before sharing the footage of state-sanctioned violence towards Black people on social media.
There have been so many instances of state violence against Black people, just in the last few years, that it’s impossible to keep track. Anytime these incidents happen and footage is recorded and published online, it inevitably shows up on social media. While many people believe they’re doing a service by sharing these things, I’d urge everyone to think twice and question whether or not it should be shared…9 times out of 10, the answer is:
Please be mindful when tagging people in and/or sharing posts that show explicit footage of state-sanctioned violence against Black people. Yes, it’s important that the footage be out there as a matter of record and proof. But fact is, there’s virtually zero value with these things being circulated around social media.
Black people are a population that has seen brutal images of its own brutally killed in every disgusting, savage way imaginable, for centuries…and have never gotten a break from it. A lot of Black people live the reality ofseeing other Black people brutalized by state violence (and the many forms that takes), up close and personal…every single day. It can take the form of one traumatic event, or it can be a lifetime of being subjected to white supremacy’s effects on our most vulnerable communities. Many Black people are very much suffering from PTSD over the violence that the race has had to endure. Others are simply exhausted of seeing slain Black bodies. We’ve seen enough footage of our brothers’ and sisters’ murdered bodies to last a lifetime (or five); we don’t need to be triggered by being exposed to the images of more…there comes a point where it just adds no value. The knowledge that it happened (and will certainly happen again tomorrow…and the day after…and the day after) is more than enough.
For others (particularly white people), the common argument is "the world needs to see it"...but do they really? How many more damn pieces of evidence do they need to see the truth? Why do so many people need to see us dying in order to magically find our humanity and believe what Black people have been saying? Anyone who’s truly interested and invested in solving the problems don’t need such an extreme form of "proof"...they already believed us.
Truth of the matter is, for a lot of y’all, the state murder of Black bodies is a spectator sport. White supremacy has LONG gotten off on the images of slain Black bodies being circulated. During the Jim Crow days, white people took and shared photos of lynched Black people for kicks, and now the footage of Black men being killed by police is being circulated for retweets, likes, and even money (i.e. A certain trash NY-based publication that will remain nameless in this post). It’s a sick, morbid form of entertainment for most people.
As I said, it’s absolutely important that the footage be out there and available, as a matter of record, but circulating these things does no good, beyond feeding people’s own personal interests and egos. It’s triggering for people who are more heavily affected by the violence; it’s trauma porn for people who are removed from it and wouldn’t have been inclined to care (certainly not to the point of actually wanting to do anything about it), regardless. There’s not much of anything of value to be gained, here.
Please keep this in mind before you his “reblog", “retweet”, “tag [friend’s name]”, etc. You’re not helping as much as you’ve convince yourselves you are.
Also, this…
