Power (Nexflix Documentary)

[CM-BlueButterfly]

May 17, 2024

Netflix synopsis: Delve into the untold history of American policing in this thought-proving documentary that asks, "Who is more powerful, the people - or the police?"

 

 

[Bastet]

I'm expecting this to be wonderfully done, and quite powerful; Yance Ford's documentary Strong Island about his brother's murder blew me away (I posted about it at the time in the Documentaries thread, if anyone is interested in an overview of that case and film).  And this Hollywood Reporter review tells me this film is going to be right up my alley, too:
 

Quote

To explain exactly how our government became so dependent on and loyal to the police, Power takes us back to the beginning of American law enforcement. Through archival footage and talking head interviews with writers and scholars, we learn that policing evolved from America’s need to keep both the Black and Indigenous populations under government control. In the mid-1700s, slave patrols were formed to catch and harass enslaved Black people. Later, in the 1800s, troops were deployed to forcibly remove Native Americans from their land to make room for white settlers. The connection between these efforts slowly became clear; both ensured white power over the land while establishing a permanent lower class. 

Another important aspect of policing that Ford highlights is strike-breaking, which began concurrently with the militia and patrols. This practice established the police as a force against dissent, targeting those dealing with low wages and an unsatisfying quality of life. Interrogating the phrase “law and order,” Power makes plain the police’s role in maintaining an unfair class system. The law is determined by the government, but order is defined by snuffing out social progress. Connecting this history to our present, we begin to see that the role of police at political protests is to ensure that change never comes.

Ford smartly connects these efforts to the establishment of whiteness in America. After slavery was abolished, poor white people were incentivized not to align themselves with Black people despite their shared economic struggles. This separation was enforced by the police, who were instructed and trained to target Black people, treating them noticeably worse than anyone considered white.

Ford threads together this information by creating a cohesive tapestry of corruption that evolved through a series of conscious choices by the government to define police power as absolute.

 

Edited April 23 by Bastet