From “hands up; don’t shoot” to “hands off,” listen to the difference in language when African and European Americans make demands of their leaders. One reassures the hearer to maintain their safety and assumes the threat of violence while the other just makes their demand. Because for African Americans who engage in protest, there is a long history of police officers being very hands-on.
On April 5th, demonstrators gathered across the country in opposition to the Trump administration and to say, “Hands off!” Hands off undocumented immigrants, education, health care, social security, the arts, the press, national parks, and veteran services. The administration’s policies have long been under fire for their overreach.
Predominately attended by European Americans, comparisons are being made in online forums to the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020. Five years later, the national ‘Hands Off” rallies show a stark difference in police presence and the comparative treatment of European Americans by law enforcement.
There was no fear of tear gas or arrest. Because, despite being warned by social justice activists to cover their faces, turn off their phones and not record their involvement, there’s footage, group pictures and selfies.
And it’s not a good look. Lawn chairs give the appearance of a block party. Without police in riot gear, it gives the feel of a parade.
Megan Gillman wrote in a post that has since been deleted:
“Thoughts from my first protest:
- My kid was bored. I don’t think it would be too hard to arrange a bouncy castle or something?
- People laughed at my sign and so I made some friends and that was nice.
- Idk I think there should be more singing?
Overall 8/10 would do again”
Sadly, she wasn’t joking. No, she was quite serious when she scaled and rated her satisfaction. As if at a restaurant, she left an online review because it was experienced—not embodied.
Gillman includes things that would have made it better for her and her child: “a bouncy castle or something” and “more singing.” Not surprisingly, the “right to comfort” is a tenant of white body supremacy.
She felt safe bringing her child and did not expect to be met with opposition, much less force. How else could you explain her need for a Fisher Price protest? Perhaps she also would have appreciated food vendors and hydration stations at this resistance-themed block party.
And she’s not alone in her misunderstanding of protesting the government takeover. Some were asking if they could bring their dogs. But protest is not a walk in the park, and if you think it is, then you’re doing it all wrong.
One Tiktoker, who goes by the initials Jx, described the rallies as “the gentrification of civil unrest.” So, of course, there was a decreased police presence as European Americans aren’t targeted in their communities. Naturally, there are no images of European Americans being beaten, tased, shot or killed.
While participating in the 2020 protests, a group of strangers and I, united in our disgust for police brutality, shared a Sharpie and a lawyer’s phone number, which we were instructed to write on our forearms in case we were arrested. We were given bottled water and directed to a central location for supplies, especially in the event we needed to flush our eyes if met with tear gas, which police officers might use as a deterrent.
For months, I walked the streets of Washington, D.C., singing, chanting and shouting in protest of police brutality and in defense of the dignity of African Americans. We only raised our voices. Still, we were met with guns and bayonets. More than a few of us were arrested.
Body slammed to the ground, I grabbed his car keys and passed them down. We screamed, “What’s your name?” so we could tell his family that he was being arrested.
We asked the officers, “What did he do wrong?” No response.
So, what do we say now that we have at least 1,400 mass-action protest examples throughout the country without a single image of boarded up buildings or police officers holding the line? Is it “hands up; don’t shoot” or “hands off”?
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