WeCopwatch’s public disassociation of posts being disseminated over Copblock, Police The Police, and the Free Thought Project.
This is Jacob of WeCopwatch. I want to reach out to the thousands of people who are appalled by recent posts on the Copblock Facebook page. While WeCopwatch is not Copblock, or The Free Thought Project, I can say that there has been a lot of internal debates, fights, and discussions about these posts. You are not alone.
Some videos and memes posted on Copblock recently have used images of that CHP officer violently beating a helpless black woman on the side of the highway to downplay women’s experiences of sexual harassment as depicted in that despicably racist “street harassment” video.
A lot of people have interpreted these posts to suggest that one image captures state violence against women, while another depicts people being friendly to a woman walking down the road. Initially, I thought the post was a jab at racist America all up in arms about a white woman being harassed by black men, but not being upset at the image of a white male officer beating a black grandmother senseless.
But there is another message in that meme and subsequent posts that I find really problematic. Downplaying women’s daily experiences of being harassed.
First I want to get this cleared up. That video is racist liberal trash made to rally the white left around a soon to be made law that will be used against people who are not white.
Second, there is a common theme among some in the very small population of Libertarian women that goes something like this. “Grow the fuck up. Women aren’t oppressed in this world.” But one would have to understand the individualist culture of Liberty folks to know they only speak for themselves. It’s part of self-ownership.
So this message goes to ALL parties involved. The racist liberals, the woman beaters, the street harassers, the meme makers, and the ignorant individualists that speak for others by denying the abuse that so many women experience daily.
A meme is the simplification of something far more complex. You can’t simplify fucked up street interactions into men just being friendly.
Oh wait. . . You can when you put it next to a CHP officer beating a woman on the side of the highway.
Actually, you can make anything look great when placing it next to a CHP officer beating a woman on the side of the highway.
These posts have been irresponsible because they suggest that we have to choose one form of abuse to another. And that’s not how it works. Well unless you put an image of a CHP officer beating a woman on the side of the highway.
I’ll use some copwatching examples to help bring some clarity to why I think these memes and posts are not only counterproductive, but support violence against women.
1. Ok so copwatching. You witness the day to day street harassment of the police, their threats of violence and coercion. (many who downplay sexual harassment do view simple police threats and acts of coercion as violence)
2. Then one day you witness police violence in the rawest form.
No one would argue that the second incident is far more brutal and raw than the first. But no one would argue that the first example, the more frequent police experience is not fucked up. We often hear from Statists, “well you must have done something wrong to deserve that treatment.” Do you see where this is going?
Police stop and harass people day in and day out. It’s a real problem.
Police are a real problem.
So is the entitlement many men feel when they sexually harass someone they know does not want to interact with them. I suppose if most women never experienced sexual assault on some level, this would be a non-issue. But it’s a problem. Rape, assault, harassment. It’s a problem.
Unfortunately many deflect sexual harassment as kindness. (probably because they’re guilty of harassment)
“well you must have done something wrong to deserve that treatment.” says the Statists as they watch acts of “kindness” dissolve to insults.
Women go through it. Day in and day, from losers in social circles to losers in the workplace, to losers in the street.
To those losers, if someone doesn’t want to interact with you. Leave them the fuck alone.
To the deniers, shame on your for belittling other people’s real experiences. Just because you don’t experience it, doesn’t give you the right to say it doesn’t exist.
To the meme makers, you set Copblock back years when you release irresponsible messages that depict Copblock as a white man’s club. You can do better. (important note. Memes and posts are made by individuals from various groups and pages.)
To the racist liberals who made this video, good job. You made sexual harassment a joke when you edited out the white men. Way to make sexual violence, a race thing.
WeCopwatch wants to make it clear, you are safe and welcome in our community.
We don’t take kindly to oppression, whether it be from the state, or from people.
We know that in order to take on police violence, we need to change the fucked up mentalities we have in our society, or we will inevitably perpetuate everything we find so wrong in the state.
Good luck out there.
