Vile, violent ‘other white meat’ on flag-draped coffin at Kansas City police protest
The words “the other white meat” had been painted on the coffin, which was draped in the American flag and left at the base of the stairs outside the Kansas City Police Department headquarters at a protest last Friday.
This offensive and completely counterproductive display — people are not “meat” — was meant to symbolize the death of white supremacy, according to organizers of the group Friday Night Protest, which stages regular demonstrations against police brutality and for the removal of Police Chief Rick Smith.
But that it was widely seen as a call for violence against police should surprise no one. Dehumanizing others is always wrong, and what is referring to people as “white meat” if not that? White supremacy as the white meat in question didn’t come through, so if that was the intention, it just didn’t work.
On Friday, the names of the more than 150 people, most of them Black, who’ve been killed by police in Kansas City since 1998 were read aloud. But of course that message was overshadowed by the more incendiary one. This wasn’t just stepping on your own message but stomping on it.
Images and criticism of the coffin have naturally circulated on social media. “One of the grossest things you will see at KC Police HQ this weekend. BLM marchers put this on the steps,” Pete Mundo of KCMO Talk Radio posted on Facebook. He called the image “disgusting and disgraceful.”
The point was to push for police reform, but this accomplished just the opposite, giving those who oppose reform a great visual with which to instill fear and say see, this is who those who want reform are.
We’re not anti-police, and neither are the protesters. We’re anti-brutality and pro-accountability.
That didn’t come through on Friday, because words are powerful, especially when wielded by a movement, and you can’t successfully fight violent actions with violent words, ever.
Entirely predictable result: No one is circulating images of the candles and flowers carried during the weekly demonstrations to remember those who have been killed.
Protest organizers said that not every one of them supported displaying the coffin. Some immediately saw the damage that would be done, but were overridden. Steve Young, one of the founders of Friday Night Protest, explained why he did support the display.
“It’s disappointing that everyone is focusing on this coffin,” Young said. “It’s just a symbol, art, the artist’s expression of his personal pain and outrage of what Black people have been experiencing for decades. If it’s a bit insensitive to some people, well it is really insensitive for police to keep killing unarmed Black people. … We are not out there calling for people to kill the cops. We want the cops to stop killing us. All we want is to have equal protection like everybody else.”
He said he supported the artwork because “all my life I have had to watch what I say, how I dress, what I do, around white people so they don’t feel uncomfortable. However, my people are being slaughtered and Black people are tired of censoring ourselves.”
All of that is undeniably true. The work that today’s activists have been doing across this country to combat racism and discrimination of any kind has been transformative because people are paying attention. They’re writing about it and debating it.
The message that all kinds of people are no longer willing to tolerate the intolerable level of police brutality against mostly Black and brown people is having an impact. Words that undercut that message do no one any good.
And words intended to “other” only succeed in causing harm.