The following is a short letter I wrote and am dispersing to every elected official who represents me, with slight modifications based on what is up for debate/vote in their body. If you're inclined to do the same, this tool is an excellent resource to look up who represents you from the county up, as well as how to contact their offices. Make them work for a living.
Hello,
My name is Sam Rapine. I am a
twenty-seven-year-old medical professional, splitting my time between the
emergency department and intensive care unit in a Montgomery County hospital and
the streets as a firefighter/EMT while pursuing my certification as a
registered nurse.
I am also white, and that I need to specify this
lies at the heart of why I’m writing you today.
In point of fact, I never written my
representative. Not in the House or Senate at any level, nor an ombudsman, nor
even so much as my college’s provost. I have never felt the need, as my life is
lush with opportunity. I currently hold a bachelor’s degree in political
science, and I am lucky enough to have tried my hand in that field, found it
lacking in fulfillment, and been able to return to school with support and
approval on every level. With twelve- and twenty-four hour shifts, I fit in my
runs at odd times. Flush with exhaustion after some of those shifts, I may not
always drive with the diligence that I should.
The recent events in Minneapolis and Louisville,
as well those in Ferguson, New York City, and indeed every American city,
illustrate that my reality is stunningly, unconscionably distant from that of
black Americans. Every black American is entered into a lottery every time they
go for a jog, or start their car, or even when they lay down to sleep in their
own home. The headlines remind us that these activities, ones which you and I
undertake so freely, are rolls of the dice for non-white citizens of this
country, and the losing roll means a knee to the back of the neck, a crushed
windpipe, or eight bullets into a prone and defenseless body.
Many of my neighbors live in a failed state.
Extrajudicial killings, de facto
apartheids, and systemic disenfranchisement are the stuff of autocracies. And
while my writing this letter without fear of recrimination means that we are
not all the way there, that such entreaties are no doubt papering your desk
means that we are bound in a dangerous direction.
I’m imploring you to help stop this, and damn the
cost. Politics is often—of valid democratic necessity—a game. In contrast to
the bloodshed and Hobbesian sovereignty that came before it, there is beauty in
that dance of give and take, an understanding that in compromise and
capitulation we can reach a middle ground on which we can all comfortably
stand.
Today we are not fighting for middle ground. Today
we waver at the crumbling edge of a cliff.
Forget political capital, forget election
strategy, and forget party divisions. If we fail to address this problem, there
is no reason to raise the flag in the morning because the republic for which it
stands will be a lie. If we cannot agree that we as a country are in desperate
need of massive, lasting change, then Washington’s Great Experiment will have
but one undeniable outcome: failure. And most importantly: if we do not act
now, the blood of innocent men, women and children will be on our hands.
There are things, some specific, some broad and
ready for interpretation, that you can do in your position:
- · The Justice in Policing Act of 2020 is the tip of the spear in effecting meaningful change. I want you to throw your full weight behind it, and urge your fellow Representatives to do the same.
- · Demand thorough reevaluation of use-of-force policies in every department, coupled with a physical fitness and martial capability requirement. Numerous combat systems teach techniques to incapacitate and neutralize threats, and these should be drilled ad nauseum to diminish the need for lethal force to resolve a situation. It will take patience, persistence, and sweat to reach this level of proficiency on a mass scale, and if that’s the price to pay to save American lives, every police officer worthy of the title should be glad to pay it.
- · Police unions have grown entirely too powerful, and this has led to a complete lack of accountability. I support unions as a rule. However, when a union’s financial might has made challenge impossible in the court of law, it is a clear sign that their original intention of fair representation has accomplished the exact opposite. Their unchecked power needs correction.
- · There is no reasonable argument against body cameras, nor in favor of their discretionary use. Body cameras protect our citizens from improper policing every bit as much as they protect good police officers from unfounded allegations. Footage conveys fact with unparalleled clarity, invariably to the benefit of the rightly-acting party or parties.
- ·
Mayor Melvin Carter of St. Paul raised the
inspiring notion of community-based policing—that the best police officers
would be "people who
understand and know our community, who see the beauty of our community, who
feel comfortable and safe in our community." This sentiment cannot be
echoed loudly enough, nor often enough. An emphasis on the importance of police
officers from the community that they are sworn to protect is critical in
reshaping our notion of policing away from “battlespaces” and toward
peacekeeping.
- · Please take seriously notions of “defunding the police”. It isn’t the slogan I would have chosen, but all the same: this is not a rallying cry for anarchy, nor is it a utopian ideal. Think of it instead as an acknowledgment that the police are asked to address a dizzying breadth of issues for which they are not trained, equipped, or inclined. Relegating issues of mental health, homelessness, and even non-violent crime of systemic origin like drug use and custody issues to the right hands diminish strain on the police while giving people the help that they need—and the faith in the system that they deserve. Funding alternative programs takes the onus off of the police, who are clearly taxed beyond their limits.
This is by no means an exhaustive list, and if I
may make one final recommendation, it is to heed groups like Campaign Zero,
Reform Alliance, the Sentencing Project, the Innocence Project, and many
similar organizations. With dedicated members, tireless work, and unshakeable
vision, they need the same from you to clear the way and bring about real
change.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this letter, I
am an emergency medical technician. As I registered at a state and national
level, I know that I went through the same lessons that Breonna Taylor did. She
and I learned the same techniques to splint an arm, the same grip on a
bag-valve mask to give oxygenated breaths, the same rate of compressions to
provide lifesaving care. Years and miles apart, we both climbed aboard an
ambulance for the first time, and we both came to believe in the number that
America calls when it needs help: 911.
Breonna Taylor was shot dead in her home by the
people on the other end of that number. They betrayed her trust. They betray
black Americans every day, and I need you to help me put an end to it.
Respectfully,
~Samuel O Rapine
PA EMT-B #215204
