For weeks, Republicans have been irresponsibly whipping up an Ebola panic in this country for the purposes of political gain. In response, President Obama today made a political appointment, as opposed to a public health one, in naming Ron Klain as the nation's first 'Ebola Czar.'
Here we have Republicans creating a false crisis – those same Republicans currently blocking Obama's choice for Surgeon General – and a new political position is formed, publicly validating Republicans' petulant cries and furthering their fear-mongering.
Contrast this with Democrats and progressives who have been clamoring for the demilitarization of our police forces and an overhaul of police practices in America after over 5,000 civilian deaths at the hands of law enforcement since 2001. Has a new political position been created to address this actual American crisis? Has a Police Brutality Czar been named, capable of coordinating the demilitarization of local precincts, the institution of officer cameras and the relaxing of First Amendment protest restrictions? Particularly after Mike Brown and the ongoing protests in Ferguson?
No, there have been no meaningless appointments made in response.
Instead, the Obama administration has actually made some impactful appointments behind the scenes, such as tapping Christy E. Lopez, who is directing a large DOJ civil rights investigation into police misconduct, to reform the Ferguson Police Department. Additionally, it recently named ACLU leader Vanita Gupta to head up the Civil Rights Division at the Justice Department, an appointment widely hailed in progressive circles but largely under the radar in mainstream America.
Which is to say that, while the Obama administration has actually been taking baby steps to address police brutality, public demands for justice have not been publicly validated as a dire political issue by the Obama administration in the same way it did today with the appointment of an Ebola Czar. Meaning: while small, tangible steps are being taken, few in America really know about them, which means they don't know the White House is validating police misconduct as an issue demanding some attention.
But they know such is the case, after a single death and Republican heads splitting, with regard to Ebola. The appointment of a new czar has taken care of that.
This type of awareness for police misconduct and the militarization of police forces is needed in the public sphere as well to combat it. We need more than quiet appointments with little of the bully pulpit to back them up.
This may sound strange, but am I asking for a meaningless, political czar to address the blight of police brutality and the militarization of police forces?
In conjunction with meaningful reforms, you bet I am.
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David Harris-Gershon is author of the memoir What Do You Buy the Children of the Terrorist Who Tried to Kill Your Wife?, recently published by Oneworld Publications.