We’ve all seen this picture (or many variations of it) far too many times. What we don’t see here is the OTHER police standing around DOING nothing to stop this murder. WHY??????? NHI is possibly why.radicalreference.info/
"NHI n. U.S. Police slang no humans involved, an informal classification assigned to a crime giving it low priority because its victim is regarded as having a low social status. Low social status is just a euphenism for not worthy of consideration.
I think I first read this definition in a Joseph Wambaugh novel called The Blue Knight. (excert): 1973 J. WAMBAUGH Blue Knight ix. 124 Herb hated the drunk wagon. 'Niggers and white garbage,' he'd repeat over and over when something made him mad which was most of the time. And he called the wagon job 'the *N.H.I. detail'. When you asked him what that stood for he'd say 'No Humans Involved', and then he let out that donkey bray of his.
I don’t know just how widespread this thinking among police was in the 1970s or going forward into the ensuing years of policing in the American cities. But we all know that there were many crimes (murders, rapes, assults, thefts, etc.) perpatrated on POC, drug addicts, prostitutes, and minorities) that were considered “low priority” crimes just because of the people who were victims. And, for sure, not all (or even a majority) of police thought this way. But many did. And that may be a “carry over” into the police attitude to minority policing today.
Looking at the picture of Derick Chauvin with his knee on the neck of George Floyd it is quite evident that Chauvin considered George Floyd not human. Chauvin did not accredit any humanity to what he evidently just considered an object under his knee. And the other police standing watching this murder evidentally didn’t give George Floyd any consideration as a human. They all lost their humanity when they took away George Floyd’s human identity. Obviously, NHI. And we have seen many more incidents of minority arrests (and often deaths) where the police failed to show any humanity for their victims.
But this is not just an attitude that is noticible to policing. It also appears in many areas of society today (especially RWNJ actions) And, look at that! By using the term RWNJ I, myself, have taken the humanity away from a group of people that I don’t consider rational. This attitude is what allows “karen incidents”, violence against minorities by white people, mobs attacking the Capitol Building, and so many incidents where the perpatrators dismiss the humanity of others.
The top video shows a lady showing no humanity for a cancer patiient in a “karen” incident. She didn’t even think of the cancer patient as a person or as human. The person has become just an object of her ire, a nusiance to be swatted away.
And the bottom video shows her regret that her and her children have had their humanhood removed by many of the members of the community she lives in. It is an unfortunate situation for all involved, including her children and the community.
The founding of the United States took the humanity away from the slaves. Slaves were considered property only. They were counted as 3/5th of a person for southern state congressional representation only, but they were still just property, not human. Even once they were emancipated, they were not considered human by many southerners. The hangings of negroes, the rise of the KKK and the tolerence of the KKK by southern whites continued to take away the humanity of the negro. Even the exclusion of the negro from buildings, schools, drinking fountains, lunch counters, and seating on buses limited to the back seats excluded their humanity. And that continued through the Civil Rights movement of the 50s and 60s. And it still continues (to a smaller extent) today.
Again, we saw that same attitude in the incarceration and the confication of the property of the Japanese population during WWll. And we have seen it in the treatment of Native Americans from the first settlement of America to the killing of many Native Americans and the reservations we confined them to. America’s record of human rights is not “stellar” and we really have not been able to “show the world” a “shining example” of human rights action.
Let’s look at the coronavirus response led by the Trump administration. 560,000+ deaths----just numbers to many even as most can point to somebody they knew who died from the virus. Yet, we see many RW supporters dismissing the virus as a hoax, refusing to wear masks and social distance or take measures to protect others. This is because they have not given humanity to those who have died or to the rest of the vulnerable population. They are just numbers to them, and they often dispute the numbers. They can’t attribute humanity to those numbers (except any of those they personally lost).
So let’s look at many of the current actions of state legislatures in voter suppresion laws. Once again, we can see these legeslators taking away the humanity of certain populations of Americans. These Republican legislators don’t see these voters as humans. They are just marks on a paper ballot (or in some cased just checks on a computer screen where paper ballots are not used). They are the undesirable part of the population that don’t conform to their idea or political views. NHI (no human involved).
Again, we can look at the Republican response to the immigration problems. The Republican view of these people is that they are undesirable (NHI). They are not worthy of the protection due humanity. And this seems to be their same response to mass shootings and police brutality. Their rights to guns, all peoples right to guns (any gun including mass destruction guns) usurps the rights of others to be safe from gun violence. Yes, they may condemn the violence, but they don’t recognize the rights of the victims to be free from death. NHI.
Is this the attitude of all Americans or even most Americans? Is this the attitude of even most Republicans? I want to think not, at least not consiously. But it does appear that many have lost the ability to attribute humanity to others they consider “beneath them”. It isn’t just that their rights take precedence over others rights, it is that they don’t recognize the others as having humanity or rights. And that allows them to dismiss the others as NHI.
I have found the Dkos community and those who support democratic principles (and most Democratic politicians) to be part of a community that cares, that sees the need to consider everybody as human and worthy of consideration (for the most part). We care, we speak out against the injustices of the political world, the policing world, against the wealthy who want the riches of this nation exclusively for themselves, and many other causes that afflict the citizens of this nation and even the world. Yes, we show our humanity daily and we recognize the humanity of most of the rest of the citizens.
But there are times when we fail in showing our humanity fully or recognize the humanity of others. In my forth paragraph, I pointed out an example of removing humanity from a group of people. We all do it, sometimes unconsiously. And we do it when we dismiss our friends, relatives, neighbors, etc. because they don’t think as we do. Yes, sometimes it is hard to talk to them, but we can’t allow ourselves to take away their humanity, because we give up a piece of our own humanity when we do. We’re human, they’re human, and as humans, we all have flaws. There are times when we can’t take their BS anymore, but we need to be able to take them as a person just as we want to be a person to them. It is all part of being a part of humanity, a caring person who can cope with the humanity of somebody we don’t agree with (and sometimes don’t even respect). America needs more of this, the world needs more of this, and we Dkos individuals need more of this. Don’t let us fall into the trap of NHI.