Taking the Knee in the New Vanities of the Bonfires – By Anne Hendershott (American Spectator) / June 3 2020
Status degradation of the NYPD.
At the height of the rioting this past weekend in New York City, Terence Monaham, the chief of the NYPD, hugged demonstrators and took a knee with protesters in Greenwich Village. Calling for an end to the violence in the city, the police chief urged for the “continuation of peaceful protests” and asked those gathered to condemn violence. ABC7 reported that Monaham told the outlet that “we hugged to show there’s solidarity.”
Boasting that New York City is going to “show the country how this is done,” Monaham said that the protest leaders asked him to take a knee with demonstrators to “encourage peace.” But it was a short-lived peace as a few hours after the hugging and knee-taking, peaceful protests turned violent again with looting, vandalism, and arson. In fact, the city has become so violent and the riots so destructive that on Tuesday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo sharply criticized the NYPD and Mayor Bill de Blasio: “The NYPD and the mayor did not do their job last night. It was rampant looting across the city last night that they did not stop. Look at the videos — it was a disgrace.”
They understand that the horrific treatment afforded to George Floyd was an aberration and they are disgusted by it. But to take a knee that suggests systemic racism within the NYPD is a bridge too far for many in the rank and file.
Still, the knee-taking continues. In fact, symbolic knee-taking ceremonies for police officers — akin to the tribal status degradation ceremonies that anthropologists write about — are now being demanded of the police by the protesters. Taking the knee was never about encouraging peace. Taking the knee has always been an angry symbol of protest against protesters’ perceptions of rampant police brutality and racism. Born out of demonstrations against racism and brutality by Black Power advocates and civil rights activists — and often accompanied by a raised fist — the symbol was revived by one-time NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who became famous for taking the knee during the national anthem to protest racism. Kaepernick himself said that he took a knee “for the people who are on the streets, who are being abused. For cops who are abusing their authority.”
Continue to article: https://spectator.org/taking-knee-new-vanity-bonfires-nypd-riots/
