Drones and Lethal Robotics: The Future of the Police War on Black Lives
“We are not in a police state now, not yet. I’m talking about what may come. I realize I shouldn’t put it that way … White, middle-class, educated people like myself are not living in a police state … Black, poor people are living in a police state.” – Daniel Ellsberg speaking with Arundhati Roy
Mass movement against police brutality is not a new phenomenon, but the last few years have seen a rise in calls for accountability. The idea that police officers should face at least some repercussions for their actions seems to have struck a chord within public consciousness. But as long as police forces have been around, they have worked to maintain white supremacy through brutality and blunt force. From the birth of modern police departments as slave patrols and Indian constables to their current role as an occupying force in communities of color, this domestic army with a militia in every locality has been tasked with subjugating Black people. The violence waged against Black bodies has often served as the societal predecessor to what will inevitably be waged against everyone else. The police have always seen us as a threat that needed to be monitored and this is fundamentally why they exist to begin with.