Teen Vogue op-ed argues Black officers are oppressors: Policing is ‘systemically racist,’ ‘innately violent’

An op-ed in Teen Vogue decided that all black police officers were siding with oppressors and aiding the oppression of the black community.

Public defender Olayemi Olorin wrote an op-ed titled, “Tyre Nichols was killed by black police officers because the entire system is racist.” He argued that “how diversifying police departments cannot change the fact that policing is systemically racist and inherently violent.”

Op-ed 29-year-old Tyre Nichols was shot and killed by police officers during a traffic stop. Authorities released footage last week showing Nichols being beaten by five Memphis, Tennessee, police officers, all of whom were black. Nichols died in hospital three days after his arrest.

Memphis Police will release more audio, video from Tire Nichols traffic stop

Despite all of the officers being black, O’Leary said Nichols’ death is still an example of white supremacy and systemic racism.

“First: White supremacy doesn’t need a white person in the room to work,” O’Leary wrote. “Second: Although white supremacy wholeheartedly welcomes black cops (and any other black person who wants to be its agent), it will never protect you as it would protect itself. Is.”

O’Rourne said the practice of policing is inherently racist.

“Diversifying police departments does not address the fact that policing is as systemically racist as it is inherently violent,” he wrote. “Too often, hiring more black and brown officers gives us the privilege of being oppressed by people who look like us.”

“The threat posed by a black police officer is well known and documented in the black community,” he continued, adding that some suspect that a black officer would be more violent to signal that He is different from other black Americans.

He also quoted a statement by author Anthony Kahnwright, “Americans are all anti-Black, because anti-Black is the ruling force of the nation’s interests.”

Police officers detain a protester during a protest against the police attack by Tyree Nichols, who broke the window of a police car, in Times Square on January 27, 2023 in New York, United States.
(Fateh Ektas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

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After saying that many Americans mentally distance officers from policing as an institution, she noted that she wanted them to be an “example” to her readers.

“I’m not defending the Memphis officers; I don’t sympathize with them. I, like their police department and the media, want to make an example of them, but for different reasons,” she wrote. “I want to present them as proof of this very simple truth: You can choose to align yourself with your oppressors and help them oppress your community; they can choose to align themselves with your oppressors; They will not stop you, they will welcome you, but they will not protect you.”

He concludes his essay by showing that black people, by becoming police officers, are traitors to their racial community.

Protesters gather during a protest in Times Square, Jan. 28, 2023, in New York, in response to the death of Tyre Nichols, who died after being beaten by Memphis police during a traffic stop.
(AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

“As a black person, you may choose to work against your own community for your perceived benefit, but you must always remember what you believe to be white supremacy. That they’re tokenizing you and endorsing you, they’re just using you to legitimize their power over themselves.” he wrote. “For that reason alone, you are allowed to act. In their eyes, you are not inferior, and you are not more deserving. You are a tool, and if you cease to be useful, you are wasted.” will be given — just like them. have been officers.”