"Defund the Police" and African Americans

 Michael Javen Fortner has a paper at the Niskanen Center titled "Reconstructing Justice: Race, Generational Divides, and the Fight Over `Defund the Police.'"

Key Takeaways

• The fate of defund measures in Minneapolis, Atlanta, and New York City document the ways in which the fight over “defund the police” is as much a conflict between young and old and left and center as it is between Black and white.
• The expansion of the carceral state was a bipartisan affair. Interpretations that put all the weight on white political interests unduly minimize the impact of violence on Black communities. The younger generation, however, bore the brunt of  aggressive,discriminatory policing. 
• National polls demonstrate that there is a great deal of confusion around the word “defund,” and most African Americans see it as something other than completely ridding cities of cops.
• Most Americans, especially Blacks, see room for community groups and non-law enforcement professionals, such as social workers and doctors, in a broader public safety strategy. The evidence recommends the same.