It seems some members of the police feel Beyonce has painted the entire police force in a negative light due to certain images in her music video. Such as a small African American child dancing in front of a line of armed police officers, and the camera then panning across a wall spray painted with the words “stop shooting us”. Offence was also taken to her Super Bowl performance due to the costumes her dancers were wearing being reminiscent of the Black Panther movement. Thus this reaction from some members of the police force got me thinking about institutionalized racism in regards to racial formation, which takes into account the social construction of race including the connection between politics, history, socioeconomic status and so on. (Hence the title of this post playing on the lyrics of 'Formation' in case you didn't get it).
The police force as an institution in the United States has some serious issues in regards to the treatment of African American people, namely young black men. Beyonce, as an African American herself, is standing in solidarity with these people through the social commentary expressed in her music video. She is acknowledging the everyday struggle of a group of people who have been oppressed, marginalized and the victims of structural violence for too long. And yet this statement of support for the very real issue of police brutality has produced backlash from police who feel offended by it. Of course not all police officers commit or support police brutality, however the system in itself is weighed against black people and the deaths of black people at the hands of police cannot be ignored.
Finding this video offensive in my view reveals a complete lack of understanding of racial formation and thus an inability to accept that the police force as an institution has failed black people. One of the main reasons cited for the boycott, and in support of the boycott by other police associations, is the concern that Beyonce is encouraging the disrespect and distrust of police officers and thus compromising their safety. But what about the safety of African Americans? If anything is encouraging distrust and disrespect I would say it’s probably the deaths of black people by police officers. And what is more important here, tip toeing around the issue of police brutality so as to not ‘offend’ some police officers, or facing the issue and taking a stance so that there can be some possibility of creating change.
This boycott highlights issues of race and power. The police force is a powerful institution and Beyonce questioning it or acknowledging that something needs to change within this institution has only brought to light how unaware some members of the police force are of racial formation. Hopefully Beyonce will continue to “twirl on them haters” and “cause all this conversation,” alongside many others, until the message gets through.
I like the play on words! Also I will probably always love Queen Bey ;). Was a very good read, I haven't kept up with this story so it was quite interesting to see that some police have actually hit back in regards to Formation and the Super Bowl performance. I love that you highlighted how the discussion about the Black American experience and the boycott is significantly different.
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