The historical role of policing in America in relationship to the Black community is not about law enforcement but rather enforcing the social norms of White supremacy.
Because economic and political power are held unequally in the United States, dominant groups (White people) demand policing in order to regulate threats from less-powerful groups (people of color and poor people).
In the wake of the police murder of George Floyd, we see masses of White people marching with Black and brown people against the police.
Police play the same role relative to the Black community in 21st century America that slave patrols played during slavery.
As I write this, Donald Trump is a prisoner in the White House, every major police department has had to retreat to the shadows or stand down, the U.S. Senate had to unanimously (albeit belatedly) pass an antilynching bill, and four policemen in Minneapolis have been charged with murder in the death of George Floyd.
