Dr. Sara DiazWGST 303: The *isms: Race, Class, and GenderGonzaga University

State Violence

The State

• “Non-physical juridical entity”• There is no single building• The state is more than just the government (govt’s

come and go)• The government or its institutions transmit the power

of the state• Schools• Prisons• Hospitals• Military• Immigration• ETC

Violence

Violence is any relation, process, or condition by which an individual or a group violates the physical, social, and/or psychological integrity of another person or group. From this perspective, violence inhibits human growth, negates inherent potential, limits productive living, and causes death.—Psychologist Hussein Abdilahi Bulhan

Residential Segregation: STL

Ferguson• It’s not just about Michael Brown

• Ferguson PD has 50 white officers and 3 black officers.

• 21,000 people (67 % black, MO is 83% white)• In 2013 there were 32,975 warrants issued• 1.5 warrants for every Ferguson resident• https://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ysCny8oIFA&feature=player_embedded

• For comparison less than half of one percent of people in Boston have a criminal warrant, where has 42% of people in Ferguson do.

• Militarization of police

War Comes Home

• DOD 1033 Program• 5 Billion of Military equipment

distributed to local police:• 600 Mine-resistant ambush-protected

vehicles (MRAP)• 79,288 assault rifles• 205 grenade launchers• 11,959 bayonets

SWAT Raids62% of Swat raids are for suspected drug activity

60% of Drug searches use SWAT teams

Psychology of Militarization

• Equipment places police in warrior mentality.•Many combat veterans seek

employment with local police.• Positions citizens as enemy combatants• Puts targets on guard and escalates

violence.

Effects

Gender and Police MilitarizationUnarmed Black Women Killed by Police:• Tarika Wilson, 26, Lima, Ohio• Aiyana Jones, 7,Detroit• Miriam Carey, D.C.• Shereese Francis, 30, Queens• Shantel Davis, 23 Brooklyn• Sharmel Edwards, 49, Las Vegas• Rekia Boyd, 22, Chicago• Tyisha Miller, 19, Riverside • Yvette Smith, Bastrop, TX

Also cases of police brutality against LGBT people

Not just Ferguson• South Carolina shooting last week.• Pasco WA - Antonio Zambrano-Montes, 35 • Shot by Pasco police in the back (7 times, 17 rounds fired on crowded street) –

video recording confirms.• Undocumented Mexican farm worker• Throwing rocks, history of mental health problems, addiction

• Injured at work, no workers comp• House fire destroyed all belongings

• Pasco• 67 white officers, 14 Latino• 1 Latino city council member• Pasco is 56% Latino• Schools 70% Latino, no Latino board members 2015

• Mass protests in Pasco, arrests of protestors• Federal mediator from DOJ, no federal investigation• Third Pasco police killing in the previous 7 months

State Violence

• Where else do we state violence in our society?

• What is gained/lost by thinking about prisons or other institutions through the lens of state violence?