Law Enforcement in Three Nights in Manehattan · 12:01am Sep 24th, 2022
It's been a while since I've written Three Nights in Manehattan. A whole election cycle and pandemic happened between now and then - and quite a bit of education on my part.
At the time I knew that police had issues but, rather naively, believed that the project of law enforcement as it existed was overall a worthy structure with generally noble people. Call this the most glaring blind spot of my whiteness. Since then, I've learned about the dark origins of policing, the way the view of them has changed over the decades as they became lionized in media, and their ongoing issues.
In the United States and other similar nations, the police only defend people as a loose side effect of their primary occupation, which is in protecting property, enforcing laws, and projecting the power of society's elites. I've learned that they're a haven for white supremacy and outright fascism. I have to imagine that the times they actually bring down someone terrible must be a relief if they didn't have a near universally toxic view of the public.
Certainly, I knew that racial and sexual minorities had to be careful around them and that the justice system was unfair, but I never knew to what extent. I didn't know how incompetence and straight up malicious activity was not only commonplace but actively covered up. I didn't know just how bad it could be for innocent Black people if they called the police to protect them and found themselves on the other end of their violence. Certainly, I didn't realize how they treated the poor and mentally ill with violence instead of compassion.
These shows like Dragnet and Law and Order get special treatment from law enforcement in return for kid gloves in turn and serve to create this false image of worlds of good cops with a few "bad apples" - but of course, as the saying goes, "bad apples spoil the bunch." I hadn't heard my friend's stories of joining the cops and finding out how they didn't have room for people who actually tried and cared and who didn't play by the rules of protecting each other from scrutiny.
It's been bothering me for a while, having written my own little piece of unintended cop propaganda. I've been thinking on what to do.
After all, society is different in Equestria. The very people are different. I could simply say that the police there is structured differently with the pervasive awareness that the Princesses might be looking in on them. Of course, we've seen that bureaucracy in Equestria is often pretty cruel. I could rewrite it, but I've already done a printing and I don't think it would help because it's embedded into it. I certainly don't want to get rid of it.
In the end, I've decided simply to note it in the description and move on. It's a piece of my literary history - one of my best fan fiction pieces and yet with an oddity about it.
Thanks for listening!
yeah, this is something I've been thinking a lot about in the context of fanfiction, too
There was one scene in this story which really spoke volumes to me about dreams and reality. And as a fellow white person, I freely admit that this was something of a blind spot for me as well. I was raised under the rules about seeking out the friendly policeman if I needed help.
TL/DR humans are pretty sucky and the sooner we can get taken over by friendly pony-shaped aliens the better
Based! And it's big of you to be able to change your views and not double down on it
Yep, that's about the best thing you can do. I'm glad you didn't decide to delete it.
I've actually forgotten about most of the details in the story. I agree with the decision not to rewrite it, since it does take place in a fictional world. Now if it was a story from the Well about Equestrians exploring Earth, that may be a different story.
5688391
Oh yeah for sure.
I'm very curious who is coming to this comment section more than once to downvote everyone. Show yourself, coward~
5688481
The master race prefers the shadows, where it's safe, yes, my precioussss.