Libertarians know politics is a poor man’s way to effect long-lasting change. Voting certainly brings immediate results. But it doesn’t change attitudes. It takes a sustained didactic campaign to spread ideas. And sometimes, circumstance plays a critical role in ensuring those ideas are palatable.
In the wake of the fatal shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown by a white police officer, and the subsequent demonstrations and crackdown in Ferguson, Missouri, the topic of police militarization has become a lightning rod for commentary. Liberals and conservatives are getting in on the action, decrying the lack of proportionality and discretion used by the supposed custodes of the peace. It’s always nice when progressive Slate writer Jamelle Bouie and National Review’s Charlie Cooke find common ground on a pressing issue.
Libertarians have also been doing their part to spread awareness on the disturbing trend of paramilitary equipment being sold to America’s local police forces. More than anyone else, journalist Radley Balko has done the yeoman’s work in documenting the slow arming and equipping of men charged with maintaining order. As tear gas canisters rain down on peaceful protesters in Ferguson, and journalists are arrested on tenuous charges, his work is getting its just due.
Amid all the deserved fervor over America’s growing authoritarian state, another narrative is entering the right-wing political sphere – one that has been ignored for too long. Within the American prison system, black citizens are disproportionately incarcerated in comparison to their white counterparts. Plenty of statistics back this up, with the most chilling being that 70% of black high-school dropouts born between 1975 and 1979 have seen the inside of a cell. This disparate impact plays a key role in cultivating resentment among the black American community. The riots and looting taking place outside St. Louis can be partially traced back to perceived feelings of ill-intent on the part of cops and government judges.
Conservatives have typically shied away from this disconcerting truth. Libertarians have been much more open to the systematic biases of the American justice system – three-time presidential candidate and former Texas congressman Ron Paul being a vocal opponent of the mistreatment of blacks through draconian drug laws. But cultures change, and as they do, political philosophies sometimes change with it. Paul’s son, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, may be pushing mainstream conservatism to tackle this once taboo subject.
As police officers marched on looters and demonstrators in Ferguson, Senator Paul penned an editorial in Time magazine that not only put the blame on overzealous government for local law enforcement embracing military-style tactics but also broached an uncomfortable topic: the persecution many blacks feel under the criminal justice regime. He notes that when accounting for the racial disparities in the prison system, “it is impossible for African-Americans not to feel like their government is particularly targeting them.” Rand goes one step further and subtly derides his fellow conservatives for ignoring the problem, writing that people who believe race is still not a factor in skewing justice “is just not paying close enough attention.”
These are big, paradigm-shifting words. At no time in recent memory has a conservative figure been so direct in criticizing the racial component of law enforcement. Rand didn’t dance around the issue. He confronted it directly. And his boldness seems to be affecting his political allies.
Shortly after Paul’s piece hit the web, Erick Erickson, editor of the popular conservative site RedState, wrote a piece titled “Must We have a Dead White Kid?” Erickson’s message was even more fiery: “Just because Michael Brown may not look like you should not immediately serve as an excuse to ignore the issues involved.” Again, these are words from a popular conservative commentator that wouldn’t have appeared in print a decade ago. Erickson might have written them prior to Rand Paul’s article in Time, but the trend is clear: as police become more violent, and racial disparities in the prison system widen to a point too large to ignore, it’s no longer impossible to discuss the topic within the framework of limited government.
Like his father before him, Rand is using politics as a platform to espouse ideas and change minds. Because of his take on racial disparity, Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post is calling the Kentucky Senator “the most interesting voice” among Republicans right now. Peter Grier of Christian Science Monitor said Paul “stood out for the passion of his attack” on militarized law enforcement and racial bias. Politico writer Burgess Everett declared the senator’s “provocative and personal op-ed went further than any other Republican in acknowledging pervasive racial divisions in the U.S.”
Paul is indeed breaking new ground. Like he did in his 2013 filibuster against President Obama’s willingness to execute American citizens without due process, the senator is changing how conservatives view the controversial topic of racial disparity in prisons. The media gatekeepers are noticing the sea change in dialogue. Paul’s efforts could all be for self-serving political gain. But given his father’s similar take on the situation, it’s hard to not see him being genuine. There is a problem with disparate impact in the American criminal justice system. Progressives have long noticed it. It’s high time for the other side of the political field to open its eyes to the injustice as well.
The libertarian focus on individualism is highly important. But sometimes it can miss the mark on wrongs being committed. In a perfect world, everyone would be judged based on their individual actions. Their capacity for free will wouldn’t be ignored. Skin color wouldn’t matter. However, we don’t live in a perfect world. We generalize and stereotype. We make decisions based on limited knowledge. And sometimes we make irredeemable mistakes. Right now, we don’t know all the facts to judge whether Michael Brown’s death was unjustified. But something is clear: there is a widely held belief among black Americans that they are disproportionately targeted as criminals. Confronting this perception is a necessary step in shrinking the state and moving toward a good society.
A decade ago, Paul’s explicit condemnation of institutional racism would sound the death knell for his pursuit of higher political office. Kowtowing to the line of blissful ignorance was a requirement for conservatives. What’s known as the modern Republican Party emerged from the law and order revolution of the 1970s. Candidates ran on, and were elected on, a platform of subservience to the police. Now, that seems to be changing.
As the mess in Ferguson gets sorted out, it provides a teachable moment in what happens when government is unfettered. Ever since the terrorist attacks of September 11th, local police forces have been equipped with military-grade weaponry. Libertarians are apt to blame the state’s lust for dominance on increasingly violent and hostile police officers. Yet average people are guilty of asking for more protection in the wake of a terrorist threat. Their views are contradictory: they want military-style defense without tanks rolling down suburban streets.
That incoherence distracts from the larger debate about the dangers of government power. Even so, in the talk over militarized police, the impact of racism in law enforcement shouldn’t be forgotten. The numbers don’t lie. Blacks are more frequently prosecuted for the same crimes than white Americans. Acknowledging that reality can’t harm the discussion over what should be done to better protect civil liberties – it can only help. And Rand Paul may play a critical role in fostering much-needed awareness.