Summary

As Chapter 3 continues Blow proceeds to give a condensed history of policing in America, specifically regarding the overpolicing of Black Americans and Black communities. Both Republicans and Democrats exploited white Americans’ racism, with politicians expanding police forces in order to gain political popularity. Modern police departments in the U.S. are in many ways descended from—and modeled after—anti-Black militias of the Reconstruction era. Blow then discusses the ways in which many people seem to excuse or defend the violent, racist actions of police. Moreover, there is a long history of unpunished murders against Black Americans. Blow also details how many forms of racial oppression have become replicated in the North and enacted with similar frequency to the South. Next, Blow illustrates how, whenever Black Americans make progress towards equality, white Americans generally feel threatened and respond with outrage and aggression. Relatedly, white...