Jakebe T. Drake-Lope @jakebe@awoo.space

I don't think people really understand how badly this administration has severed personal relationships in likely irreparable ways. There's no way for me to think of someone who voted for 45 as a friend, or someone who supports me. I just can't see it.

The worst part is that I can't even talk about this on a personal level; if I try to talk about any political issue and how it affects me, personally, people build the wall and push back like it's an attack. I'm not heard. I am rendered invisible and my feelings don't matter.

And I wish I didn't have to think about that every time I think about a "friend" who voted for him. But to me, it proves, in a very real way, that those "friends" don't give a shit about me or the values that are important to me. I will never be able to trust them.

I know too many people who voted for him, too, and it's like a betrayal I wish I could forgive. But I just can't. It tells me that you care more about never having to challenge your worldview than you do about my right to exist, about respect for people who are different.

How "Good Intent" Undermines Diversity and Inclusion https://thebias.com/2017/09/26/how-good-intent-undermines-diversity-and-inclusion/ via @thebiasblog@twitter.com

This doesn't mean that police shouldn't be held accountable for their actions. OF COURSE this absolutely needs to happen. That needs to be done to restore *everyone's* faith in the system.

But we can also recognize the enormous emotional toll the job takes on people.

The day-to-day challenges are hard enough, but when you combine that with the feeling that any positive difference you make is this Sisyphusian task that inevitably leaves you right back where you started has to be...kind of soul-crushing. Any good intentions are just ground out.

...drugs and alcohol, misplaced anger, a sense of entitlement and being the victim whenever there's pushback. Any job that forces you to stare at people on their worst days all the time will take its toll.

It might be a weird take, but I think police need more emotional support

That corruption definitely trickles down through the ranks, which is how you end up with brutal officers who think the people they're meant to serve are actually the enemy. I think these folks are trapped in an impossible position and try easing that dissonance through...

I think so far, "The Wire" has the best take on it. There are a LOT of people out there really trying to do good work, trapped in a political system that rewards corruption and is too focused on short-term, small-potatoes changes.

Maybe it's because I've been watching "Person of Interest" and "The Wire", and am really curious about "Watchmen", but I've become increasingly fascinated by the kind of stories we tell about policemen and what it says about...well, us as a culture.