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We were told that the long-running TV show COPS was being cancelled following the wave of protests after George Floyd was killed. But now what’s really happening feels like we might have been the target of a pretty messed up joke.
COPS was NOT cancelled. It’s now returning to production after a short hiatus!
This is bad for many reasons. COPS is a heavily edited, violent normalization of pro-police propaganda or “copaganda.” Their lie was used to calm protests, and now we see why.
Shows like COPS get away with the inexcusable. 7-year-old Aiyanna Stanley was killed during filming for The First 48, and a sheriff was recently indicted for tampering with Live PD evidence surrounding a Black man’s death. They also negatively impact our minds too.
By spreading positive misperceptions about police, analysis reveals that police shows distort the truth.
It’s insulting to think that this show was “cancelled” just long enough to appease us. That tells us what needs to happen now.
Anti-Black violence isn’t entertainment! These sorts of television shows need to be turned off and cancelled for real!
They don’t deserve to be on in our barbershops, living rooms, or anywhere else for that matter. It’s time to watch something that doesn’t treat Black lives like a game.