Black Lies Splatter: Part I

When I saw footage of the tragic and unnecessary death of George Floyd, I knew it didn’t bode well for the cops in America, but didn’t realise it would mean anything to us on the other side of the world. Then there was the COVID-19 shutdown, which increased our workload in some areas, but decreased it in others. There was a lot going on and I just didn’t pay much attention to far-off Minnesota. 

The first inkling of trouble came when my 13-year-old daughter became particularly rude and disrespectful, telling me that being white, male and and a policeman defined me as a hateful racist.  It was odd because she spent part of her childhood in Coen surrounded by indigenous people and has met hundreds of coppers.  Indigenous people come to our house to break bread and she played with indigenous kids in our house and their yards.  She is a Cape Copper’s kid whose younger daily life disproved the lie that police and indigenous people see each other as mortal enemies. I dismissed…