THE ROLE OF A RACIST PERCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK IN POLICE BRUTALITY

By Natasha Karim

For the MAP 5^th Annual Philosophy Undergraduate Conference

Remembering

George Perry Floyd Jr.

October 14, 1973 – May 25, 2020

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Racialization, particularly that of the black population of Canada and the U.S., can be elucidated by Merleau-Ponty’s concept of the “habit body.”

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Agenda

• Define the terms ‘racialization’ and ‘habit body.’
• Explain how various aspects of the habit body (i.e., movement/gesture, perception) and the sedimentation of racist habits contribute to anti-black racism.
• How can Merleau-Ponty’s habit body be used to understand anti-black racism in the George Floyd murder case?

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1.

Definitions

What is racialization? What is the “habit body”?

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Definitions

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RACIALIZATION

• Racialization is a socially constructed concept whereby people of colour (POC) or non-white people are ascribed a negative character due to their race, and are effectively marginalized and alienated.

HABIT BODY

• For Merleau-Ponty, the habit body consists of “sedimentations of past activities that take on a general, anonymous, and autonomous character.”
• These ‘habits’ are that which one cultivates in oneself, or that to which one becomes accustomed to, which become embedded in the lived body.

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thesis

The racist perceptual framework of the four officers, which informs their habit body, allowed them to respond with aggressive and violent bodily habits towards George Floyd, which inevitably resulted in his murder.

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2.

The murder of George Floyd

Context and case facts

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Definitions in the context of the George Floyd case

• Bodily habits belonging to this racist perceptual framework includes movement/gesture and perception.
• These racist habits, through repetition, have then become sedimented in their body schemas, which is the global awareness of one’s place and posture in the inter-sensory world.

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The murder of George Floyd

• 46-year-old George Floyd of Minneapolis, Minnesota died on May 25, 2020 after being handcuffed and pinned to the ground by former officer Derek Chauvin, for over nine minutes.
• Chauvin was assisted by former officers Tou Thao, J. Alexander Keung, and Thomas Lane.
• The officers responded to a call from a local store clerk who claimed that Floyd made a purchase with a counterfeit $20 bill.

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Trigger warning: graphic violence.

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Officers approach Floyd’s car

”put your f***ing hands up right now”

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Floyd is handcuffed

and pulled out of his car

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Lane and Kueng walk him to their squad car

Floyd explains that he is claustrophobic

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Floyd is pinned to the ground

Chauvin kneels on his neck

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Floyd pleads that he cannot breathe

Pronounced dead later that day

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3.

Analysis

Aspects of the habit body and sedimentation

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Aspects of the habit body – Movement/Gesture

• It is highly evident from the movements and gestures of the four officers that anti-black racism has become embedded in their habit bodies via a racist perceptual framework.
• The aggression and excessive use of force signifies the hatred and disdain that the officers showed for him, and which would not have been present if Floyd was white.

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Aspects of the habit body - Perception

• In Visible Identities, Linda Martín Alcoff suggests that one’s perception of race is informed by their perceptual frameworks, which are learned and acquired through bodily habit.
• One’s experience of race is “predicated first by [their] perception of race, a perception whose specific mode is a learned ability.”

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Sedimentation

• For Merleau-Ponty, “…my acquired thoughts are not an absolute acquisition; they feed off my present thought at each moment; they offer me a sense, but this is a sense that I reflect back to them.
• Habits embedded in the embodied being are active, continuous and ongoing, and most importantly, receptive.

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4.

Conclusion

Racism embedded in the habit body

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The racist perceptual framework of former Officers Chauvin, Thao, Keung, and Lane, which informs their habit body, allowed them to respond aggressively and violently towards George Floyd, costing him his life.

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Rest in power,

George Floyd.

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Sources

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Alcoff, Linda Martín. Visible Identities: Race, Gender, and the Self. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2006. 

Andrew, Scottie. "Derek Chauvin: What We Know about the Former Officer Charged in George Floyd's Death." CNN. June 01, 2020. Accessed March 30, 2021. https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/01/us/derek-chauvin-what-we-know-trnd/index.html.

Hawkins, Derek. "Officer Charged in George Floyd's Death Used Fatal Force before and Had History of Complaints." The Washington Post. May 30, 2020. Accessed March 30, 2021. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/05/29/officer-charged-george-floyds-death-used-fatal-force-before-had-history-complaints/.

How George Floyd Was Killed in Police Custody | Visual Investigations. YouTube. The New York Times, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vksEJR9EPQ8&t=1s. 

Ngo, Helen. "Racist Habits: A Phenomenological Analysis of Racism and the Habitual Body." Philosophy & Social Criticism 42, no. 9 (2016): 847-72. doi:10.1177/0191453715623320.

The Associated Press. "Cop in Floyd Death Got Medals for Valor and Drew Complaints." MPR News. June 03, 2020. Accessed March 30, 2021. https://www.mprnews.org/story/2020/06/03/cop-in-floyd-death-got-medals-for-valor-and-drew-complaints.

The New York Times. "What to Know About the Death of George Floyd in Minneapolis." The New York Times. September 08, 2020. Accessed March 30, 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/article/george-floyd.html.

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Acknowledgements

To my loved ones, Dr. Helen Fielding, and Sasha Simon

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In memoriam

Say their names

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Thank you for listening

Any questions?

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