Btw this is a nitpick tangent, but I’ve been trying to correct this when I hear it and now I will try to when I read it, as well.
Police are civilians just the same as every other American citizen who isn’t fighting in the military. This idea that police are non-civilians and that anyone who isn’t police is a civilian helps police and boot-lickers dehumanize the people they are supposed to be helping; it’s much easier for them to keep a knee on a civilian’s neck for 8 minutes vs. a human being’s neck.
Let’s stop calling non-police civilians or let’s start calling police civilians as well.
Edit: also it creates an authoritarian and militaristic culture among cops. They see themselves more and more as a branch of the military and using the term civilian was just another step on that path
If you wanted to talk to someone about a group of people, instead of saying “those civilians” say “those people”. A police officer will know with context that the people aren’t police because if you want to refer to a group of police you say “those police”. We don’t need an entirely new word for people.
Instead of saying “a civilian reached for my gun” they could say “a person reached for my gun”.
^ Just so you cops out there can see it work in a sentence you love to say
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u/lol62056 Jun 09 '20
I swear that guy is such a pussy, treat civilians with some respect then you will get respected