Anti-Cop Drama ’61st Street’: Policing is ‘Just Personal Security for Rich, White Folks’

Hollywood’s liberal talk points are how many can one scene contain? Apparently a lot if we go by AMC’s new anti-cop drama 61^StStreet, which managed to rant about feminism, white people, and the police all in one brief scene on Sunday’s episode, “Barefoot and Dangerous.” They even went so far as to claim policing is “just personal security for rich, white folks.”

The scene in question featured Martha (Aunjanue Ellis), who is running for Alderman in Chicago’s South Side, and who last week demanded abolishing the police to protect her community. This week, Martha gets a glimpse of an article by a reporter titled “Barefoot and Dangerous,” just before she’s about to speak again. She was advised last week that she should put her feet flat on the floor to ease her anxiety about public speaking.

The reporter is white and she spots her so she decides that she will scold him. And in the process, she claims that police only exist as personal security for white people:

Martha: Good afternoon! Good afternoon. Thanks for your support. There’s also a reporter in the third row. There’s Mr. Sessions, right?

PeterPeter Sessions.

Martha: Yeah. Mr. Sessions says that Sessions calls me “barefooted and dangerous”. No, it’s alright. He’s right. I am dangerous. These are the ways women were judged. Jeannette Ran for Congress 1916, and the judges said her dresses were too severe. Hillary Clinton — They said she was confused about her gender because of her baggy pantsuits. They are more comfortable now with women having babies than they were in the past.

Female: Now, get up!

Martha: Here I am, shoeless and unshoeless. He cares more about what’s not under my feet than what’s coming out my mouth. The question is, “What’s the secret behind that cheap headline?”Yes, I do. Every woman here knows.

Crowd: Right.

Martha: It’s fear. This is fearful because it is me demanding accountability from Chicago Police Department.

FemaleYou can say that!

Man: Right!

Martha: Fear that I would like to see an end to policing which is primarily about personal security for wealthy white people. Fear that my demands are for an end the executions black and brown children.A movement against fear is what I am trying to create. A future in which black and brown children are able to be children, where they feel safe and can flourish is what I aim for. Then Mr. Sessions fears for his future because it means he could lose his top spot in the line.It’s not about me and my shoes. It’s not about me and my shoes. Don’t get distracted! It is all about me.

I would hope he’s afraid of her words. I would hope we’d all be afraid of them. Her words may be dangerous but they are not as deadly as she suggests. They’re dangerous because a world without police in it to uphold the law and protect us is one none of us would ever want to live in. They’re dangerous because they’re putting officers’ lives at risk.

Nobody is concerned about where they are placed. They’re worried about rampant crime being out of control and no one being around to do anything about it, because all the good cops have resigned or retired early because of anti-cop attitudes like this. They’re worried about this country becoming “the land of the loSt,” as Chicago has become.

As long as dangerous shows like 61^stStreet Keep spewing this dangerous language, we are all at risk.

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