A cop’s decision to sport a body camera and search a Massachusetts middle school for a book has raised serious concerns among civil liberties experts, a new report shows.
The Berkshire Eagle reported Wednesday on mounting fears after the Great Barrington plainclothes police officer who entered an eighth grade classroom at W.E.B. Du Bois Regional Middle School.
“Police going into schools and searching for books is the sort of thing you hear about in communist China and Russia," Ruth A. Bourquin, senior and managing attorney for the ACLU of Massachusetts, told the local news outlet. "What are we doing?”
For their part, police say they were obligated to investigate a complaint about the book “Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe, a memoir about gender identity that contains sexually explicit illustrations and language, the report notes.
Life pro tip: In the middle of a school shooting? Call the cops and say that the gunman is giving away books with gay characters! They would ram and arrest him without hesitation.
in communist China and Russiaor in the history of many US States…
Republicans talk about China so much because they envy their Authoritarian power over the people…
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also, russia is not communist, lol
in {communist China} and {Russia}
The US has been a “post truth” nation a lot longer than many people realize. Easily disproven falsehoods like this have been a part of its culture for decades. I think it’s gaining so much attention now because it’s just getting beyond ridiculous.
Almost as if two entire generations of propaganda during the Cold War was enough to sway the collective consciousness. It doesn’t matter if the WW2 vets or GenZ/Alpha believe it, because they’re not the ones in charge right now. There were two (three, if you count the early millennials) entire generations of people who were raised in and around anti-communist propaganda.
That’s not something the populace will be able to shake off in a few years. That’s the kind of shit that takes literal generations to settle down, because GenX/millennials will need to be the crazy dementia-ridden great grandparents ranting about communists in the soap dispenser before GenZ/Alpha will be able to look at them with pity and go “yeah, okay grandpa. Go back to your Seinfeld reruns and we’ll take care of that for you.”
I think that’s a reference to when it was, not someone saying they are at the moment.
No one is saying Russia is communist today but they were communist.
Neither is China, despite them repeatedly saying they are.
But I think the comment is referring to the past when they were, as opposed to now.
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Over/Under on how many punisher tats this piggy has?
13 - one for each of the original colonies
You say this like they’d be educated.
11 since it’s more than the fingers they used to count.
13 - for the biggest number they can count to
For their part, police say they were obligated to investigate a complaint
Police have wide discretion about how much effort to put into any particular investigation. This is how it should have been handled:
“Hello Mr. Principal. This is the police. We have a complaint about a book called Gender Queer, which allegedly contains obscenity. Do you have that book in your library? You do? Okay, in your expert opinion, as a teacher and principal, do you believe that this book is obscene? No? Okay then, have a nice day.”
Notes made in the database. Investigation fllagged as complete. Complaint unfounded. The school takes responsibility for the content. The parent who complained can take it up with the school board.
Instead the police took it upon themselves to get into the business of determining whether a school library book is obscene. What a stupid quagmire to wander into. Clearly, someone in the police department lacks good judgment.
Okay, in your expert opinion, as a teacher and principal, do you believe that this book is obscene?
lol, imagine a cop recognizing outside expertise and working to deescalate a situation. We can still dream…
Of course, this runs up against the fact that cops are lazy fucks who want to get out of doing paperwork as much as possible. Clearly this particular cop could’ve dropped the issue and expended a minimum of effort on a cursory report, but the fact that they (the cop was unnamed in this article, which seems like important information to include, especially considering all the names of educators that were listed) made it a mission to go full sherlock on this issue indicates that they have an axe to grind about it.
police say they were obligated to investigate a complaint
Are police obligated to do anything? Like… literally anything?
It’s my understanding that it’s up to the department how police conduct themselves. If the department doesn’t do anything about their behavior and the community keeps funding it, then why would cops change?
ACAB
I’m calling the cops!
W.E.B. Du Bois Regional Middle School.
What do we want to bet a school with a name like that has a significant majority of black students? And what do we want to bet that’s why the cop went there?
I live in the area and while I dont have the exact numbers, Great Barrington and the surrounding towns are very predominantly white. The school is named because WEB Du Bois was born in Great Barrington
Sounds French to me.
W. E. B. Du Bois was one of the most prominent writers about the African-American experience and civil rights until his death in the early 1960s. So not French.
I have like 3 coworkers who are black and primarily speak French. Isn’t Louisiana all about black French people? There’s some kind of French stuff going on there, I can taste it!
Last I checked, the people of Louisiana are generally American, not French. Including the black people.
Does that mean the French food is also American or can we describe things with words still?
I have no idea what you’re talking about. Du Bois wasn’t French because he wasn’t a citizen of France. That is what makes someone French.
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W.E.B. Du Bois is a famous black sociologist
Land of the free, as long as you are a fascist
“A book is a loaded gun." - Fahrenheit 451
“If you don’t want a man unhappy politically, don’t give him two sides to a question to worry him; give him one. Better yet, give him none." - Fahrenheit 451
This was supposed to dystopian fiction not a fucking playbook.
I need to reread this but it will likely just depress me.
Oh my fuckin’ LORD no, NO!! Not “GENDER QUEER!” OH MY GOD, some kid might actually SEE THAT!!! (Screaming as loud as possible). This is a national emergency of biblical proportions!! Get the stones ready! Won’t someone please think of the children!!! They’re so much better off not knowing about the existence of queer people, of others who are different. They just don’t know how lucky they are to have good christian values to lock their brains into braces and blind their eyes for their own good!!!
A cop’s decision to sport a body camera and search…
Why was it his decision to make?
That’s the kind of shit you’d read about in a young adult novel
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Well as a new Englander this is barely concerning.
Something tells me that officer should move if he values his personal property. Massholes earned their name.
But Great Barrington Police Chief Paul Storti said in a statement, “Because this complaint was made directly to the police department, we are obligated and have a duty to examine the complaint further."
I call bullshit, and would like to see the law and/or court rulings that support this assertion.
Because if cops have no duty to protect the public, then in what sense do they have a duty to take this complaint seriously?
Anyone who has had their bike stolen or car broken into or otherwise be victim of a crime the police don’t really care about knows this is not the case. You’ll be told to come in and fill out a form, or if you’re lucky you might have someone call you and fill out the form for you. They’re not going to send a cop out for that, and the form doesn’t really get acted on, it’s just for records keeping.
The last time I had my car broken into, they sent an officer out to take the report. They, of course, did nothing with that report, and I found the person who had broken into my car later through reliable sources.
Last time I had my car broken into they told me to file a report online. It took them over a year to send a form letter reply saying they got it.
