Amidst a global reckoning around police-community relations, one thing is becoming clear: we can’t excuse white supremacy as a thing of the past or an inevitable part of our present any longer. The roots of tension in police-community relations are self-reinforcing. Police forces are failing to understand our racial history and current racial environment, while communities are remaining hostile to law enforcement due to this strained past. Not only do the social structures of St. Louis reflect a history of institutionalized racism, but they also perpetuate harmful, ignorant and one-sided conversations halting progress. While part of this tension stems from the St. Louis community’s misunderstandings and predispositions, a look into 20th century history suggests that the first step towards a better tomorrow must first be to actively dismantle racism within our institutions: namely our police forces.
The first fact to be acknowledged is that while segregation was explicitly outlawed in the 60s, this did not create integration. The vast majority of Americans still live in racial isolation, imprisoned behind illusory walls about our cohesive society. For St. Louis residents, these walls make up the two sides of the Delmar Divide, behind which average home values differ by over $230 thousand, annual income by $25 thousand, and the percentage holding bachelor’s degrees by 62 percent. Most alarmingly, the racial compositions of each side illustrate the lasting effects of our racist history. To the north of the divide, the population is 99 percent African American, while in the South, the majority is 70 percent white. Segregation is not an issue of the past. Our racist history continues to define us and our outcomes.
On the point of white supremacy being characterized as an insurmountable inevitability of the present, while we are all born with natural vulnerabilities to messages of hierarchy, the systems around us socialize members of white society into notions of superiority that maintain themselves by a conspiracy of silence. This is by no means intentional on the part of those being socialized. By the age of toddlerhood, white children are socialized to assume a position of superiority in society without even presenting another alternative. Subsequently, it falls into the hands of the white individual, throughout their years of development, to either reinforce this assumption or work to dismantle and dissolve it entirely. What makes the root of racial tension even more difficult to eradicate is the intentional, legal, and overt institutionalization of racism in the construction of modern American society. While the amount of segregated and “club” institutions has undoubtedly decreased since the Civil Rights Movement, institutional racism still exists and has also dangerously mutated into new, less-detectable forms of de facto racism.
In the case of police brutality and white supremacy in policing, the problem has been heavily documented in the extremes. Through the cases of Rodney King, Michael Brown, and many others, they only capture racism at the three most visible layers of an institution: the personnel; the programs, products, and services; and the constituency and community. These layers are still crucial to address because desegregation, on top of not mandating integration, also didn’t get rid of segregationists. Racism persisted past the Civil Rights Movement and still exists in all facets of our institutions, through actors from our presidents to deputies and through policies from voter ID laws to background checks. The efforts that took place in the latter half of 20th century America are perhaps some of the most important initiatives through which we can better understand how to approach and facilitate interactions between law enforcement and the community today, as well as how to broadly reach a more cohesive St Louis in the future by dismantling visible racism.
It should be noted, however, that we are no longer in an era where racism is primarily visible in these layers. Instead, law enforcement has developed official policies and practices regarding multicultural diversity, sees itself as an institution with open doors, and carries out intentional inclusiveness efforts, helping dismantle the visible racism. However, we still see little to no change in decision-making power and disregard of continued patterns of white privilege, paternalism, and control, demonstrating the need to address the final two layers of institutions. What remains in terms of room to improve is alterations to the organizational structure and the mission, purpose, and identity of our local forces. Without addressing these two layers, the most powerful decision-making positions remain virtually unchanged and incompatible for both people of color in leadership and in their constituencies.
A challenge for those police force members who have actively adopted liberal, progressive mindsets is that they have opened doors to communities of color, but “they won’t come in.” The reason for this issue is that how an “institution cares for people of color has little relevance to how people of color in the constituency are feeling about the service they are receiving,” as Joseph Brandt explains in his book, Understanding and Dismantling Racism: The Twenty-First Century Challenge to White America. People still feel like they are being separated into unjust categories by law enforcement agencies because of the organizations’ structures and identities, as well as the stories around them that persist largely due to a lack of change in these last two layers of our institutions. This is best exemplified by the protests in 2017 in response to the acquittal of officer Jason Stockley, on charges of murdering a black motorist. The chant, “Whose streets? Our streets!” (which was originally used as a rallying cry for people protesting racial oppression) was appropriated by police officers claiming ownership of the streets and spaces in response to the community protestors, exemplifying the problem with not addressing these two layers of institutions. The self-identified role of law enforcement, since the era of Nixon’s inauguration speech and Hoover’s push against “Black nationalism,” has gradually shifted from “protect and serve” to maintaining “law and order.” In response, the officers who have worked to adopt antiracist identities are grouped into the law enforcement joint identity that doesn’t care minorities, and are labeled as pigs, racists, and much more. One sided conversations and accusations thus persist.
In light of the many layers to the many problems that contribute to tensions in St. Louis, what can we do differently? To resolve this crisis, we need open and constructive conversations. Creative solutions that break the silence are key, as they offer a different approach compared to the traditional methods of journal articles and case studies. Creative solutions are our best bet to tackling racism and segregation in their less visible stages. Law enforcement is currently being pulled in different directions: back to old patterns of segregation, forward to new and unfamiliar territory, and stuck in the current state, creating a crisis which I earlier described as a global reckoning. We now call upon transformational initiatives of change from within, such as Freddie Hampton, who essentially brought people of color and white people together through programs of antiracism and fostered cross-racial relationships of accountability through creative approaches to oration. We call upon creatives like Professor Ward, whose memorial museum exhibit in the Kemper Museum can help bring a critical mass of institutional leadership within St. Louis police forces towards consensus over a shared analysis of racism, and thus a step closer to the adoption of new antiracist identity within its framework. Together, these creative approaches push us forward in our approach to the non-linear, cyclical, goal of justice. Creatives free us from the constraints of our known world and ask us to consider things like plausible utopias: in this case, a multicultural, antiracist police force and an inclusive, responsive community. Today’s troubles demand a new paradigm, one that embraces creativity as a catalyst for change. Creative approaches can evoke emotions and foster empathy, allowing individuals to see issues from perspectives other than their own. Furthermore, they can help dismantle harmful stereotypes and foster a more nuanced understanding of the realities faced by different groups. In cities like my hometown, Baltimore, community art projects have been used to engage residents and law enforcement officers in collaborative mural painting, sculpture installations, and other creative endeavors. Research has shown that such projects can enhance trust and communication between police and community members, leading to improved perceptions of law enforcement and increased willingness to cooperate with police investigations. Furthermore, Kaldi’s Coffee’s Coffee with a Cop initiative, during which police officers and community members issue and learn more about each other over coffee, is a great way to break down predispositions on both sides.
The Delmar Divide serves as a stark reminder of the enduring legacy of racial segregation, illuminating the disparities that continue to shape our city. It’s imperative that we confront these realities head-on, acknowledging that our racist history still reverberates in our present circumstances. Creative approaches may just be our way to make this happen. There is no finish line to justice, but with the assistance of creative solutions, there can be a better tomorrow.
Maya Santhanam ‘27 studies in the College of Arts & Sciences. She can be reached at
m.j.santhanam@wustl.edu.