In this insightful conversation, Paul Butler, a Georgetown Law professor and former federal prosecutor, presents a compelling argument for prison abolition. He shares his transformation from locking up Black men to advocating for reform, explaining how the chokehold symbolizes systemic racial oppression. Butler discusses the need to defund the police and redirect funds to community services, alongside exploring alternative justice models that emphasize rehabilitation. He also highlights the transformative power of literature, particularly Toni Morrison's works, in reshaping racial identity.
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Chokehold Metaphor
A chokehold, a pain compliance technique used by police, is a metaphor for the Black experience in the US.
It represents a system where resisting oppression justifies more oppression.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Wrestling Chokehold
Ezra Klein shares a personal experience of being choked during a wrestling match.
This highlights the panic and struggle that chokeholds induce, even in controlled settings.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Cycle of Police Brutality and Unrest
Police brutality leads to social unrest, which then justifies more oppressive policing.
This creates a self-reinforcing cycle of violence and control, exemplified by events following George Floyd's murder.
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In *Chokehold: Policing Black Men*, Paul Butler explores the systemic issues within American policing and the criminal justice system, highlighting how these institutions perpetuate racial stereotypes and violence against black men. Butler argues that the system is designed to maintain control over black communities, often with the support of politicians and judges. He also discusses potential reforms and alternative approaches to policing and justice.
Until We Reckon
Danielle Sered
In 'Until We Reckon', Danielle Sered challenges conventional wisdom on violent crime and punishment, advocating for restorative justice that prioritizes accountability and healing for both survivors and perpetrators. She argues that mass incarceration fails to address the root causes of violence and instead perpetuates harm, calling for a societal reckoning on its reliance on prisons.
Song of Solomon
A. C. Crist
The Song of Solomon is a lyric poem that extols the virtues of love between a husband and his wife. It presents marriage as God's design, emphasizing care, commitment, and delight within the marital relationship. The book is divided into three main sections: courtship, the wedding, and the maturing marriage. It also contains themes of physical and spiritual love, and some interpretations see it as an allegory for Christ's love for the Church[1][4][5].
Sula
Toni Morrison
Published in 1973, 'Sula' by Toni Morrison is a novel that delves into the intricate and often fraught relationship between two childhood friends, Sula Peace and Nel Wright, growing up in the African American community of the Bottom in Ohio. The narrative explores themes of friendship, identity, freedom, and the consequences of societal expectations. Sula, who challenges traditional norms and lives a life of independence, and Nel, who opts for a conventional life as a wife and mother, find their bond tested by a tragic incident and later by Sula's affair with Nel's husband. The novel questions the terms 'good' and 'evil', highlighting the ambiguity and complexity of human relationships and the impact of societal judgments. Through the characters' experiences, Morrison examines issues of motherhood, black masculinity, and the constraints faced by black people in a small-town environment[1][4][5].
How to Change
The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be
Katy Milkman
In this ground-breaking book, Katy Milkman reveals a proven path to help readers move from where they are to where they want to be. Drawing on her original research and the work of her world-renowned scientific collaborators, Milkman shares strategic methods for identifying and overcoming common barriers to change, such as impulsivity, procrastination, and forgetfulness. The book offers innovative approaches like 'temptation bundling,' using timely reminders, and creating 'set-it-and-forget-it systems' to make change more achievable. It emphasizes the importance of tailoring solutions to specific roadblocks and using science to stack the deck in favor of successful change.
In 2017, Paul Butler published the book Chokehold: Policing Black Men. For Butler the chokehold is much more than a barbaric police tactic; it is also a powerful powerful metaphor for understanding how racial oppression functions in the US criminal justice system.
Butler describes a chokehold as “a process of coercing submission that is self-reinforcing. A chokehold justifies additional pressure on the body because a body does not come into compliance, but a body cannot come into compliance because of the vice grip that is on it.” That, he says, is the black experience in the United States.
Butler knows that experience all too well. He began his legal career as a criminal prosecutor, a job that he describes in this conversation as “basically just locking up black men.” Then, the tables turned and Butler found himself falsely accused of a misdemeanor assault. "After that experience I didn’t want to be a prosecutor any more," he writes. "I don’t think every cop lies in court but I know for sure that one did."
That experience put Butler on a journey very different than the one he began. Butler, now a Georgetown Law professor, has come to believe that the criminal justice system is not merely broken and in need of repair; rather, it is working exactly as it was designed, and thus needs to be completely reimagined.
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The Gray Area with Sean Illing 
