A slogan whose ambiguity serves a purpose
The fact that the slogan 鈥淒efund the police鈥� needs explanation is a plus because it serves as a quick, catchy way into a larger, more complex story.
Staff
The slogan 鈥淒efund the police鈥� has been shouted during protests over the May 25 death of George Floyd. Merriam-Webster defines defund as 鈥渢o withdraw funding from.鈥� The Cambridge Dictionary puts it in plainer terms: 鈥渢o stop providing the money to pay for something.鈥� This rallying cry seems crystal clear and quite radical: Stop giving money to police departments.
It turns out to be a lot more complicated, as the Monitor reported in a June 7 article, 鈥溾��Defund the police鈥�: What does that mean exactly?鈥� For some people, defund does indeed translate to 鈥済et rid of,鈥� as activist Mariame Kaba writes in the New York Times opinion column 鈥溾�� (June 12). Yet the majority of protesters don鈥檛 seem to take it literally, understanding it instead as a call to redirect some funds away from police departments and into other community services.聽
Some language experts argue that the ambiguity of 鈥淒efund the police鈥� makes it useless. Branding consultant Nancy Friedman writes, 鈥淲henever you have to explain a slogan by saying 鈥榃hat we really mean聽is ...鈥�, it鈥檚 a bad slogan and you鈥檙e losing the argument.鈥� How can people protest in support of a phrase if they can鈥檛 agree on its meaning? 聽
Perhaps, though, the slogan serves its purpose. Democratic-leaning voters are spread across an ideological spectrum. Slightly fewer than half consider themselves to be 鈥渓iberal,鈥� while 51% identify as 鈥渕oderate鈥� or 鈥渃onservative,鈥� according to the Pew Research Center. (Two-thirds of Republicans, in contrast, identify as 鈥渃onservative.鈥�) 鈥淒efund the police鈥� appeals to both poles. Progressives can read it as 鈥渁bolish鈥� and centrists as 鈥渞eform鈥� or 鈥渞eallocate resources from,鈥� with the understanding that the details will be hammered out later.
The fact that the slogan needs explanation is a plus. Protesters may disagree about what defunding the police should involve, but they share the view that police violence against Black people can only be eradicated by restructuring many parts of American society. 鈥淒efund the police鈥� serves as a quick, catchy way into a larger, more complex story.
When people search for 鈥淲hat does defund the police mean?鈥� they retrieve hundreds of articles and videos, from The Atlantic to Fox News, which explain the racial, economic, and political issues behind the phrase. Its very ambiguity opens a door to nuanced discussions, which can be rare in politics. Political comedian John Oliver explains the slogan as 鈥渕oving away from a narrow conception of public safety that relies on policing and punishment, and investing in a community鈥檚 actual safety net: things like stable housing, mental health services, and community organizations.鈥� That meaning of defund is not in any dictionary.