The Kansas City Star’s editorial board, in their endorsement of the $800 million mega-jail proposal, spoke with the polished condescension of people who claim proximity to power as wisdom. As part of my Propaganda Watch column, I felt compelled to respond.
After The Star met with a coalition of Black formerly incarcerated people, civil rights leaders, and community organizers (including myself)—those who have lived, breathed, and survived the brutal system of incarceration—they chose to describe dissension of the Jail Tax–also known as Question 1–as “passionate opposition.”
“Passionate,” as a euphemism for: “well meaning, but you don’t really understand.”…