Words matter.
And nowhere more so than in the world of political sloganeering. The truly effective political slogan is ideally just three words, or occasionally four. The slogan is literal, iterative, and must subtly evoke a counter-narrative. This is why Black Lives Matter has been so universally successful in our current national racial moment. It is all of the above. One need look no further than the rhetorical gymnastics of the right-wing punditry to see this clearly. They are tying themselves in verbal knots claiming that there is more to the slogan than, well, what it says. But what it does not say is equally important. It does not say Black Lives Matter More, much less Only Black Lives Matter. Then there’s the popular retort, All Lives Matter! It’s true, obviously, but it lacks the critical implied counter-narrative of Black Lives Matter, which is just that because you need to say it, there exists a certain segment of our society where black lives don’t matter, or at a bare minimum they matter less.
There are plenty of examples of effective political sloganeering. Way back during the Vietnam War, protesters had literally hundreds of slogans, many of them long and confusing (Anybody remember “Hey, hey, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?”) Out of all of them arose the simplest and most effective: End the War. It checks all the boxes, including the implied counter-narrative that there was something intrinsically wrong with this war that made stopping it necessary. Take a look at Trump’s many slogans, because he and his team are really very good at it. The Granddaddy, Make America Great Again, is four words, not three, but the fourth word is what gives the slogan it’s context and, more importantly, its counter-narrative. How much weaker and unfocused would Make America Great be as a slogan. Never mind that he stole it from Reagan; the powerful counter-narrative is that America has deteriorated and needs to be restored. It plays to several levels of fear and concern among disparate groups of his supporters, as do Build the Wall and even Lock Her up, although less impactfully.
So now we get to Defund the Police. It would be hard to come up with a more ham-handed and inaccurate political slogan. Look at the definition of “defund.” To prevent from receiving funds. Not “reduce funding to the police.” Not “transfer some funding from police budgets to social and mental health programs.” No, the defunding of police departments literally means eliminating them, a proposition that only the most radical left-wing nutjobs and imbecilic anarchists would embrace. Everybody knows that we need police in this country, especially since literally anybody can easily amass an arsenal of deadly weapons with which to commit crimes against persons and property. The right-wing responses in the press and on social media have been quick and brutal (and correct in that literal sense), all principally revolving around some form of “What happens when you are a crime victim and no one answers your 911 call?” The progressive protesters have handed the 2020 Republican election campaign an incredible gift, beautifully wrapped and secured with a big red bow: their talking point to retake the currently faltering support of the elderly and indeed anyone concerned with crime in our country. It makes no difference how many times the media qualifies the slogan by saying it really doesn’t mean what it literally says; the damage is done.
Defund the Police fails on every point discussed above. First, it’s not literal. As noted above, virtually no one wants to eliminate police departments. The argument is that strong words are needed, since people have been blathering about “police reform” for decades as police militarization and racial bias culture gets worse and worse. But coming up with a blunt slogan that in no conceivable way represents what you are actually wanting is ludicrous at best and irredeemably irresponsible at worst. Plus, just as important, there is no implied counter-narrative. None.
There is very good reason why I am not a political slogan writer; I don’t have a three-word answer that implies redirecting some funds, changing police culture, and demilitarizing our police departments by stopping the purchase and utilization of surplus military vehicles and weaponry. If you can think of one, I’d love to hear. Put it in the comments below.
And finally, not to put too fine a point on it, but if your slogan literally says something ridiculous and untrue, why in the hell do you keep saying it?
Portland, OR
June 9, 2020
