To Call a ‘Hoe’ a ‘Hoe’?
The Seattle Times published an article about a black woman, Valencia Brooks, who served as an officer for 32 years. During her career, she reported several events that she reported as racist, sexist, or otherwise unprofessional. One of those events was a police briefing where the briefer mentioned that a criminal probably could be found with ‘one of his hoes’.
My first reaction to this may be more telling of me than I’d like, but I thought ‘That’s it?’ If that made Brooks seethe inside, maybe the problem was her reading too much into the language and forcing her perspective on a whole department. Is it a good idea to make everybody walk on eggshells and live in fear of an innocent misstep damaging their career?
Except, sometimes we do need to be careful when we speak. Maybe we don’t need to ruin peoples’ careers when they misspeak, but there is a good reason to reflect on the offending language.
In this case, what is a ‘hoe’? We all know the word is derived from the word ‘whore’, which is another word for ‘prostitute’. After looking at some definitions and the etymology of the word-the general consensus is that ‘hoe’ and ‘whore’ are generally not a part of polite speech.
As impolite as it may be, let’s think about these ‘hoes’ in our society, though. What makes a ‘hoe’ and should we care? And how best should police protect and serve these people?
The people this officer was referring to likely did not reach this station in life after years of consultation with guidance counselors, parents, and others who took a healthy interest in the development of our youth. They probably had a rough childhood which is naturally followed by rough adulthood. Dismissing these poor souls as ‘hoes’ is probably not part of the solution.
I’m not offended by the use of the word, but it points to the culture of the department. This is not a good thing. We ask so much of our police departments and want the police to be prepared to make us safer. The easy thing for an officer is to dehumanize a group of people which makes it more palatable to see them suffer. But, the easy thing is not the right thing.
There aren’t easy and cheap answers for the people we think of when we think of a criminal’s hoe. I know police officers get hardened when they see the same problems over and over, so the answer goes beyond them, but it also includes them. Society must take a hard look at what we criminalize, whether we punish or rehabilitate and how to best develop future generations to make better lives for themselves. For their part, we can ask the police to protect and serve all of us.
