A.C.A.B.

ACAB

It’s sprayed on dozens,
hundreds of walls, graffiti sprayed
in artistic swirls
or blocky statements of fact.
Sometimes numerical: 1312
often alphabetical:

ACAB

It means All Cops Are Bastards

And I’m not black, or any minority,
and I’m not privy to the deep,
generations-old pain that others face,
but I do not believe that ALL cops are bastards.
I do not believe that ALL people of color
would design to suggest that.

In fact, I KNOW that NOT all people of color
would agree with that statement,
and many are devastated
when they see

ACAB

because NO generalization, in absolute terms,
is EVER right.

ALL cops are bastards.
ALL whites are bastards.
ALL people of color resort to violence.

You cannot EVER make a blanket statement
without anomalies, and so often
the bastards ARE the anomalies.

SOME cops are bastards.
SOME (perhaps many, but certainly not all) whites are bastards.
SOME people of color resort to violence,
but MANY are the most kind and peaceful people I’ve ever met.

You cannot EVER say ALL of something
behaves in a certain way.

NACAB.