Oh, MG
Subscribe
Cover photo

Why I Write So Much About Policing

A memory from reporting on the Amadou Diallo case.

Malcolm Gladwell

Sep 30, 2021
13

I have news to report! The paperback version of my book, “Talking to Strangers,” is out this week with a new afterword (find the audiobook version here). If you have not read the book, now is your chance to read it for way less money! Or if you have, this is your chance to buy it again!

(I am always reminded of what my old friend Tom Connell said, in freshman English class, when the professor asked him why he had two identical copies of D.H. Lawrence’s “Sons and Lovers”: “In case I want to read it more than once.” Little did I know, way back when, how much that joke would resonate with authors trying to maximize book sales.)

What I thought I’d do this week, though, is touch on a question I was asked by the author Ben Fountain last week, during an onstage conversation at the Harbor Springs book festival in Michigan.

Ben is one of my favorite authors. Have you read his brilliant novel, “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk,” or his collection of short stories, “Brief Encounters with Che Guevara”? If not, you really should. Anyway, we were both at the Harbor Springs Festival of the Book (which is a fabulous book festival, by the way) and Ben asked me: “Why do you write so much about policing?”

Courtesy Harbor Springs Festival of the Book

Believe it or not, I’ve never been asked that question before. But it's true! Looking back I realize I talked about policing in every book I’ve written, except “Outliers.” “The Tipping Point” has a long section on why crime fell so far and so fast in New York City in the 1990s. The final chapter of “Blink” is a blow-by-blow account of the fatal shooting of an African immigrant named Amadou Diallo by New York City police officers in 1999. My fifth book, “David and Goliath,” has a chapter on an innovative approach to addressing juvenile delinquency. And finally, “Talking to Strangers” is organized around the tragic story of Sandra Bland, the young black woman pulled over by a Texas State Trooper outside Houston in 2015. Oh. And I nearly forgot! I’m working on a book now about (among other things) the Los Angeles police department.

That’s a lot of writing about law enforcement! Why? I don’t think I did a good job of answering why when Ben asked me at the book festival. But, since I think of myself as a generalist—someone who writes about a wide range of topics—it seems like a question worth answering thoughtfully. So let me try again.

In the new afterword I wrote for the paperback edition of “Talking to Strangers,” there’s a section about the Diallo case, which played such a big role in “Blink.” Let me quote a little bit of it, because I think it might be useful in answering this question.

First, some context, for those too young to remember. Amadou Diallo was standing outside his house in the Bronx in February, 1999, when a group of officers pulled up. Later, in court, the officers testified they had (erroneously) thought Diallo resembled the description of a rapist, who had been active in the neighborhood a year earlier and was never caught. Diallo reached for his wallet, to show the officers his identification. They thought he was reaching for a gun—and shot him 41 times. Before there was George Floyd in Minneapolis and Michael Brown in Ferguson, there was Amadou Diallo in the Bronx. Bruce Springsteen even wrote a song about the case.

Richard Harbus/Getty Images

When I was reporting “Blink,” I went to Diallo’s street—Wheeler Avenue in the South Bronx. I wanted to see where he was shot. Here’s a little bit of how I remember that trip in my afterword:

© 2021 Google. Image capture: June 2011.

I think this gets at the reason I have returned to crime and law enforcement so many times. Sometimes writers choose subjects because they seem exotic and “other.” You go and profile the bullfighter in Mexico, because if you aren’t from there, bullfighting in Mexico is about as far from your own world as you can imagine. But policing doesn’t seem “other” to me. It seems like a high-stakes version of some of the most basic and prosaic tasks and responsibilities that all of us have as human beings.

So, why do I keep returning to this topic? Because it seems like a really useful way of learning more about ourselves. The police are a kind of canary in the coal mine: their struggles and challenges alert the rest of us to the things we ought to be worrying about and thinking about.

One last thing! I hope you noticed that little bit about how I have another book in the works. I’m a third of the way through, and I’m obsessed. Watch this space for more details!

Subscribe for free to Oh, MG
By subscribing, you agree to share your email address with Malcolm Gladwell to receive their original content, including promotions. Unsubscribe at any time. Meta will also use your information subject to the Bulletin Terms and Policies
13

More from Oh, MG
See all

Tucker Carlson Is a Sideshow

It’s entirely possible that Carlson influenced the Buffalo shooter. But we might be overstating the Fox News host’s reach.
May 17
39
63

The Magic of Revisionist History “Table Reads” Is Coming to the Live Stage

This is the first live show of this kind we’ve ever done, and I wanted to explain why we’re doing it.
Apr 30
5
3

The Canadian Soccer Team Argument For Open Borders

In the 1970s and '80s, Canada let in lots of immigrants, many of whom happened to be from countries that care a lot about soccer.
Apr 27
10
31
Comments
Log in with Facebook to comment

13 Comments

  • Bhaskar Gandavabi
    I also think why can't they encourage black people to become police officers (as I understand you need only a high school diploma to apply for the police academy), then the scenario you mentioned would play out like "Hey that's Amadou, Saiko's son" and…
    See more
    • 32w
  • Tanja Crnogorac
    There's a deep level of empathy to your thinking and writing that we are all truly lucky to absorb.
    • 32w
  • Henrik Dissing
    Wonder how many tourists would do as Diallo did, reach for your identification? And not give the gun part any thought, as we dont come from countries so infected with weapons all around...
    2
    • 32w
  • Rose Ann Marie
    I attended your talk in Harbor Springs by the way, it was very enjoyable. Also, I urge you to consider a skewed and fragile sense of self declarded superiority in terms of unjust policing. I think there are definitely times when that plays a very big part.
    • 32w
  • Jennifer Windau
    I am an RN & when I was taking Community Health nursing in 1974 my black instructor asked us what white women thought when they thought of black men. The answer was rape. Then she asked, what do black women think when they think of white men. The an…
    See more
    • 32w
  • Ingrid Schumacher Anderson
    I thoroughly enjoy reading these thoughtful emails and cannot WAIT for your new book. So hurry up. (I'm pretty much ready to get behind whatever it is that you're obsessed with right now.)
    • 32w
  • Ray Brown
    A friend who was a public defender categorized police for me in one word: “Liars.” Those police stopped Diallo to harass him. All the men in his neighborhood resembled a rape suspect if need be. Secretly, you write about police to expose this truth but…
    See more
    • 32w
  • Sirdeepy Frazier
    "41 SHOTS 1999"
    BY TT BUG III
    (THE POET'S JAZZY 3RD COUSIN AND UNACKNOWLEDGED ROYAL LAW LEGISLATOR)…
    See more
    • 18w
  • Kay Jack
    Can someone please help me understand? How come Sandra Bland was still locked up 3 days after she was pulled from her car? Was it unpaid fines? What was she charged with? Can police just lock you up for 3 days without charging you?
    • 30w
  • Peggy Chen
    Can a police department recommend your book to their officers? It may make some changes and so we can talk about reform in a more constructive, respectful way.
    • 32w
View 3 more comments
Share quoteSelect how you’d like to share below
Share on Facebook
Share to Twitter
Send in Whatsapp
Share on Linkedin
Privacy  ·  Terms  ·  Cookies  ·  © Meta 2022
Discover fresh voices. Tune into new conversations. Browse all publications