"The Overseer Class": Steven Thrasher on Black Cops, Pro-Palestine Protests, DEI & More

Steven Thrasher defines the 'Overseer Class' as people from marginalized populations who amass power by 'cracking the skulls of their own' on behalf of the ruling class. He draws historical parallels to plantation overseers (who were sometimes Black), 'capos' in Nazi concentration camps, and Black troops used by the apartheid regime in South Africa, illustrating a long-standing pattern of internal repression.

Thrasher's book explores 'a phenomenon in which people from marginalized populations, amass power not by uplifting people from the communities they come from, but by collectively cracking the skulls of their own.' He cites examples from Ferguson, South Africa, and Nazi-occupied Germany, noting how white guards would oversee from afar while black guards did 'intimate policing' in South African prisons.

Thrasher observed that while college campuses and police departments have diversified their leadership, this often applies primarily to disciplinary roles. He found a disproportionate number of Black police chiefs at universities compared to the percentage of Black students or faculty, suggesting that diversity is used to legitimize enforcement rather than empower marginalized groups.

At Columbia University, the first Arab president worked with New York City's Black mayor, Eric Adams, and the NYPD's first Latino chief, Edward Kaban, to arrest diverse students. Thrasher was 'beaten up at Northwestern' by the Black chief of police. His research across 22 schools showed 19 had Black police chiefs, but only 5% Black students and 6% Black faculty.

Thrasher argues that the emphasis on individual 'firsts' (e.g., first LGBTQ press secretary, first Black president) serves to create a false sense of affinity and distracts from systemic issues. These 'firsts' often suppress the very groups they are supposed to represent, undermining horizontal solidarity in favor of individual career advancement.

He contrasts feeling affinity with Karine Jean-Pierre (first LGBTQ press secretary) with feeling solidarity with LGBTQ people in Gaza or Iran. He also discusses how 'first narratives' are used to pull people away from collective solidarity, such as unionizing for better benefits, by hailing individual achievements instead.

Thrasher distinguishes his critique of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) from that of the Trump administration. He views DEI as a 'watered-down version of affirmative action' that often lacks clear goals and enforcement, becoming a 'PR ploy.' However, he condemns the Trump administration's dismantling of DEI as explicitly racist and transphobic, noting its lethal impact in places like Uganda where 'diversity' was a workaround for LGBTQ+ health initiatives.

Thrasher states, 'I think DEI doesn't go far enough. What the Trump administration is doing is racist.' He explains that affirmative action had federal weight for reparations, while DEI is 'amorphous' and often 'usurped as a PR ploy.' He details how the removal of DEI funding impacted LGBTQ+ health work in Uganda, where 'diversity' was a coded term for LGBTQ+ populations.

Thrasher classifies Barack Obama as an 'overseer,' particularly in his post-presidency role as a 'cultural overseer.' He argues that Obama's presence helps define the boundaries of acceptable debate and imagination, making it harder to critique certain policies or mobilize against issues like immigration enforcement, despite Obama's administration having more deportations than Trump's.

Thrasher states, 'I do think of him as an as an overseer, particularly where he ended up.' He points to the gentrification caused by the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago and Obama's 'now we must be polite' routine when heckled about Gaza, which discourages political engagement and anger.

Pinkwashing is defined as institutions or nations using LGBTQ+ rights rhetoric to mask violence or problematic policies, often to divert attention from other human rights abuses or to legitimize their actions. This strategy undermines genuine queer liberation by making enemies out of those who don't fit a narrow group definition.

Thrasher explains pinkwashing as when institutions say 'we're good for gay rights because we do X for gay people,' citing Israel's claims about gay rights versus Palestine. He also mentions Karine Jean-Pierre spinning Biden's renormalization of Saudi relations after men were beheaded for homosexuality, and the debate over police marching in Pride parades.