Vertical Violence: The Power to Harm Without Consequence

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By: Chaddrick Thomas


In every empire, violence flows downhill.


It starts at the top—sanctioned, structured, praised—and crashes down on those with the least power, the least voice, the least protection. And in this country, we’ve built an entire system that not only tolerates that violence but depends on it to function.


We call it “order.”

We call it “discipline.”

We call it “justice.”

But what we’re really describing is vertical violence—violence from the top down.

Fanon Told Us What It Is


Frantz Fanon saw this in the colonies and in the streets of Europe.

He called it what it was: “a systematized violence, directed from the colonizer toward the colonized.”

And what is modern America if not a colony dressed in different clothes?


Our courts, our cops, our schools, our hospitals—they’re not neutral. They reflect the power structure. And power, when unchecked, always uses violence to stay in control.

What Does Vertical Violence Look Like Today?

  • A police officer slams a teenager to the ground for “noncompliance.”

  • A judge gives a Black man 15 years for what a white college student got probation.

  • A prison guard “corrects” behavior with fists, pepper spray, and isolation.

  • A landlord calls ICE on a tenant instead of fixing the heat.

  • A social worker removes a child from a single mother’s home over poverty—not abuse.


These aren’t random acts. They’re calculated moves. Reinforcements of hierarchy.


And we’re told to accept it. To respect the badge. To obey the court. To be quiet.

Violence From the Top Isn’t Just Physical


Vertical violence isn’t always a baton or a bullet. Sometimes it’s:

  • A denied job application because of a record.

  • A parole officer setting impossible expectations.

  • A doctor refusing adequate treatment to a prisoner.

  • A school suspending a Black child for “attitude.”


It’s death by a thousand bureaucratic cuts.

The kind of violence you can’t film.

The kind they don’t call “crime” because it wears a suit, or a robe, or a badge.

And It’s Not Just Individual—It’s Built Into Institutions


This isn’t about “bad apples.” It’s about a tree that was planted in poisoned soil.


Prisons were built to control.

Police forces evolved from slave patrols.

Courts have always protected property over people.

Education systems were never designed to uplift the poor.


Vertical violence is a feature, not a flaw.

It’s the system doing exactly what it was designed to do: protect power by any means.

CALL TO ACTION: Stop Looking Up for Justice

  1. Question who holds the power in every interaction.

  2. Center the voices of those most affected—not those most protected.

  3. Don’t ask, “Is this fair?” Ask, “Who does this serve?”

  4. Understand that real justice doesn’t come from the top down—it rises from the ground up.

Next Up: “Structural Violence: You Don’t Need a Gun to Kill”


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