Journal of a Lockdown, 5 June 2020
So this is Trump’s vision of America. Policemen killing black people because they are black. Protests against murderous racism brutally dispersed. A peaceful protest action in front of a church violently broken up because Trump wanted to be photographed in front of that church, toting a bible. Trump egging on the violence, promising shooting, vicious dogs, and ominous weapons. When Twitter finds its balls (Facebook is content to have none), Trump threatens to crack down on social media. The successful launch of a crewed Space X vessel means nothing: space travel will only enable humans to create off-world societies riven by the same racism, social injustice, and absurd inequality that plagues this planet.
The arbitrary killing of black people by lawmen began long before a nation saw fit to elect an avowed racist (and proudly ignorant failed businessman charged many times with sexual assault) their leader, presumably because they thought he embodied their own ideals. But to have that in the White House is to give permission to the racists that it’s okay to come out and do whatever they want. They’re in power now.
We have our own problems, but the spectacle of the powerful fighting their own people instead of the virus troubles all of humanity (least of all because social distancing is almost impossible in mass demonstrations). If you have only a vague idea of American history, there are two short videos that will give you the basics of what is going on there now.
First there is the video of a white woman calling the police, claiming that a black man is threatening her life. The black man, who is peacefully bird-watching in Central Park, asks her to leash her dog according to the rules of the park. As she approaches him, he asks her to stay away from him and to call the police. Meanwhile, the dog struggles to breathe in mid-air as she lifts him by his collar. Why is the woman reporting the man who has done nothing wrong? Because he is black.
Then another, more horrifying video, taken that same day, of Minneapolis police arresting George Floyd for allegedly paying a store with a fake 20 dollar bill. Police restrain the unarmed Floyd and push him to the ground. A policeman kneels on George Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds while Floyd moans in pain and cries that he can’t breathe. When the policeman takes his knee off the man’s neck, George Floyd is dead. Why is suspicion of passing a fake 20 dollar bill punishable by death? Because he is black.
So now America is on fire. This is not the first time the people have taken to the streets to protest racial injustice and murder, but today they do so while the forces tasked with keeping their president in check do nothing, and his media stooges cheer him on. Meanwhile, the bully they have enabled exhorts the police and military to attack their own people.
Many eloquent, passionate op-ed pieces have been written, but they cannot move a man who does not read. We watch as the most powerful nation in the world is degraded and torn apart at the whim of a tiny man cowering in a bunker.