George Floyd and Donald Trump represent the insidious polarities of black oppression and white privilege, of powerlessness and excessive, abusive power. One was a black man down on his luck, unemployed due to the pandemic, dead due to a white cop who took a knee on his neck. The other is a rich white man packed with privilege, who secured the presidency by trying to make racism great again.
Together, they represent opposing archetypes in our abyss. They demonstrate how far we have fallen from America’s ideals and values, and the enormity of the work needed to restore our country’s soul.
What follows are the words of both men. In Floyd’s case, they were among his final utterances (here and here) between his Memorial Day arrest and death at the hands of Minneapolis police. In Trump’s case, his words were spoken or tweeted in response to the protests over Floyd’s murder. Floyd’s remarks are in bold. Trump’s quotes are in italics. Together, they depict a gaping and deeply infected wound in the fabric of American life.
“Please, man, I’m claustrophobic.”
“My Admin has done more for the Black Community than any President since Abraham Lincoln.”
“I can’t breathe, please.”
“Just spoke to (Minnesota) Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!”
“My neck, (long guttural groan) my neck.”
“(If protesters had breached the White House fence), they would have been greeted with the most vicious dogs, and most ominous weapons I have ever seen.”
“Please, please, I can’t move.”
“The lowlifes and losers are ripping (cities) apart.”
“Please, the knee in my neck. I can’t breathe.”
“The thugs must be stopped.”
“Can I have some water?”
On a conference call with governors and mayors: “Get a lot of men. You have to dominate. If you don’t dominate, you’re wasting your time. They’re going to run over you. You’re going to look like a bunch of jerks.”
“My stomach hurts.”
“I’m your president of law and order.”
“My neck hurts.”
“When someone is throwing a rock, that’s like shooting a gun. You have to do retribution.”
“Everything hurts.”
“Get tough Democrat Mayors and Governors. These people are ANARCHISTS. . .The World is watching and laughing at you and Sleepy Joe (Biden). Is this what America wants? NO!!!”
“They’re going to kill me.”
“I am mobilizing all available federal resources, civilian and military, to . . .protect the rights of law-abiding Americans, including your Second Amendment rights.”
“Don’t kill me.”
“I am dispatching thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers, military personnel . . .to stop the rioting, looting, vandalism, assaults and the wanton destruction of property.”
“Mama, Mama. I can’t breathe.”
Against that backdrop, together with Trump’s declining poll numbers, the 45th president of the United States summoned the news media to the Rose Garden Monday and insisted that he is “an ally of all peaceful protesters.” As he spoke those words, peaceful protesters in front of the White House were being attacked by smoke, flash grenades and tear gas at the hands of riot officers and mounted police.
The mission, on orders of the Trump Administration, was to clear a path so the president could safely walk two blocks to a nearby church and pose with a Bible for a photo op. The New York Times reported that the stunt was the idea of his daughter, Ivanka, who accompanied him and pulled the Bible he used as a prop from her $1,540 MaxMara bag.
George Floyd did not live in the world of photo ops and $1,540 designer accessories. He died after allegedly trying to buy cigarettes with a $20 counterfeit bill. Neither his life nor his humanity mattered to the four police officers who ushered him to his death. To them, Floyd was, in the poetry of our president, just another “lowlife thug” they needed to “dominate.”
To be sure, a Trumpian testosterone tour of military might is the last thing we need right now. The road to fixing this problem is long and winding. But it necessarily begins with the acknowledgement that black lives matter. It ends only when that truth is fully codified in the policies and procedures of everyday life, and in the hearts of those who hold power.
Until then, justice and peace will continue to elude us.
My eyes filled with tears as I read your words, Bruce, for they are all too true. We have to find a way to take our country back from Trump and his troop of jackboots. Thank you, once again, for speaking truth to power.
Thanks, Bruce for a powerful, sad, and shameful piece. What a contrast you painted! The next months are going to be rough, but I am somewhat more hopeful that the eyes are opening around the country and world.
Well done Bruce. Very powerful. Of course, as a radio head, I’d like to hear your narrative read with a Black Floyd voice and an Orange Trump voice.
Up the long ladder!
David