Dear Editor,
Permit me to piggyback on the laudable and eloquent letter, `We collectively raise our voices in condemning the murder of George Floyd,’ (SN, June 7), written by a group of Guyanese.
Floyd’s death, vividly captured on someone’s roving camera phone and shown across the world, depicted the deeply disturbing mindset of fired White Police Office Derek Chauvin, who placed his left knee on Floyd’s neck, then used his left hand to press down on his leg to apply maximum pressure on Floyd’s neck, even as Floyd cried out he could not breathe.
One could see the stony seriousness on Chauvin’s face and the cold stare from his eyes at onlookers who were beckoning him to get off Floyd’s neck. It reminded me of TV documentaries about animals in the wild. When a lion catches its prey, its jaws remain locked for several minutes on the throat of the prey until the prey is motionless.
That single action by Chauvin, who displayed wild animal instincts, would spark nationwide protests and demonstrations, which sometimes turned violent, destructive and even deadly, but with race serving as the underlying factor. It came at a time when the President of the United States continues to use his dark presidency to create an environment conducive for White racism to go on full display.
During his contentious and controversial 2016 presidential campaign, Trump’s racist rhetoric quickly became known, but after he was sworn in and many thought he would pivot to become a President of all Americans, he opted to continue his personally racist, politically reprehensible and alarmingly divisive behaviours, which alienated both Americans and foreign allies.
And while some of his supporters became disappointed and started peeling away, there remained a die-hard group, which disconcertingly viewed Trump as the God-sent White Messiah who resonated with their racist and other misplaced beliefs.
When Trump first promoted the ‘Make America Great Again’ slogan, some observers were puzzled because they knew America’s greatness or superpower status was made possible, to a large extent, through support from foreign allies after World War II, as America led the West in advocating democracy and capitalism versus the Soviet Union’s communism and state-controlled economics of the East.
But time would quickly reveal that what Trump really meant with his slogan was ‘Make America White Again’, because there were too many non-Whites from foreign countries who were calling America their new home. Some White Americans started feeling uncomfortable and even threatened about being displaced. Leading the group of non-Whites were people who lived south of the American border; hence the construction of the southern border walls.
To add some more perspective, Whites are the largest race in America, followed by African Americans/Blacks, but the fastest growing ethnic group are the Hispanics/Latinos, and that rapid growth is happening much to the chagrin of some Whites.
In the year 2000, Hispanics/ Latinos numbered 35.3 million. By the year 2010, that number grew to 50.5 million. Comparably, in the year 2000, African Americans/Blacks numbered 36.4 million. By the year 2010, they numbered 38.9 million. Do we now understand why ‘Trumpians’ are worried about the southern border? But Trump did not limit his racist hatred for Hispanics/Latinos, he extended it to Third World nations he called ‘shithole countries’, completely ignoring the fact America helped exploit some of those very ‘shithole countries’ to help America achieve greatness.
Trump even went so far as to ban citizens from certain African countries, even though such citizens never harmed America. Yet, on the other hand, for reasons best known to Trump, he did not ban citizens from Saudi Arabia from where nineteen citizens were among the terrorists who launched 9/11. No one from sub-Saharan Africa or south of the American border ever did that.
So, over the past almost four years of his demented presidency, we have witnessed a disturbing pattern of racism with dangerous and deadly consequences in America. Not that there aren’t Black-on-Black crimes, but these are between and among individuals in minority communities for a variety of social and economic reasons, and they differ starkly from violence and killings that are executed by law enforcement officers under the control of city/county, state and federal government leaders with anti-Black agendas. That’s why, while Chauvin must be held responsible and accountable for his murder of Floyd, one cannot divorce the mindset he possessed because of the enabling environment in which he operated.
And this type of environment is found in many law enforcement bodies across America, including New York. Just look at the recent incident in Buffalo City where 57 cops resigned after two of their own were charged for pushing a 75-year old man, causing him to fall and crack his skull. The cops claimed the man tripped and fell, but another roving camera phone caught the incident and it went viral. Although the victim was White, what is troubling is the mindset of the cops that they can do no wrong, but especially if their targets are non-Whites.
The George Floyd protests and demonstrations, therefore, must be seen as more than about Floyd, but vicariously targets Trump who has been called out by many as an avowed racist. As one retired US military General, who once worked with Trump, recently noted, Trump is not even pretending to divide America; he is openly doing it. It was a profound observation that plays right into the proverbial saying that a nation divided against itself cannot stand.
Yours faithfully,
Emile Mervin
