Jehangir Khattak
New York has rarely seen curfews and businesses boarding their store fronts. Such extreme measures are usually spared for natural calamities and disasters like hurricanes, snowstorms or to stop the spread of a pandemic like coronavirus. But the country’s financial hub along with dozens of cities are under curfew since May 25, not to tame Coronavirus or escape the harm of a natural calamity. Rather to stop the unstoppable popular uprising over the country’s failure to defeat police brutality and a centuries old enemy, racism.
The US is virtually under siege by a huge backlash over the heart-wrenching death of George Floyd, the unarmed 46 years old black man, at the hands of white officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Dozens of cities, big and small, have witnessed spontaneous protests, violence, arson and looting. The National Guards, and in some military police, have been called in to maintain order. Streets in cities from New York to Philadelphia to Los Angeles to Denver to Tampa to Chicago, Washington DC and beyond, depict the pictures of battlefields.
Joined by people of all colors, and peaceful during daytime, these protests morph into looting and arson during the night, forcing imposition of night time curfew. The results are painful — glittering cities have been turned into surreal war zones. In New York City, the iconic Macy’s super store, the largest in America, was among the hundreds of businesses ransacked by rampaging gangs of looters just in one night. In Chicago, looters drove U-Haul vans to break the stores and speed away with expensive stolen merchandise. The reports of protesters and police officers getting injured have become a daily routine during tense standoffs.
Donald Trump, who calls himself the “law and order president” and shares the grief of the Floyd family, has taken a hardline on violence and looting. He is warning a tough response to the violent protests. In a June 1 nationally televised address, a Trump warned deployment of the military to quell violence by invoking the 1807 Insurrection Act. “If the city or state refuses to take the actions that are necessary,” Trump said, “then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them.” A day later, Trump told the state governors during a conference call that they would look like “jerks” if they did not take tough action against the rioters, and failed to “dominate” the streets. He has been receiving serious reaction and pushback from not just some of the Governors but also the military. News of discomfort in the US military over the troops’ prominent role in tamping down the protests have already started making the rounds.
James Mattis, the former defense secretary, slammed Trump in a letter published in The Atlantic. “I have watched this week’s unfolding events, angry and appalled,” Mattis wrote. “Never did I dream that troops taking that same oath would be ordered under any circumstance to violate the Constitutional rights of their fellow citizens — much less provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside.”
The rage on American streets is not new. The reasons for the unrest are also not new. The last time Americans witnessed such chaos was following the assassination of Martin Luther King on April 4, 1968. At least 100 cities saw violent protests following MLK’s assassination, leaving 40 dead and more than 15,000 arrested.
Racism has remained America’s endemic and pernicious problem for more than 400 years. Critics say the problem is systemic, especially in the law enforcement apparatus, which is often accused of disproportionately targeting the blacks and people of color. Blacks are one of the most marginalized communities in America. Estimates from a 2013 Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances indicated that black households had one-thirteenth of the wealth of white households at the median. Blacks virtually are at the top of the list for every wrong reason, may it be impact of the Coronavirus pandemic, poverty, police violence or incarceration. The country’s political leadership has for generations acknowledges this ugly reality.
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden calls it the “open wound”. He draws an implicit contrast with Trump. “The original sin of this country still stains our nation today,” said Biden, in remarks broadcast from his home in Wilmington, Delaware. Biden served as Vice President under Barack Obama, the first ever black president the nation elected. “It’s time for us to take a hard look at uncomfortable truths.”
But is America really ready to take a hard look at the malaise that now threatens to destabilize parts of it and tear its social fabric apart? May be not, at least for now. President Trump, who condoled with the Floyd’s family during a brief call, has been accused of being divisive, blowing hot and cold in his messaging in the middle of an already explosive situation.
He initially condemned the police actions in Floyd’s death. But later agitated the unrest by tweeting that protesters could be met with violent law enforcement. Trump threatened to take direct action to bring the situation in Minneapolis “under control,” called violent protesters as “thugs” and revived a civil-rights-era phrase fraught with racist overtones.
“When the looting starts, the shooting starts,” Trump wrote in a tweet that was flagged by Twitter as violating rules against “glorifying violence.” The White House insists Trump’s tweet “did not glorify violence. He clearly condemned it.” White House clarification may be true but reports of Trump’s hardline in dealing with the protesters is no longer a secret. The eviction of peaceful protesters from Lafayette Park in front of the White House on June 1 and his walk for a photo op at the historic St John’s Episcopal church has been widely interpreted as a political stunt. At a time when the nation needs a healing touch from the leader, it shows little seriousness in uniting a polarized nation, his critics maintain.
Trump and his closest advisors, including the national security advisor and attorney general, are focusing more on protests than what they are demanding – justice to Floyd’s family and reforming the justice system. Conversely, he is accusing left-wing anarchists and extremists of hijacking the peaceful protests. They correctly insist that the rioters and protesters are not the same.
Antifa, a left-wing anti-fascist organization, and white supremacists have been accused of fomenting the violence. Trump has directly blamed Antifa for the violence and threatened to declare it a terrorist organization. “The United States of America will be designating ANTIFA as a Terrorist Organization,” Trump said in a tweet on May 31. But will banning Antifa and white supremacist groups is the magic wand to end racism? May be not. It, however, may bring down the level of violence on American streets.
The way forward
Floyd’s death has brought America at a crossroads where it has no choices but only challenges to tackle. It has to fix not just its faltering police and justice systems, but also come up with a convincing black agenda that can narrow down the shocking disparities that the country’s 40 million black population faces. But that would require a more assertive political leadership in the White House that shows both empathy and urgency and a clear direction to deal with the situation.
The country’s experiment with electing Obama as the first black president did not deliver enough. Black incomes from 2009 to 2014 fell more for blacks than any other racial or ethnic group. In fact, the social justice movement “Black Lives Matter” started in 2013 at a time when Obama was at the helm and had a black attorney general. Obama’s critics call him an apologist who wanted to prove to his white supporters that he was whiter than them on policy. Reason: Obama’s general position was that racial equality can be achieved via policies that uplift all Americans experiencing poverty and deprivation. His administration never gave serious consideration to aggressive transformative universal policies like a public-sector employment guarantee for all Americans
Joe Biden, who enjoys considerable support among black voters, has an opportunity to do a better job than his former boss, by coming up with a more pronounced and compelling black agenda.
Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza agrees that Biden needs to use this moment to connect further with black people and create a more robust black agenda that specifically tackles the need for policing reform and more. Will Biden deliver what he could not during eight years as Obama’s vice president remains any body’s guess. The leadership test is even bigger for President Trump who has to make sure justice is done to the Floyd family, the “open wounds” of racism are healed through sweeping police reforms and a polarized nation is united through a more proactive and warmer outreach to the aggrieved Americans. None in the US knows how he will do it. But for now, America is in crisis, fighting a killer pandemic and a divisive racial chaos.
The writer is a New York-based senior journalist and commentator. He tweets at @JehangirKhattak
