The entire world watched as civil unrest erupted across the United States in response to the death of George Floyd in Minnesota on May 25. Many are apparently tempted to believe that the nature of the protests, some of it violent and destructive, somehow is after the fact justification of the police tactics. Even for the completely peaceful protests, it was being said by some that “this isn’t the right way to protest”.
Trevor Noah asks us to connect the dots, or rather Dominos, as he examines the state of the Social Contract that is the fabric of our society, and that we are all supposed to be a party to. He argues that the countless and ongoing examples of the incidents where, for blacks and minorities, the social contract is ignored, but where people are asked to “play by the rules” even though they are so often denied the benefits and protections of those rules, have lead to a nearly irrepressible need to protest these injustices.
He harks back to Colin Kaepernik where powerful figures, saying “this is not the right way to protest” [in the name of Black Lives Matter], insisted he be punished and stripped of his livelihood. He traces it through to Amy Cooper, the dog owner who refused to leash her dog in Central Park and then casually threatened the life or safety of a black bird watcher, by lying to the police in a 911 call, because she understood that she could [weaponize her whiteness] – confident in her belief that he wouldn’t be afforded the presumption of innocence. Noah argues that this incident is a casual and revealing uncloaking of the real social contract too often afforded blacks.
So this is a very long introduction to a pretty long video by Mr. Noah. We wish both were more concise, but nonetheless, it’s worth your time to view it and consider what he has to say.
