Get Your Knee Off Our Necks. From Slavery to Black Lives Matter (2022)

The death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, and the ensuing trial of Derek Chauvin for murder a year later has rubbed raw the bloodiest stain on the United States’ history and its world reputation. The nine minutes and 29 seconds during which Chauvin’s knee crushed the spark of life out of Floyd was not unusual in the history of the United States. Before the U.S. Civil War, slaves were routinely beaten to death for disobeying orders or running away, then often lynched. In roughly two centuries, Blacks have achieved nominal freedom. But, as this book’s opening chapter and expert essays that follow indicate, freedom has been conditional based on inequity of wealth, social, and legal discrimination. None of this is new in the United States; what is new is the number of people rising up in protest, a figure in the millions around the world after Floyd’s murder. This book supplies a readable, scholarly account of recent issues in race and racism in the United States that will be useful for general readers, undergraduate students, and their professors. It will be useful in many fields, including Black studies, other ethnic pursuits, United States history, law, criminal justice, intercultural communication, et al. The work contains a powerful historical narrative followed by several important, essays on subjects including George Floyd’s murder, the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement and many other victims of systematic racism. Contents 5 Introduction 7 1: “I Can’t Breathe:” Dying While Black in America: Today’s Lynchings and Ending the Heritage of Slavery 20 Quit Harassing Black People “for Petty-Ass Shit” 22 A Family’s Story 23 Blacks and Mass Incarceration 24 Torture by Temperature 25 Prejudice May Wear a Black Robe 27 The Engrained Nature of U.S. Racism 28 Criminalization of Black Peoples 30 George Floyd’s Murder Lights a Fuse 31 Seattle’s “No Cop Co-op” 37 “We All Breathe the Same Air” 40 Demonstrations Grow Worldwide 42 Symbols and Stereotypes 44 Police Killings Continue 46 The Death of Breonna Taylor 47 The Killing of Eligah McClain 50 Naming and Shaming: Images and Words of Racism Come Down 51 Statues Fall in Europe 56 Marches in Portland, Oregon Night After Night, Month After Month 58 Trump Casts Himself on Mount Rushmore 62 Was It a Gun, a Cell Phone, or a Subway Sandwich? 70 The Black Wall Street: The First Bombing of Americans by Americans 73 Police Behavior: Life, Death, and Little Change 74 A Statistical Interlude 78 “Believe Your Eyes: It’s Homicide” 79 The Police Chief Takes the Stand 83 A Demand for Complete Submission 84 Hard-earned Justice 88 References 93 2: The Perils of Populism, Racism, and Sexism: The Trump Lesson Plan for African Americans and Women 102 Historical Perspective on Populism 103 The Rise of Trump’s Populism 106 Trump Attitude toward African Americans and Women: Populism or Hatred 2.0? 107 When People Show You Who They Are 114 Is This Presidential? 119 Rock-bottom Ratings from Black Women 121 Lesson Learned? 123 Conclusion 125 References 126 3: Penal Populism: The End of Reason 130 Introduction 130 Punishment, Reason and Anti-reason 132 Explaining the Rise of Penal Populism 138 Legitimacy Deficits and the Rise of Populist Politics 144 “An Abrupt and Ugly End” 150 References 156 4: White Supremacy and the Politics of Race 160 Introduction 160 Barack Obama’s Election in 2008 Did Not Lift the United States from Its Racist Past 161 Racial Politics in U.S. History 161 Republicans, Democrats, and an Unexpected Political Realignment 168 Civil Rights, the Vietnam War, and Street Chaos 172 The Timeline to Barack Obama 177 George W. Bush, 9-11, Obama, and the Centuries-Old Struggle for Racial Equality 179 Racist Rhetoric Against Obama in High Gear 180 The Tea Party and White Extinction Anxiety 183 References 186 5: The Civil Rights Movement in Urban Microcosm: Omaha, Nebraska 188 Omaha’s Enduring Black Community 188 Eruptions of Racial Violence 189 Segregation Becomes More Severe Following Riots 190 Civil-rights and Economic Issues Spark Tensions after World War II 191 State Senator Ernie Chambers’ Unique Role in Nebraska State Politics 193 Chronology: Omaha’s Black Community 195 Statistical Overview of Omaha’s Black Community and Related Subjects 197 Standing Bear: My Blood Runs Red, Just Like Yours 200 Whiteclay, Nebraska: The Economics of Keeping American Indians Drunk 203 Mosques on the Prairie 206 References 207 6: Blackfacing, White Shaming, and Yellow Journalism: A Jaundiced View of How Contemporary PC Erodes First Amendment Principles 209 “Blackfacing” and Its Progeny 218 “White Shaming” 223 Yellow Journalism 228 References 240 7: In the Spirit of Queen Araweelo: An Analysis of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s Disruption of Nativism and White Supremacy 246 Cultural and Feminist Context 248 Queen Araweelo 248 Intersectional Feminism 249 Who Is Ilhan Omar? 251 Minneapolis, Minnesota’s Somali Community 251 Why Ilhan Omar Upsets the Status Quo 253 White Supremacy 253 Nativism 256 Double Patriarchy 257 U.S.–Israeli Relations and Policies 259 Islamophobia, Xenophobia and Terrorist Stereotypes 261 In the Spirit of Queen Araweelo 264 References 264 8: Australia: Tainted Blood—Scientific Racism, Eugenics and Sanctimonious Treatments of Aboriginal Australians: 1869–2008 269 9: Brazil and Australia: Indigenous Peoples and the Fires This Time 290 Brazil’s Wild Northwest 291 Deforestation Slows, then Accelerates Again 293 Wildfires and Greenhouse Gases 296 Forests to Ashes 298 Carbon Sink to Carbon Source: Scientific Work 299 The Amazon Valley in the World Trade Web 300 Cities Grow as the Rainforest Withers 302 Gold Mining’s Role in Deforestation 303 Bolsonaro in Political Quicksand 304 Deforestation of the Amazon Valley: It Is Not Only Brazil 305 Wildfires Envelop Australia 308 Devastation of Plants and Animals 309 The Politics of Smoke and Fires 310 “A Blast Furnace” and “Firenadoes” 313 Fires Roll Through Villages A Second Time 315 Post-Apocalyptic Fiction Has Been Moved to Current Affairs 316 The Fires Next Time 318 References 322 10: Though the Heavens Should Fall: The Mansfield Decision (1772) 327 Bibliography 337 Index 340