Donald Trump’s ‘New Normal’

The new normal? It started some time ago in the psychotic reality of the president’s “alternative facts.” A president who blatantly insists on not wearing a mask, perhaps to ramble more freely; who gets excited about any help that the federal government provides for a city or state as if it were his personal donation, or about the soaring stock market — ah, yes, all thanks to him; and who announces the coming year will be “one of the best ever seen.”

Well, Donald Trump avoids talking about the current year: There are 101,000 deaths from the coronavirus and it is estimated that there will be 123,000 in three weeks. The economy is in desolation, with 40 million unemployed and still more to come.

It’s the “new normal” seen in Minneapolis these days, white police officers killing a young unarmed black man, who was arrested without cause. It’s a “new” that knows the “old” quite well. Even though this is a new scenario, that it makes it, if possible, even more despicable and unacceptable than the many other similar ones in the past.

What happened in Minneapolis has happened too many times in America. Too many times, we point out, in recent years — because, if we look back, there are countless times when black Americans have been victims of murderous brutality like that against George Floyd.

In fact, the outbursts of revolt in numerous cities after what happened in Minneapolis are the reaction to not just this last event, but more importantly to the endless chain of events that say, “enough is enough.” A phrase that was not enough.

These are events that often occur in circumstances of social degradation or in times of crisis, which severely affect the most vulnerable groups.

“[F]or millions of Americans,” Barack Obama tweeted, “being treated differently on account of race is tragically, painfully, maddeningly ‘normal’ — whether it’s while dealing with the health care system, or interacting with the criminal justice system, or jogging down the street, or just watching birds in a park.”

Minneapolis is confirmation of that. It confirms that anger is still simmering because it highlights the still unacceptable conditions of black communities and the amount of racism that surrounds them; a picture made dramatically apparent by the ongoing pandemic. In this context, the death of George Floyd took place.

An event like many — too many — yet different from any of those we have seen before. Especially because of the consequences it will have.

Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, professor of African American Studies at Princeton, writes in The New York Times, “The fact that Mr. Floyd was even arrested, let alone killed, for the inconsequential ‘crime’ of forgery amid a pandemic that has taken the life of one out of every 2,000 African Americans is a chilling affirmation that black lives still do not matter in the United States.”

So far there have been 23,000 deaths in the black community. And the attitude often held toward black people affected by the virus must be added to this data. “It’s not just the higher rates of death that fuel this anger,” the Princeton scholar writes, “but also publicized cases where African Americans have been denied health care because nurses or doctors didn’t believe their complaints about their symptoms. Just as maddening is the assumption that African Americans bear personal responsibility for dying in disproportionate numbers.”

A white man, who is liked by the KKK, and who orders the Minnesota National Guard to deploy 500 soldiers around the black neighborhoods of Minneapolis and St. Paul, is president of America, which was previously led by Obama.

Is he interested in containing the revolt or fueling it? Is he interested in provoking anger in other cities, besides those already in revolt alongside Minneapolis? He is the same president who referred to the white protesters that protested the lockdown with assault rifles and handguns in Michigan, Virginia, and even in Minnesota as “very good people.”

“Liberate Michigan,” “Liberate Virginia,” “Liberate Minnesota,” his tweets fired at three states led by Democratic governors. Trump is fanning the flames deliberately to mobilize his white militant base, and he’s counting on the disorientation that currently exists in the democratic sphere, particularly in the relationship with the black community.

A misstep by Joe Biden is complicating the effort to mobilize the African American voters on his side. Biden, with a simple joke, revealed that he takes for granted the support of the black community, for the mere fact, implied in his joke, that he is the competitor of a racist white man.

Now, the soft and seemingly innocent variant of racism is white paternalism — “I, a white person, choose what is best for you, a black person” — which today in America can be considered even more outrageous than explicit racism.

The choice of who to put as vice president on the presidential ballot must also be considered, which black people expect to be one of their own. Yes, but who? And choosing a running mate based on a single predominant criterion doesn’t always pay off. It cannot be the only one.

But what could normally be tricky yet resolvable issues in such a tense situation, make the president’s “subversive move” easier and much more insidious. And no limits are set on this.

Especially since the strategy of racial tension is the unthinkable but real last resort of a candidate who, knocked out by voters, may not recognize his defeat. A candidate who calls to riot those criminals who, in uniform, kill good people like George Floyd. By taking up arms, they threaten the nation’s democratic leaders, who are only trying to fulfill the duties for which they were elected.