Thread by @DougKass

The 2020 @realdonaldtrump "No Apologies" Tour continues:
Civil democracy is possible because of the social compact between the people and the state. Americans have united for their common good to secure the benefits of an ordered society. In doing so, we surrender a measure of

our personal freedoms in exchange for the benefits bestowed by the social compact. In times of national trauma, the social compact is the last line of defense between order and chaos. During such times, state officials invoke the social compact, asking people to set aside

grievances to maintain peace and ensure the rule of law. The premise of such requests by state officials is that all members of society share equally in the benefits and burdens of the social compact.
For four hundred years, the benefits of the social compact have been denied or

unevenly applied to black Americans. For 250 years, black Americans were not afforded recognition as human beings. For the next century-and-a-half, to the present day, large segments of white society distorted the social compact so that its benefits were selectively withheld

from black Americans while expecting them to fully comply with its burdens. Today, the nation’s governing political party has pinned its hopes for winning the 2020 election on suppressing the vote among black Americans. Prosecutors, judges, juries, and police apply different

standards of justice to black Americans. And, yet, during this moment of crisis, political leaders are calling on black Americans to stay home, bury their grief, swallow their outrage, and pretend that they are full and equal participants in the social compact of America.

The failure of political leaders to understand the inherent inequality in their implicit invocation of the social compact is a barrier to progress. On Saturday morning, Minn. Governor. Tim Walz declared that the violence in Minneapolis “is no longer in any way about

the murder of George Floyd.” The Governor’s statement was blindingly ignorant. Yes, there are agitators at work who seek to provoke violence by leveraging grief and despair. But the failure of Governor Walz to understand the deep connection between the helpless outrage felt by

the protestors and the death of George Floyd is the problem. I am not blaming Governor Walz for the violence or for the system that gave rise to its most recent manifestation. I am saying that until we fully acknowledge the inherent inequality that is a feature of the American

social compact, we have little hope of finding common ground with the protestors in the streets across America.
In one sense, Governor Walz is correct. The protests and violence are not only about the death of George Floyd. They are about the fact that a black man, Ahmaud Arbery

, jogging through a suburban neighborhood in Georgia, was presumed to be a felon fleeing from the scene of a crime. They are about the fact that after Ahmaud was hunted down and killed by armed white men, the police and two sets of prosecutors concluded that Ahmaud’s hunters

acted in “self-defense”—until video was released revealing their lie. They are about the fact that a black man peacefully watching birds in Central Park, Chris Cooper, could be threatened by a white woman who brazenly announced that she would make a false report to the police

about their encounter. She was saying to Mr. Cooper, “The police belong to me. They will believe me because I am white, they will not believe you because you are black.” They are about the fact that a black woman sleeping in her bed, Breonna Taylor, could be shot eight times and

killed by three plainclothes officers who kicked in the door to her apartment at 2:00 AM in search of a suspect who was already in jail. They are about the fact that those officers have still not been charged for their reckless behavior. They are about the fact that the

Louisville Mayor has told residents not to expect a charging decision against those three officers “anytime soon.”
Trump is impotent in this situation. He had no legitimacy on issues of race and police misconduct before the killing of George Floyd, but quickly became an

antagonist in his first response. He called the protestors THUGS and said, “if there’s looting, there will be shooting.” Trump later tried to deny the plain meaning of his threat to use violence against American citizens, but it was too late. Nothing he says will be viewed as

legitimate. His entire presidency is based on the politics of division. He is reaping what he has sown.
To be clear, I am not condoning or excusing violence or property damage. Every act of violence or property damage is wrong and should be condemned by people of good faith—

period. Those who incite or perpetrate violence should be arrested and prosecuted. But if we fail to understand the 400-year context in which the protests and violence are taking place, we will be doomed to repeat cycles of police misconduct, massive demonstrations, and

opportunistic violence that we are enduring today. In the absence of a social compact that is fair to all, it cannot be invoked during times of crisis to restore order.
Our president is powerless to lead the nation. Indeed, he uniquely unfit to do so. Other leaders

must step to the fore. On Friday, Joe Biden released a moving tribute to George Floyd in which he acknowledged the “original sin” of America that “still stains our country today.” He said that we cannot “allow this wound to scab over once more” without treating the root cause—

that after more than two centuries, our nation has yet to live up to its promise to treat all men and women equally. Joe Biden is the path forward. He will not be able to repair the social compact by himself—but electing Biden is the first step to healing America. @andrewrsorkin

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