The murder of George Floyd is not some incredible moment of police madness. It is the result of the legitimisation of legal killing of black people in the USA. The reason why George Floyd's killer has been charged with murder is because millions of Americans, led by the black population, have revolted against this well-known fact. There will be huge results.
The black leadership in the US (and across the globe, including the UK) has rolled out (yet again) the many, socially and politically-hidden truths, of consistent, regular, organised, systemic, racism and its often deadly consequences. This blog is narrowed to Trump's reaction.
First is the the measure and strength of genuine mass movements of the people. The effect on the system and the regime of the mightiest power in the world is spectacular. The action, on the streets, by the millions, proves unstoppable. This is demonstrated by the utter failure of the Obama presidency, who mobilised an enormous movement to win his election, but who incessantly closed down action by the people when it came to challenging the power of the state and government - even for his mild reforms. His response today to Trump? 'Vote'. Obama, even in his own terms, is still failing.
But the mass movement that emerged from the murder of George Floyd is not waiting or relying on Obama's call to 'vote' in November. The movement, if it fully succeeds, will certainly change the new President but also the effective implementation of reform by changing society. Already, following days of mass action, the whole picture in the US is starting to shift. Obama could not do it in his eight years.
So how is Trump facing this? For the first time since his election in 2016 he is frightened. He was always entirely interested in his own victory. For years, in which his poisonous, self-seeking behaviour seemed to have ranged from comedy to danger, his polling numbers remained stable from the mid 30%s to the low 40s. (Even after his recommendation to use bleach to 'defeat' the Coronavirus.) For the first time since 2016 that has shifted. Can anybody believe that this is the product of Biden and the leadership of the Democrats? The defining strength of the anti-racist upsurge is indisputable. Even the Fox polls, focussed on the key states, are now showing failure for Trump in Arizona, Ohio, Wisconsin. Even Texas has come close. Trump had 306 electoral votes from the states in 2016. Now he has 270 and falling.
This has frightened Trump to the soles of his feet. Even Trump's violent efforts to clear 'the terrorists' outside the White House when he made his 'God like' photo shot, complete with a curled-up Churchilian style bottom lip, did not push up the polls. Which brings in his play with the military. Legally and technically he can do it. If the movement subsides he won't do it - for now. But if the movement continues, and the polls do not lift, Trump will put US soldiers on American streets.
Everybody knows the dangers, including Trump. At the bottom line soldiers do not calm down rioters, they are solely trained to shoot them. Many black leaders suggest that the murder of George Floyd might lead to the continuation and hopefully a positive resolution of the American Civil War - 155 years later. This is not a fantasy. Trump is not worried by a serious, albeit a mini-collision in society - so long as he succeeds. In his idiot way he imagines a battle where he has all the power. Is it necessary, after all lots of old generals don't want it? Big capital are scared, but impotent in the coming slump when the state has all the cards. Meanwhile Trump is toying with his new hot uniform.
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