Trump is the Poster Boy for White Privilege

Last week there was a Black Lives Matter protest in southern New Jersey. This was the scene:

[A]s the diverse group marched along Monday, waving signs and chanting slogans in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, it was met by several white men who had gathered near a sign that said “All Lives Matter” and in front of a pickup truck draped with an American flag and a pro-Trump sign.

One of the men yelled at the marchers angrily while kneeling on the neck of another who was facedown on the ground — an apparent attempt to mock the killing of Mr. Floyd, a black man who died in Minneapolis after a white officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

In addition to mocking Mr. Floyd’s death, [the men] had yelled, “If George Floyd would have complied he wouldn’t be dead”; “Go cash your checks”; and “Black Lives Matter to no one.”

So this is their argument: If Floyd had complied, he wouldn't have died? He was in handcuffs, helpless on the ground. How much more compliant can you get?

Also, since when is the punishment for disobeying the police on suspicion of passing a counterfeit $20 bill the death penalty? And since when do we try cases on the street, with cops acting as judge, jury and executioner?

Not long ago Rayshard Brooks, a black man from Atlanta, was friendly and complying with the police after being found asleep and drunk in his car at Wendy's drive-through. He fled when they tried to cuff him.  Given the large number of men who have died in police custody (Floyd, Eric Garner, and hundreds of others), this is a completely reasonable response.

The cops shot him in the back. Brooks was not a danger or himself or anyone else. The cops had his car, they knew who he was, but when he disobeyed and ran they murdered him. One of the officers has been fired, and the other has been suspended. The death has been ruled a homicide.

The underlying issue with these problematic cops is that they think their authority is limitless. If you disobey them (by talking back or running away), they feel disrepected and respond with deadly force.

The counterprotesters in New Jersey seem to think that killing someone for disobeying and disrespecting authority figures is just fine.

Can we think of someone else who constantly disobeys and disrepects authority figures such as federal judges (Gonzalo Curiel), the FBI, the attorney general of the United States, the many inspectors generals who have found him and his cronies breaking the law, and flouting the Constitution itself by accepting foreign emoluments?

If Trump had been born poor and black and displayed this attitude in his interactions with the police, he would have murdered on the street long ago. But since he's white and his daddy was rich, he could get away with opening his big fat yap as much as he likes.

This is what white privilege is all about. Ignorant rich white folks can get irate when the cops stop them in their expensive cars and there are no consequences, but if a black man says the wrong thing (Philando Castile: "Officer, I've got a legal concealed firearm"), the cops shoot them or they're down on the ground, getting the life choked out of them.

The police are public servants.They work for the people that they arrest and detain. In their dealings with wealthy white citizens the cops usually (though not always) remember to be courteous and fair. But when they deal with poor black and brown citizens the pretense of civility quickly falls away.

There should be no double standard.