-- By Tom Phillips
2020 was an epic year for news, but not for noble speeches. The Quotes of the Year were more like the oaths of warriors in combat: bravado, trash talk, mayday calls, dying gasps and pleas for mercy.
What they said:
"It is what it is.." Donald Trump on August 31,
downplaying US deaths from Covid-19 ".. because you
are what you are." Joe Biden,
blaming him in the first presidential debate September 29.
“I can’t breathe.” George Floyd, as he lay dying under the knee of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin May 25. When Biden was declared president-elect November 7, CNN commentator Van Jones broke down on camera, weeping for his children and friends. "It wasn't just George Floyd," he said through a flood of tears. "A lot of people …felt they couldn't breathe."
"Kill me!" Luis Vasquez, a neighborhood resident who fired gunshots into the air in front of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, following a Christmas concert on the Cathedral steps December 12. Police shot him dead. The gunman's sister said he'd been "damaged" by prison time in the 1990s, and his mental state had worsened in the pandemic.
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| Christian Cooper |
"Please, call the cops." Spoken and recorded by Christian Cooper, a black man birdwatching in Central Park, on the same day George Floyd was killed in May. Cooper had asked a woman to put her dog on a leash. She responded by calling 911 and telling police that an “African-American man” was threatening her. The birdwatcher knew such white lies have meant prison or death for many black men. Still he challenged his accuser and was vindicated by the video.
"I am someone’s daughter too.” One actual flash of eloquence came from Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, in response to a congressional colleague who called her a “fucking bitch” on the Capitol steps. Rep. Ted Yoho cited his daughters in a half-hearted apology, which Ocasio-Cortez rejected July 23. “Having a daughter does not make a man decent,” she said, but "treating people with dignity and respect."“White bodies up front!” Unidentified protester in
Black Lives Matter. The cry went up as unarmed demonstrators faced police in
riot gear moving to break up a protest in Brooklyn
June 4. Young white women and men surged
to the front, using their white privilege as a shield to protect those of
color.
“We demand change. Sick of it.” Lebron James, as NBA teams
walked off the court August 26 to protest the police shooting of Jacob Blake in
Wisconsin. In 2016 Colin Kaepernick was
booed and vilified by fans and NFL owners for kneeling during the national
anthem, and his career effectively ended. In 2020 NBA owners supported the protests, and cancelled playoff games.
“I do not believe you are a racist.” Kamala
Harris, to Biden during a Democratic presidential debate June
27. Harris then took Biden to the
woodshed, castigating him for his opposition to school busing in the 1970s,
citing her own experience as a little girl being bused to integrate California schools. Six weeks later, Biden named Harris his running mate. In the
vice-presidential debate, Harris refused to yield when Mike Pence interrupted
and talked over her. Repeatedly she told
him, “I’m still speaking."
“Numbers don’t lie.” Republican secretary of state Brad
Raffensberger of Georgia, certifying on November 20 that Biden won the state’s
electoral votes. Facing death threats and calls to resign, Raffensberger said
as a conservative he was disappointed by the result. But he called it “the
verdict of the people.”
“I don’t want to die.” Lady Gaga, at the end of the video to her song “91 1.” The four-minute film bursts with images from American hip-hop to Armenian iconography, beginning in a desert strewn with broken pomegranates. Their scattered red seeds evoke the myth of Persephone, and the life-or-death struggle of human civilization.
More to come in 2021.
--- Copyright 2020 by Tom Phillips
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Terrific blog, Tom.
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