WEBVTT 00:01.400 --> 00:03.500 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Welcome to the Washington Week Extra. 00:03.500 --> 00:05.633 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% I am Yamiche Alcindor. 00:05.633 --> 00:07.900 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Tonight we discussed the newly released book. 00:07.900 --> 00:12.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% His name is George Floyd, one man's life and the Struggle for racial justice. 00:14.866 --> 00:16.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Joining me to discuss this amazing new book are the authors, of course. 00:16.900 --> 00:18.933 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% Toluse Olorunnipa. 00:18.933 --> 00:22.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% He's a political enterprise and investigations reporter for The Washington Post and Robert 00:22.966 --> 00:24.966 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Samuels national political correspondent. 00:24.966 --> 00:28.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Or should say National Political Enterprise reporter for The Washington Post. 00:28.566 --> 00:29.666 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% Thank you both. 00:29.666 --> 00:30.666 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% For being here. 00:30.666 --> 00:31.666 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% I'm so excited. 00:31.666 --> 00:33.700 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% I should tell you. 00:33.700 --> 00:34.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% I am going to show you my book because it's all marked up because I just like, ran through 00:34.933 --> 00:36.733 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% this book because it's so good. 00:36.733 --> 00:39.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% It's sad and tragic, but it's also such a good read. 00:39.866 --> 00:41.966 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% So congratulations on the book, guys. 00:41.966 --> 00:43.800 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% I want to share with you, Robert. 00:43.800 --> 00:45.033 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% You said that you started out with 00:45.033 --> 00:46.800 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% these guiding questions. 00:46.800 --> 00:48.266 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% Who was George Floyd? 00:48.266 --> 00:49.266 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% And what was it like 00:49.266 --> 00:50.500 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% to live in his America? 00:50.500 --> 00:52.266 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% I know you wrote a whole book answering those 00:52.266 --> 00:53.566 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% questions with Robert. 00:53.566 --> 00:54.900 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% I'm gonna start with you Give us the core 00:54.900 --> 00:56.833 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% answers of what you found out. 00:56.833 --> 00:59.366 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Well, who was George Floyd? 00:59.366 --> 01:01.266 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% What we found out was he was a man who 01:01.266 --> 01:03.500 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% was beloved by his community. 01:03.500 --> 01:04.966 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% He was gregarious. 01:04.966 --> 01:05.966 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% He was godly. 01:05.966 --> 01:06.966 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% He 01:06.966 --> 01:07.966 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% had a faith. 01:07.966 --> 01:09.133 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% He was comical. 01:09.133 --> 01:10.800 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Everyone told stories about his jokes 01:10.800 --> 01:14.033 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% and he was complicated, and he had a lot of darkness is in his life. 01:14.033 --> 01:16.233 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% And he had a lot of struggles. 01:16.233 --> 01:18.200 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% And what was it like to live in his 01:18.200 --> 01:23.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% America was to learn about all these institutions all these different 01:24.733 --> 01:28.233 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% systems from the land loss that started with his ancestors at from 01:28.966 --> 01:30.833 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% long before he was born. 01:30.833 --> 01:34.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% To the struggling crumbling education system and poor housing system 01:34.733 --> 01:39.333 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% to a criminal justice system that was hyper aggressive in terms of 01:39.333 --> 01:43.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% treating a person and looking for a person like George Floyd to incarcerate 01:43.433 --> 01:48.400 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% And and his life had been shaped by all these institutional forces 01:50.266 --> 01:53.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% and many times those forces hindered his ambition to strive and become 01:54.466 --> 01:57.433 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% something in the world. 01:57.433 --> 01:59.000 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% It was. 01:59.000 --> 01:59.566 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% It was a hard thing to get you to summarize the book. 01:59.566 --> 02:01.233 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% But 02:01.233 --> 02:02.833 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% you did it so well, just now, because it is sort of the heart of 02:02.833 --> 02:05.933 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% the beating heart of this book is exactly what you just described. 02:05.933 --> 02:07.133 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% I want to come to you. 02:07.133 --> 02:09.066 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% We, of course, learned about George Floyd 02:09.066 --> 02:12.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and got to know him as a as a nation when he was an older man. 02:12.733 --> 02:14.233 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% But 02:14.233 --> 02:15.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% of course you looked at his the totality of his life. 02:15.466 --> 02:16.733 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% So I want to 02:16.733 --> 02:18.733 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% ask you talk to me a little bit about 02:18.733 --> 02:21.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% His life as a young man and some of the challenges he faced, especially 02:21.233 --> 02:25.133 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% when it comes to going to segregated schools and other things. 02:25.133 --> 02:26.600 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% Yeah. 02:26.600 --> 02:28.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% George Floyd, who grew up in Houston's third Ward, It was an 02:28.900 --> 02:30.100 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% impoverished community. 02:30.100 --> 02:31.500 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% But it was a community that had a lot of 02:31.500 --> 02:33.000 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% love. 02:33.000 --> 02:35.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Where even though 99% of the people in the housing project 02:35.633 --> 02:38.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% that he lived in were black, and most of them were poor, they all 02:38.866 --> 02:42.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% you know we're a community that worked together and looked after 02:42.200 --> 02:43.400 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% each other and looked out for each other. 02:43.400 --> 02:45.033 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% And George Floyd had stature 02:45.033 --> 02:47.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% in that community because he was an athlete. 02:47.466 --> 02:50.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% He was somebody who people thought was different. 02:50.166 --> 02:51.900 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% We talked to his 02:51.900 --> 02:53.866 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% second grade teacher and found out that he had a lot of ambition 02:53.866 --> 02:56.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% to the young kid, and he actually was a relatively smart eight year 02:56.533 --> 02:58.133 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% old. 02:58.133 --> 02:59.700 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% He was someone who wrote an essay about wanting to be a Supreme 02:59.700 --> 03:02.300 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Court justice and we talk 03:02.300 --> 03:06.733 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% To his students in high school that were with him when he got to 03:06.733 --> 03:10.500 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% high school, and we saw that that smart kid that was the second grader 03:10.500 --> 03:12.566 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% and had all of these ambitions. 03:12.566 --> 03:16.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Had been funneled through a number of segregated, underfunded schools 03:16.066 --> 03:19.266 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% in Houston, Third Ward, and by the time he gets to high school, he 03:19.266 --> 03:22.400 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% has been told you're not going to be able to make anything of yourself 03:22.400 --> 03:23.666 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% By going to school. 03:23.666 --> 03:26.266 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% You should focus on your sports athletics career 03:26.266 --> 03:27.500 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% and try to make it that way. 03:27.500 --> 03:29.200 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% And he did, and he was 03:29.200 --> 03:31.800 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% Star athlete, and he was somebody who made his his his teammates 03:31.800 --> 03:34.100 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% joke and laugh on the field. 03:34.100 --> 03:36.733 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% But that dream also was close to him. 03:36.733 --> 03:39.666 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% Just like his dream of becoming a lawyer and a Supreme Court justice 03:39.666 --> 03:42.833 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% was closed to him, in part because of his shaky education. 03:42.833 --> 03:46.266 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% And what we're able to document was that even though he had dreams, 03:46.266 --> 03:49.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% even though he had ambitions, and he started off life with all of 03:49.333 --> 03:50.966 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% these goals 03:50.966 --> 03:54.100 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% He saw doors closed to him What closed down in one after the other, 03:54.100 --> 03:55.266 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% and he kept driving. 03:55.266 --> 03:56.266 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% He kept fighting. 03:56.266 --> 03:57.266 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% He kept working and trying 03:57.266 --> 03:58.900 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% to make something of himself. 03:58.900 --> 04:00.666 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% But he saw those institutional barriers 04:00.666 --> 04:01.633 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% from 04:01.633 --> 04:02.833 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% The education system to. 04:02.833 --> 04:04.933 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Obviously we see the criminal justice system 04:04.933 --> 04:08.266 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% really closed down on him, and we wanted to provide that context. 04:08.266 --> 04:12.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% So people know that Floyd was not just the nine minutes and 29 seconds 04:12.100 --> 04:15.400 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% that people saw of him on the video during the worst time in his 04:15.400 --> 04:16.600 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% life. 04:16.600 --> 04:18.033 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% But he was somebody that had ups and downs. 04:18.033 --> 04:19.733 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Somebody that had ambition. 04:19.733 --> 04:23.933 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% Somebody that wanted to make a great life for himself, but saw racism 04:23.933 --> 04:27.200 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% and institutional racism at almost every turn, and we wanted to show 04:27.200 --> 04:31.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% people what that looks like in the 21st century. 04:31.066 --> 04:32.300 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% Yeah. 04:32.300 --> 04:34.800 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Yeah, And and I want to go to you, Robert. 04:34.800 --> 04:36.233 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% And I want to read 04:36.233 --> 04:39.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% part of one of the most striking moments in the book to me. 04:39.066 --> 04:40.333 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% I was 04:40.333 --> 04:42.333 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% on page 30 minutes and this is after 04:42.333 --> 04:46.366 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% George Floyd's younger brother said Why he asked him Why do you enter 04:46.366 --> 04:47.866 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% a room and greet each person? 04:47.866 --> 04:49.833 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% You write quote, and you can quote 04:49.833 --> 04:52.833 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% you're quoting George Floyd's response to his younger brother says 04:52.833 --> 04:55.000 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% I can't go in a room like you. 04:55.000 --> 04:57.100 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Because of my size, he replied. 04:57.100 --> 04:58.500 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% People look at me and they're nervous 04:58.500 --> 05:00.066 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% and scared. 05:00.066 --> 05:02.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So I opened up to them and let them know I'm okay. 05:02.166 --> 05:03.166 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% I'm 05:03.166 --> 05:04.333 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% a good person. 05:04.333 --> 05:06.366 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% What more Robert? 05:06.366 --> 05:07.700 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% Can you share? 05:07.700 --> 05:09.533 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% About what led George Floyd there 05:09.533 --> 05:13.500 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% and and and the the foresight that he had to know that he had to 05:13.500 --> 05:14.666 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% put people at ease. 05:14.666 --> 05:15.733 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% And, of course you're a black man. 05:15.733 --> 05:16.733 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% So I want 05:16.733 --> 05:18.000 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% to ask you. 05:18.000 --> 05:19.466 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% You can tell me if if if you're comfortable, but 05:19.466 --> 05:22.366 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% I want to know how much that that resonate with you. 05:22.366 --> 05:26.900 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% Absolutely one of the things that I really wanted to know when we 05:26.900 --> 05:31.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% started this project image is I asked about George Floyd's relationship 05:32.500 --> 05:33.966 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% with his body. 05:33.966 --> 05:38.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Because I had a feeling being a black person in America. 05:38.000 --> 05:39.933 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% Feeling 05:39.933 --> 05:42.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% self conscious about what I wear, how I present myself that George 05:42.600 --> 05:45.233 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Floyd might have had something similar. 05:45.233 --> 05:48.700 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% And when I asked the question, people started telling these anecdotes 05:48.700 --> 05:52.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% about how he felt compelled to shake people by the hand when he walked 05:52.833 --> 05:56.466 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% into a room how, after his 05:56.466 --> 05:58.100 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% I could. 05:58.100 --> 06:01.066 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% After his athletic dreams whittled away. 06:01.066 --> 06:02.700 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% He felt awkward 06:02.700 --> 06:05.966 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% because he was left with this massive body that was supposed to take 06:05.966 --> 06:10.966 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% him to the top of the upper echelon and become a professional athlete. 06:12.533 --> 06:15.966 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% But instead, he looks like a big, intimidating fellow walking down 06:15.966 --> 06:17.400 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% the streets. 06:17.400 --> 06:19.466 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% That could be a target. 06:19.466 --> 06:23.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% For police violence or who might threaten someone. 06:23.466 --> 06:24.700 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% And so that's 06:24.700 --> 06:27.166 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% why he always told people he loved you. 06:27.166 --> 06:28.833 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% That's why, when he saw someone 06:28.833 --> 06:31.766 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% walking down the street, he'd always notice if there was something 06:31.766 --> 06:35.533 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% different If you had a new hairstyle, he noticed and he'd say, Hey, 06:35.533 --> 06:38.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% nice hairstyle because he wanted people to like him. 06:38.466 --> 06:43.466 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% And one of the other things that one of the real tragedies is when 06:44.866 --> 06:48.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% he learns about the death of Philando Castile and something. 06:49.800 --> 06:52.400 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Really strikes George Floyd about that death. 06:52.400 --> 06:53.800 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% That might be because 06:53.800 --> 06:55.533 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% they were living in the twin cities. 06:55.533 --> 06:57.100 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% It might be because the little 06:57.100 --> 07:00.300 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% girl was in the car and he had a little girl. 07:00.300 --> 07:03.400 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% But what he said to his friends is, I bet those cops are just waiting 07:03.400 --> 07:05.933 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% to kill a big guy like me. 07:05.933 --> 07:10.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So he knew he knew that his body could be seen as a threat. 07:10.133 --> 07:14.800 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% Yeah, And I totally want to read part of what Robert was just talking 07:14.800 --> 07:15.800 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% about. 07:15.800 --> 07:17.233 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% It's on Page two. 07:17.233 --> 07:18.966 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Oh, eight, and I we pulled it up as a graphic. 07:18.966 --> 07:21.266 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% And it says quote Miss Cissy, who was George Floyd's mother taught 07:21.266 --> 07:24.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% her sons a different standard for dealing with authorities with police 07:24.333 --> 07:25.566 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% always comply. 07:25.566 --> 07:26.700 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% Always be respectful. 07:26.700 --> 07:28.400 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% Make it home alive. 07:28.400 --> 07:30.966 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% And you say, as Robert just talked about after Philando Castile death, 07:30.966 --> 07:32.600 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% George Boy said to have to a friend. 07:32.600 --> 07:34.200 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% I know these cops just waiting 07:34.200 --> 07:38.200 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% to kill a big black man like me. 07:38.200 --> 07:41.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Talk about the advice that that didn't really help for. 07:41.533 --> 07:43.533 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% Unfortunately, 07:43.533 --> 07:45.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% George Floyd in this case and the fact that that advice is continuously 07:45.500 --> 07:46.800 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% still given out toluene 07:46.800 --> 07:49.000 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% Yeah. 07:49.000 --> 07:52.600 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% George Floyd was a recipient of the talk, which we've all come 07:52.600 --> 07:56.800 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% to know that the black parents give to their their Children basically 07:56.800 --> 07:59.666 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% telling them what to do and how to comply when they're stopped by 07:59.666 --> 08:04.033 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% police because they know that that could lead to something. 08:04.033 --> 08:06.733 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Aggressive and violent even if they don't 08:06.733 --> 08:08.000 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% Feel like a threat. 08:08.000 --> 08:09.400 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Even if they're that the child doesn't feel like 08:09.400 --> 08:10.900 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% a threat. 08:10.900 --> 08:12.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% They might be perceived as a threat, and George Floyd knew 08:12.133 --> 08:14.100 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% that he knew that because of his body. 08:14.100 --> 08:15.700 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% He knew that because of what 08:15.700 --> 08:18.800 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% he ended up having a criminal record, and we don't shy away from, 08:18.800 --> 08:21.600 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% you know, covering his criminal record because that was part of his 08:21.600 --> 08:22.600 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% story. 08:22.600 --> 08:24.133 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% It was part of America's story. 08:24.133 --> 08:27.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% In the mass incarceration era in which we decided to lock up you 08:27.933 --> 08:31.133 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% know millions of people and several of them who look like George 08:31.133 --> 08:35.066 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% Floyd and he knew that police and the fact that they were so ubiquitous 08:35.066 --> 08:37.566 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% in his community and the fact that they didn't 08:37.566 --> 08:39.833 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Often seem like a force to protect. 08:39.833 --> 08:41.866 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% They seem like a force to oppress 08:41.866 --> 08:46.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% and to occupy that he knew that he was liable to be in their crosshairs. 08:46.400 --> 08:48.566 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% And he did find himself in their crosshairs. 08:48.566 --> 08:50.100 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% And despite the message 08:50.100 --> 08:51.800 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% that he got from his mother 08:51.800 --> 08:54.933 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% You know, and despite the fact that he had tried to comply often 08:54.933 --> 08:58.966 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% with them and that at one point when he was killed, he had tried 08:58.966 --> 09:02.566 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% to comply and try to ask the police to, you know, take it easy on 09:02.566 --> 09:06.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% him, and they used the word, sir, over and over, And he said, please, 09:06.433 --> 09:08.866 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and he begged for his life, and he still lost his life under the 09:08.866 --> 09:10.366 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% knee of a police officer. 09:10.366 --> 09:11.766 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% It was something that he had long feared. 09:11.766 --> 09:13.466 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% It was something that his 09:13.466 --> 09:15.900 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% mother had warned him about something that was difficult for him 09:15.900 --> 09:20.533 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% as someone who was a black man in America and knew all of the baggage 09:20.533 --> 09:22.166 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% that came with 09:22.166 --> 09:25.133 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% New enough from his time having cycled through the criminal justice 09:25.133 --> 09:27.900 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% system to know that he was not going to get a fair shake. 09:27.900 --> 09:29.566 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% One of 09:29.566 --> 09:32.133 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% the last things that he heard before he died was that you can't win. 09:32.133 --> 09:34.766 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% There was a man that was a bystander on the sidewalk, saying 09:34.766 --> 09:36.300 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% Give up. 09:36.300 --> 09:38.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% You can't win in America, and that's something that he long 09:38.200 --> 09:41.900 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% felt, and he long knew that it was difficult for him to win because 09:41.900 --> 09:45.166 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% of how he was perceived, and because of how the systems that he tried 09:45.166 --> 09:46.233 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% to navigate 09:46.233 --> 09:49.000 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% Treated him. 09:49.000 --> 09:50.500 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% You can't win. 09:50.500 --> 09:53.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% I remember hearing that and it it is striking to hear 09:53.100 --> 09:55.966 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% someone say that as he was dying, Robert, you touched on this earlier, 09:55.966 --> 09:58.433 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% but I wanna when you're talking about the idea of not being able 09:58.433 --> 10:00.066 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% to win. 10:00.066 --> 10:04.433 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% You tell the story of George Floyd's great great great grandparents 10:04.433 --> 10:07.000 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and the their land being taken away. 10:07.000 --> 10:08.966 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% They had all this land in North 10:08.966 --> 10:10.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Carolina was taken away because it became the target of white resentment. 10:10.900 --> 10:14.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% How did that impact, of course, both his ancestors but also George 10:14.633 --> 10:17.066 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% Floyd's family and the fact that I want to if you could just oppose 10:17.066 --> 10:18.866 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% that really quickly with 10:18.866 --> 10:21.133 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% Derek Chauvin's family and that the fact that they were able to take 10:21.133 --> 10:24.600 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% part of the prosperity in America and the sort of hope and dreams 10:24.600 --> 10:26.633 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% that this country promises. 10:26.633 --> 10:27.900 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% Well early in the book. 10:27.900 --> 10:30.600 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% We talk about George Floyd's ancestry and 10:30.600 --> 10:34.366 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% his great grandfather, Hillary Thomas Stewart. 10:34.366 --> 10:36.000 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% After he was emancipated, 10:36.000 --> 10:38.433 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% he was enslaved before 10:38.433 --> 10:42.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% He was able to become one of the wealthiest landowners in North Carolina. 10:42.900 --> 10:47.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% The family had talked about this for generations, and public records 10:47.700 --> 10:49.666 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% show that it is true. 10:49.666 --> 10:53.400 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Ah, but because of unscrupulous 10:53.400 --> 10:58.066 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Officials and tax schemes and fraud. 10:58.066 --> 11:00.433 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% They seize that land from Hillary 11:00.433 --> 11:05.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Thomas Stewart, and before he's even to able to make one intergenerational 11:07.200 --> 11:10.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% transfer before he's able to pass on anything. 11:10.733 --> 11:15.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% That his ears it's wiped away and that money never comes back. 11:16.666 --> 11:17.666 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% What 11:17.666 --> 11:19.133 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% that does is. 11:19.133 --> 11:22.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% It sets the family on a road to poverty that it can't 11:22.166 --> 11:24.400 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% fully escaped there. 11:24.400 --> 11:28.533 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% So they suffocate under the pressures of the sharecropping system. 11:28.533 --> 11:32.733 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% They feel they need to leave their home and go to someplace else 11:32.733 --> 11:36.200 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% go to Texas in hopes of getting a better shot. 11:36.200 --> 11:40.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But there's also something that changes within the psyche to know 11:40.066 --> 11:44.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% that within one generation, everything you earn for could be gone. 11:44.633 --> 11:45.700 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% And so 11:45.700 --> 11:46.966 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% Growing up. 11:46.966 --> 11:49.800 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% George Floyd was around a family that believed 11:49.800 --> 11:52.666 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% Keep your head down. 11:52.666 --> 11:56.900 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% Don't try to make a big scene because if you do if you make a mistake, 11:56.900 --> 11:59.700 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% a white person will take advantage of it. 11:59.700 --> 12:01.033 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% Imagine what that does 12:01.033 --> 12:04.233 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% to your psyche and your ambitions for the world. 12:04.233 --> 12:05.566 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% If that's the message, 12:05.566 --> 12:08.500 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% if that's the story of your family 12:08.500 --> 12:11.000 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Contrast that to Derek Chauvin's family. 12:11.000 --> 12:13.366 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% Ah, which 12:13.366 --> 12:15.700 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Came to this country freely on a ship. 12:15.700 --> 12:18.766 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% The ship was called the Antarctica. 12:18.766 --> 12:22.766 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And they settled in Detroit and its surroundings. 12:22.766 --> 12:24.266 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% They started doing, 12:24.266 --> 12:26.733 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% uh as migrant laborers. 12:26.733 --> 12:29.666 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% They started working in the fields 12:29.666 --> 12:33.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and then graduating up to owning their own business. 12:33.466 --> 12:35.133 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% And Derek Chauvin 12:35.133 --> 12:39.466 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% he's born in the mini Minneapolis suburbs in the twin cities. 12:41.366 --> 12:44.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% To a middle class suburban family is not a particularly good students 12:44.866 --> 12:49.466 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% much like George Floyd, but he's given opportunities in his life 12:49.466 --> 12:51.833 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% and he has a dream. 12:51.833 --> 12:56.133 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% Uh, watching Starsky and Hutch that one day he can be an enforcer 12:56.133 --> 13:00.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% of the law and all the systems worked to do that. 13:00.633 --> 13:02.600 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% And as we saw towards 13:02.600 --> 13:06.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the end of his life when we go through the records of Derek Chauvin's 13:06.166 --> 13:08.733 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% police career, he was enabled. 13:08.733 --> 13:13.233 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% To carry on the way he wanted to carry on, including this excessive 13:13.233 --> 13:17.100 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% use of force that murdered a man. 13:17.100 --> 13:19.566 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Well, it's incredible Reporting again. 13:19.566 --> 13:23.066 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% The book is his name is George 13:23.066 --> 13:24.200 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Floyd definitely read it. 13:24.200 --> 13:25.200 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% It's essential reading. 13:25.200 --> 13:26.200 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% I think we'll have 13:26.200 --> 13:27.400 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% to leave it there. 13:27.400 --> 13:29.433 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Thank you so much to Toluse and to Robert for 13:29.433 --> 13:32.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% joining us for writing this and for sharing your reporting on this book.