Hoover Institution senior fellow Shelby Steele said the protests sparked by the death of George Floyd are about “power” and added that black people have never had more opportunities than now.
Steele, who has authored books such as White Guilt: How Blacks and Whites Together Destroyed the Promise of the Civil Rights Era, joined conservative commentator Mark Levin on his Fox News show that aired Sunday to discuss the racial climate following two weeks of demonstrations and civil unrest following Floyd’s death while he was in police custody.
“The truth of the matter is blacks have never been less oppressed than they are today,” he said. “Opportunity is around every corner.”
“I think that what is really happening is nothing really new. The civil rights argument that triggered this, that there was police abuse and so forth, was a very familiar story — we saw that in Ferguson, Missouri, and elsewhere. It seems to me that in many ways, it’s about power,” Steele said.
He added, “And in order … to pursue power as they do, you have to have victims. And my god, George Floyd is the archetypal victim, and the whole incident of his murder is sort of a metaphor for the civil rights agenda and the grievance industry agenda. Here’s somebody that’s utter and complete innocence — tortured to death. Wow, the excitement that that triggers on the left in America. It validates their claims that America is a retched country that they must get recourse for what goes on. So, it feeds this old model of operation that we’ve developed that America is guilty of racism, guilty of this sin and has been for four centuries, and minorities are victims who are entitled.”
Floyd died in Minneapolis on Memorial Day after he was arrested for allegedly using a counterfeit $20 bill at a convenience store. Video footage shows former officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck for over eight minutes while he pleads to breathe.
Chauvin has been fired from the force and charged with second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Three other officers involved with the death, Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng, and Tou Thao, have also been fired and charged with aiding and abetting murder.
The demonstrations that have popped up across the country, during which protesters are denouncing police brutality and systematic racism within police departments, have been largely peaceful. But there have been some violent offshoots in which riots have broken out in major cities, most notably in New York City, resulting in looting, vandalism, and clashes with law enforcement.
Officers in the Big Apple have been attacked, including one who was struck by a hit-and-run driver, one who was beaten in the Bronx, and one who was “nearly killed” when a brick was thrown at him.
“And so when people start to talk about systemic racism, built into the system, what they’re really doing is expanding the territory of entitlement,” Steele added in the interview.
