The American Upgrade

How George Floyd sparked perhaps the most profound upgrade in American history.

As I marched down Broadway Street with my children— almost thirty years after the first time I marched in protest of the Rodney King “not guilty” verdict— I remembered hearing that George Floyd’s daughter said, “my daddy changed the world.”  I wondered to myself if she was right or if this was another movement filled with short term compassion that would ultimately fade away into the history of America? 

Over these last months, I have received countless calls, texts, and email from non-Black friends and colleagues (some who have been traditionally silent on issues of race and class) who say that they were wrong all these years— that they heard me talking about race, but they never really heard me until they saw the cold blooded murder of Mr. Floyd. I’m sure— if you are Black— that you’ve felt a slight shift in tone— a slight shift in understanding. Do you think there is a possibility that the change might be real this time? 

Well, they certainly did not find the officer that murdered George Floyd “not guilty,” but the butcher who murdered Philando Castile,  and the policeman that shot Bobby Tolan, and the BART cop that shot Oscar Grant in the back while he lay handcuffed on the West Oakland BART floor are free; so I still tell my son about how cops judge Black men and how we are still not free from the American legacy. 

But after George Floyd, there seems a willingness to truly hear and understand the unequal plight of Black men and women in America. There seems a willingness to wrestle with the true impact of the three-fifths compromise, the uniquely American Constitutional agreement that deemed each slave but 3/5 of a human. So, I ask you, how long does it take for Black people to recover not just from slavery, but from a law that named them less than human? How long does it take to erase that from the consciousness of America? How long does it take for Black men to gain their humanity?

To get to the bottom of this query, we must always remember that America has no geographic roots. It is an invention, perhaps the greatest of the Scientific Revolution. Historian George Friedman got me thinking about this idea in his latest book, The Storm Before the Calm. “Americans invented their country,” he writes, “and lacking shared history and culture, invented themselves,” he says. 

America is indeed an idea and a story, fabricated by the Founding Fathers— one that we all willingly choose to believe to this day. Not like France or China or Iran, when America was founded, the Founders chose not to draw upon the New World’s long geographic history and existing cultural traditions, but instead slowly erased the practices of the indigenous people and started from scratch on a mission to create a lasting and flexible union that would grow and change over time. Each of the new settlers that came here up to and after the Declaration of Independence, left their history behind and embraced the innovation— some willingly, some not so willingly. Whether Chinese or African American or Indian or Caucasian American, we all share this duality.  

America is like the iPhone— an invention designed to improve the lives of its users. And that invention— like the iPhone— has gone through numerous upgrades over its incredibly short history. Just think, when the invention began, women could not vote, white men were in charge of everything, there was no such thing as gay rights or equal rights for that matter, and politically correct language was not even a real thing. At some point in America’s journey, everybody went along to get along. But over the years, as more people began engaging with the innovation, it began to shift and change to meet the needs of its new users. 

I still have my first iPhone. I think it looks cool, but when my daughter saw it a few months ago, she laughed. Just as we today couldn’t imagine living life in 1825, her young eyes simply couldn’t believe the limited capacity of the iPhone One.

We look upon those old days as though they are a far fetched fantasy that we never would have tolerated, but the truth is that not only did we tolerate those days, it was those experiences that helped us create the country we have today. But unlike the upgrades to the iPhone, it took centuries for the country to upgrade to the point that the Black narrative was actually heard and felt by the country and the world. I suppose “it takes what it takes,” as my grandfather used to say. 

Twelve and one quarter scores later, we are still marching toward justice and working to upgrade the country that wasn’t invented for women, Black people, or minorities.

I do think George Floyd’s daughter was right. Her daddy did change the world. He gave his life so that our innovation could make yet another upgrade, forming an even more perfect union— one where the Black story could be seen, heard, and perhaps fully appreciated.  He helped create a space where people of all races and creeds are now rocking “Black Lives Matter” signs and standing in protest of injustices of all kind.  I never thought I would see us take these steps together, but then again, I never thought I’d be able to buy a car or project a movie from my iPhone. 

The funny thing about upgrades is that as long as there is demand for product growth and development, they never stop. They are like the “Fast and Furious” franchise: they just keep going and going. So as long as we, as Americans, stay at the table together and keep asking critical questions of our system, it will keep bending to meet our needs, to give us the tools we need to shape our future. 

I wish the suffering of so many was not necessary to get us to the point we are today, but I am so deeply appreciative of the sacrifices of all the men and women of yesterday. They have given us the tools to deliver on the promise of America. So let’s keep on pushing. 

One day, we just might get to a country that meets all of our American needs. But until then, let’s remember all the good that came from 2020. And never forget that we are connected by perhaps the greatest invention in the history of the world: America.