The New Yorker

Trump’s Vacuous West Point Address and the Revolt Against It

By Robin Wright

President Trump has enraged the U.S. military—from top to bottom. On June 11th, an angry and mournful letter signed by hundreds of graduates of West Point—spanning from the Class of 1948 to the Class of 2019—was posted on Medium. It addressed the Class of 2020. It cited the current “tumultuous time” in America: more than a hundred thousand deaths from a new disease with no known cure, forty million newly unemployed people, and a nation “hurting from racial, social and human injustice” after the murder of George Floyd. “Desperation, fear, anxiety, anger and helplessness are the daily existence for too many Americans,” the signatories wrote. They warned bluntly of leaders who “betray public faith through deceitful rhetoric, quibbling, or the appearance of unethical behavior.” They reminded students of the cadet honor code, which dictates not to “lie, cheat, or steal,” and not to tolerate those who do. Without naming names, they cited their fellow-graduates who are now in senior government positions and failing to uphold their oath of office. (The Defense Secretary, Mark Esper, and the Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, both graduated in the West Point Class of 1986.) They wrote that their appeal “is not about party; it is about principle.” And, after welcoming the newest class to the Army tradition of the “Long Gray Line,” they concluded, “Our lifetime commitment is to the enduring responsibility expressed in the Cadet Prayer: ‘to choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong, and never to be content with a half-truth when the whole can be won.’ ” Read on...

https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/donald-trumps-vacuous-west-point-address-and-the-revolt-against-it

The New Yorker

The Secret Project That Led to Black Lives Matter Murals Coast to Coast

by Robin Wright

This past Thursday, at 6 p.m., Keyonna Jones received an unexpected call from a fellow-artist, about a secret project starting in just a few hours. Was Jones available? The mother of two kids under ten, Jones scrambled to find child care. At eight o’clock, she joined a Zoom call; the lead artist explained that Muriel Bowser, the mayor of Washington, D.C., had commissioned eight artists to paint a mural of fifty-foot-high letters spelling out “Black Lives Matter” across two blocks of the street leading to the White House. “This needed to be perfect,” Jones, the executive director of the Congress Heights Arts and Culture Center, told me. The group plotted how to make the mural—in a bold shade of yellow—where to get supplies, and the logistics of finishing by midday. Several were nervous about the political consequences. “Some were unsure of the possible backlash—if it was a political play between the mayor and President Trump. They didn’t know if the mayor would back them up if something happened, or if President Trump would retaliate,” Jones recalled. Four days earlier, federal and local law-enforcement officials had used flash grenades, chemical spray, and smoke to drive hundreds of mostly peaceful protesters out of the area around the White House so Trump could walk to St. John’s Church and wave a Bible, briefly, in front of photographers. The mural was supposed to finish in front of the church. “In the Zoom call, it got a little uncomfortable,” Jones, who is African-American, recalled. The artists agreed that they would participate only if they could remain anonymous. Jones was the only member of the group who would talk to me on the record. Read on...

https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-secret-project-that-led-to-black-lives-matter-murals-coast-to-coast

The New Yorker

 Fury at America and Its Values Spreads Globally

By Robin Wright 

America is on the defensive worldwide over the murder of George Floyd and all that the killing implies about race, values, and leadership—not to mention common decency—in the United States. On Sunday, thousands defied a government lockdown in Britain to march through the streets of London—from the famed Trafalgar Square, past the Houses of Parliament, along and across the River Thames, to the U.S. Embassy—to protest the murder of an unarmed black man by white police in Minneapolis, four thousand miles away. The coronavirus pandemic—and its risks—be damned. “The death of George Floyd has rightly ignited fury and anguish not just in the USA but around the world,” London Mayor Sadiq Khan tweeted. “No country, city, police force or institution can be complacent about racism and the impact this has.” He also warned about the dangers of infection from covid-19 at crowded protests. “Lockdown has not been lifted,” he tweeted. “The virus is still out there.” The protest nonetheless went on for hours, including a sit-in in front of the Embassy. Homemade cardboard signs read “White silence is violence” and “Do I matter only after death? #GeorgeFloyd.” Hundreds more turned out in northern Manchester, and more still in the Welsh capital of Cardiff, around its historic castle, to protest racism in America. Three more protests—in a country that is America’s closest ally—are planned over the next week. Read on...

https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/after-the-killing-of-george-floyd-fury-at-america-and-its-values-spreads-globally