How Systemic Racism Shaped George Floyd's Life

Fresh Air

NPR

Tv & Film, Arts, Society & Culture, Books

4.4 • 34.4K Ratings

🗓️ 18 May 2022

⏱️ 45 minutes

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Summary

As we approach the second anniversary of the murder of George Floyd, two journalists report on the life of the man whose death sparked a massive protest movement and a national conversation about race. Washington Post reporters Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa drew on hundreds of interviews and countless public and private records to reconstruct the course of Floyd's often-troubled life. A gentle man who sometimes worried that his size intimidated people, George Floyd grew up in poverty, and had big aspirations. But the authors argue his opportunities were limited time and again by the effects of systemic racism. Their new book is His Name Is George Floyd: One Man's Life, and the Struggle for Racial Justice.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is Fresh Air.
0:01.5	I'm Dave Davies and today for Terry Gross.
0:05.2	Next week marks the second anniversary of the death of George Floyd, who was said to
0:09.8	have told a friend when he was a teenager that one day he wanted to touch the world.
0:15.0	Sadly, it was not his life, but his murder by police officer Derek Chauvin that touched
0:19.6	off of wave of massive protests for racial justice and sparked an ongoing national conversation
0:25.2	about race in America.
0:27.2	Now much is known about George Floyd's death.
0:29.8	Our guests, Washington Post reporter Robert Samuels and Tollou Aurenipa, believe we can
0:35.0	learn a lot by looking at his life.
0:37.7	Their new book examines Floyd's 46 years on Earth in detail, drawing on hundreds of interviews
0:43.2	and atrovo public and private records, including diary entries, rap lyrics, poems, medical records,
0:49.6	historical documents, cell phone videos, social media postings, arrest reports, court documents,
0:55.1	job applications, text messages, love letters, and more.
0:59.3	The book is a portrait of a black man raised in poverty, who the authors argue found his
1:04.0	opportunities and aspirations limited at every turn by the legacy of slavery and ongoing
1:09.2	institutional racism.
1:11.4	Robert Samuels is a national enterprise reporter for the post.
1:14.8	Tollou Aurenipa is a political enterprise and investigations reporter at the post, and
1:19.8	also an on-air contributor to CNN.
1:22.9	Their new book is, His Name is George Floyd.
1:26.8	Well Robert Samuels, Tollou Aurenipa, welcome to Fresh Air.
	...

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