Following the death of George Floyd, Trevor Noah discusses the social contract in which citizens abide by and uphold. However, when those who are responsible for keeping social order, turn on the citizens, then the contract is no longer valid. While Noah doesn’t necessarily agree with rioting, he explains the anger and frustration that people were feeling. The maintenance of a social contract prevents rioting, but since the contract has been violated when not everyone is treated as a full citizen, rioting becomes an option. 

James Baldwin intended to write about his close friends, Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, and Martin Luther King, Jr, who were all major players in the fight for civil rights. The documentary, “I Am Not Your Negro,” uses Baldwin’s unfinished manuscript for the project, published wirtings, and television appearances. In the documentary, interviews with Malcom X and Martin Luther King, Jr. are played. The differering demeanors and ideologies between the two are stark as they are placed next to each other. Despite these differences, they have the common goal of fighting for civil rights. 

From the film, I saw how police responded to protest was not really about how the level of peace that protestors were demonstrating, it was more about who was protesting. In the scenes where whites were holding signs with swastikas and gunshots ringing out, there weren’t any police stepping in and making arrests like we see in present-day peaceful protests for the BLM movement. The film highlights Trevor Noah’s discussion about the frustration of this fight for equality that has spanned decades. Both the film and Noah emphasize that the progress that has been made is not nearly enough. To turn a blind eye and say, “Oh, but we’ve come such a long way” is not okay. Baldwin’s recollection of his own life serves to push us to enact change.