Even Trevor Noah can’t forget his training
The show: The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, June 21 (Comedy) The moment: The Philando Castile video
Host Trevor Noah shows a graphic video of policeman Jeronimo Yanez shooting Philando Castile during a traffic stop — for which Yanez was acquitted of any wrongdoing.
“I won’t lie to you, when I watched this it broke me,” Noah says. Everyone thought body cameras would be asolution to police shootings of black people. But then a jury watches this video, “and it’s like, wait, what? Nothing?”
He shows a second video, in which Castile’s girlfriend calls Yanez “sir.” Noah repeats that: “‘You shot four bullets into him, sir.’ It’s mind-blowing that Diamond Reynolds . . . still has the presence of mind to be deferential. In that moment the cop panicked, but clearly black people never forget their training.”
Why did a jury watch that, and yet conclude that Yanez had reason to fear for his life?
“Let’s be honest,” Noah says: because Castile was Black. “It’s one thing to have the system against you. But when a jury of your peers decides that even this is self-defence, that is truly depressing. They’re saying, ‘In America, it is officially reasonable to be afraid of a person just because they’re Black.’ ”
It took some time for Noah to find his voice. At first, he commented from the outside: “I’m from South Africa, I’m bemused by crazy America.”
Well, he’s found his voice now. Like Jon Stewart before him, the more personal Noah allows himself to be the better he is.
My only quibble is the word “depressing.” Noah could have chosen much stronger words. Then again, he’s a Black man in the U.S. Even he can’t forget his training. Johanna Schneller is a media connoisseur who zeroes in on pop-culture moments. She usually appears Monday through Thursday.