The agencies and uniforms, even the race of the victims, have varied over the years, but Alex Pretti’s shocking murder is not surprising. These extrajudicial executions have been going on for decades in the United States. You can tell from the history of this song.
Few might remember it now, but on Feb. 4, 1999, the nation was shocked by the way New York police killed Amadou Diallo. The 22-year-old Guinean student was gunned down in his doorway by four undercover officers who saw him reach for something in his pocket. It was his wallet.
Bruce Springsteen responded with this song. He debuted it on the E Street Band’s Reunion Tour shortly before he was booked for a 10-show run at Madison Square Garden in June 2000. Per Wikipedia:
When rumors circulated that the band would perform the song in New York, both the Presidents of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association and the City’s Police Commissioner called for a boycott of Springsteen’s shows. The president of New York State’s Fraternal Order of Police personally denounced Springsteen, describing him as a “dirtbag” and a “faggot.”
The Mayor of New York city, Rudy Giuliani, who had praised the officers involved in the Diallo shooting, condemned Springsteen during a rally on June 12, and publicly requested that he not play the song in New York.
All 10 dates were sold out, and Springsteen played it every night.
Springsteen doesn’t always include it in set lists – he tends to break it out when current events warrant. The problem is how often current events warrant it. When he played it on his Wrecking Ball tour in 2012, he dedicated it to Trayvon Martin. When he played it on his River tour in 2016, he dedicated it to Freddie Gray. When he opened a satellite radio concert with it in 2020, he dedicated it to George Floyd. He introduced it thus:
“That song is almost eight minutes long. That’s how long it took George Floyd to die with a Minneapolis officer’s knee buried into his neck. That’s a long time. That’s how long he begged for help and said he couldn’t breathe. The arresting officer’s response was nothing but silence and weight. Then he had no pulse. And still, it went on.”
The centerpiece of the song is “the talk,” the lifesaving instructions Black parents must impart to their children, especially sons, on how to avoid provoking a lethal response from police. That’s why the cover by Living Colour, a quartet from New York City, is even more powerful than the original. Singer Corey Glover could not contain his emotion, and drummer Will Calhoun adds some chilling punctuation on the coda.
The shock of the Minneapolis murders isn’t that police shot defenseless victims while claiming to act in self-defense. It’s not that the authorities lied about it afterwards.
It’s that a white American skin won’t save you anymore.