On February 21, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump terminated General Charles Q. Brown, an African-American man, as Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff without any presidential explanation of the reasons for this firing. [1]
Privately, however, some of Trump’s advisers said the termination occurred because of Brown’s four-minute video about the May 2020 killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota only days thereafter. In those remarks Brown said the following:
“’I’m thinking about how full I am with, with emotion, not just for George Floyd, but the many African Americans that suffered the same fate as George Floyd,’ he said, a slight tremor underlying his voice.” ‘I’m thinking about protests in my country ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, the equality expressed in our declaration of independence, in the Constitution, that I’ve sworn my adult life to support and defend.’”
“I am ‘living in two worlds, both with their own perspectives and views.’ He described what those worlds were like for him. He and his sister were the only Black children at his elementary school, he said, and they tried to fit in. In their high school, half of the students were Black and they still tried to fit in.”
“’I’m thinking about my Air Force career, where I was often the only African American in my squadron, or, as a senior officer, the only African American in the room.’”
“’I’m thinking about wearing the same flight suit, with the same wings on my chest as my peers, and then being questioned by another military member, ‘are you a pilot.’”
“’I’m thinking about being a captain at the O Club with my squadron, and being told by other African Americans that I wasn’t Black enough, since I was spending more time with my squadron than with them.’”
“He spoke of how most of his mentors could not relate to his experience as a Black man. He spoke of wondering whether airmen who have not had similar experiences ‘don’t see racism as a problem because it doesn’t happen to them, or whether they’re empathetic.’”
After Mr. Trump became President this year on January 20, “General Brown insisted he would carry out the lawful orders of the president.”
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(1) Cooper, George Floyd Killing Separated Trump From His Generals, N.Y. Times (Feb. 22, 2025). This blog has published many posts about the killing of George Floyd and the subsequent criminal prosecutions of the four Minneapolis police officers who were so involved.
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