“This book is essential. Don’t miss it.” —MARK LEVIN
“A brilliant examination of the actual facts of the George Floyd case and the subsequent exploitation of his death by Black Lives Matter.” —LEO TERRELL, civil rights attorney & commentator
In his latest salvo in the battle for America’s survival, David Horowitz exposes the racial hoax that is spawning riots and dividing the nation. Examining the twenty-six most notorious cases of police “racism”— from Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown to George Floyd and Breonna Taylor—Horowitz demonstrates that Black Lives Matter has lied about every one of them in its quest to undermine law and order, fuel race hatred, and destroy America.
In case after case, the lies and mythmaking break down under Horowitz’s scrutiny. Even the chief prosecutor in the George Floyd case was forced to admit that he had no evidence of racial bias, while Breonna Taylor, the longtime accomplice of a major drug dealer, was killed when she and her boyfriend resisted arrest.
The unchallenged myths about racist murders by the police have brought mayhem and crime to our cities, where the victims are predominantly black. They are also a slander against the United States, the least racist country in history, and against black Americans, the vast majority of whom are successful and law-abiding citizens.
Now the Biden administration has embraced the false narrative of “systemic racism” and “white supremacy,” which supposedly infect every aspect of American life, using it to justify a witch hunt for “domestic terrorists.” Most Americans, black and white, know in their bones that this portrayal of their country is a lie. An unflinching and courageous accounting, I Can’t Breathe is the urgently needed proof that they are right.
David Joel Horowitz was an American conservative writer and activist. He was a founder and president of the David Horowitz Freedom Center (DHFC); editor of the Center's website FrontPage Magazine; and director of Discover the Networks, a website that tracks individuals and groups on the political left. Horowitz also founded the organization Students for Academic Freedom. Horowitz wrote several books with author Peter Collier, including four on prominent 20th-century American families. He and Collier have collaborated on books about cultural criticism. Horowitz worked as a columnist for Salon. From 1956 to 1975, Horowitz was an outspoken adherent of the New Left. He later rejected progressive ideas and became a defender of neoconservatism. Horowitz recounted his ideological journey in a series of retrospective books, culminating with his 1996 memoir Radical Son: A Generational Odyssey.
Another grifter’s attempt at rewriting history from someone who’s dumb enough to think that Columbus discovered America like there wasn’t people already there or the fact the Vikings reached there a long time before. Horowitz has two brain cells that fight each other for third place proven by his inability to comprehend basic facts.
Does truth matter even it’s not what you want to hear? Are you frustrated with the false narratives of social justice antagonizers, MSM, and the “fact checked” deplatforming of social media? Then read this book.
David Horowitz’s examination of the BLM movement and how it lied to all us about who they are, what happened in all the police shootings of black men and women, and the truth on the real statistics of police shootings.
It’s an easy read. Clear, supported, sourced and interesting.
I still vividly remember the death of George Floyd, and how harrowing it is. And I remember how it went, both on the world stage, on media, on Twitter, and everywhere. I mostly remember what happened to me that day. Several of my friends called me racist and blocked me even though I was off Twitter all day long, and didn't know what happened to George Floyd until minutes before the start of my book club. So many people were infuriated by something no one understood. We all hated the death of George Floyd. We all hated Derek Chauvin. We were all sad and bitter. We were engulfed with passionate mindless anger. After a week of his death, many of those who blocked me and called me racist unblocked me and apologized to me (and many didn't). I still don't know how I was implicated in ANY of this. I didn't accept the apology of anyone until months after, because it's really not nice sitting in your room and doing nothing, and then being called a racist and a white supremacist just because I'm not a leftist. (Seriously, what is wrong with people? That's just disgusting behaviour.)
After a week of Floyd's death, I went and looked up the case, and watched videos on YouTube of the arrest and the manslaughter (before they were removed from YouTube then), and I also read as much as I can about Chauvin (and it turned out he liked to play the bad cop). I also looked at Floyd (who had a record of imprisonments, one of which was for mugging an old lady at gunpoint). In the video, Floyd obviously resists arrest. In Libertarian ethics, this is acceptable if the law is illegitimate. To Republicans, this isn't. Both have a point, but I leaned with the libertarians more, here. I thought he had the right to resist arrest. Just, not in this case, since he was a thief who counterfeited money.
I watched the whole trial, from start to finish, while studying for my Laser physics course. They brought world-class doctors, one of whom wrote the bible (the most-used textbook in a field) of mechanical ventilation. Both lawyers were geniuses. Chauvin's lawyer was one of the best I have ever seen, one of the smartest and cunning, and most professional. I REALLY loved him. The word 'racist' was never uttered in the case, I don't even think it was said at all. There is nothing racist about the case. Nothing either directly, or systemically racist. (The term systemic racism is a bogus, and pseudoscientific term that really does not mean any particular thing. Any society that is not perfectly equal is systemically racist. But by definition, not any two persons are equal, and by virtue of that, any set of two persons co-exist in a systemically racist subset of humanity.) I think that the BLM movement is cruel, disgusting, pathetic, and evil, in exploiting the wrongful manslaughter of a man to further their agenda. I think people were extremely cowardly in caving to such ideas. No one likes racism, except racists. Racism is disgusting. But to be moved like sheep because one is afraid of being called racist when he really did NOTHING WRONG is just vile and cruel.
This book exposes the BLM movement and explains the case of ALL the victims that the BLM movement idolized. Some of them were really innocent and did not deserve such a death. Some were criminals caught in the act and death was the final (and sad) option, etc. It's not a bad book, but it's informative and provides a background. I would love to back this book with another written by either one who sides with the BLM movement, or someone who would present a case for them, for completeness. Finally, I don't think this book is really good. It was hastily written, and not everything in it is correct. But it's David Horrowitz after all, and he's almost always on point.
This book comes with a "Trigger Warning" and rightly so. Excellently researched and thoroughly explained, this book overturns the malicious lies of BLM- Black Lives Matter. Horowitz examines each case that BLM put forth as proof of racial discrimination by the police and destroys each and every one of them with, you guessed it, FACTS. In the introduction titled, "A Summer of Insurrections" Horowitz details the summer of 2020's riots egged on by BLM and aided and abetted by Antifa, which the author refers to as the "military component" of BLM. The destruction of that summer, ironically on mostly black-owned businesses and black neighborhoods, is astronomical. But don't worry, BLM organizers regularly referred to rioting as "reparations" and insisted that rioters had a right to loot stores. They were owed it, after all. These "reparations" were justified by the organizers saying that the businesses had insurance. Never mind that some insurance doesn't cover looting. In chapters 1 to 3, Horowitz covers the beginnings and growth of the BLM movement and chapter 4 details how it became national. All through these chapters, Horowitz dismantles every single lie told by BLM and its supporters. And don't forget the Democrat party endorsed these riots and in many ways, Democrat politicians, made the damage and mayhem possible. One really shining example of how to deal with these riots is the city of Detroit. Led by a black police chief who let it be known that rioting would not be tolerated and Detroit remained calm and unscathed (pages 150-151). Chapter 5 covers the tragic deaths of 5 policemen in Dallas, getting to the heart of the matter and revealing even more lies and corruption on the part of BLM. Chapter 6: The Target is the Law covers the real goal of BLM: lawlessness. Horowitz also analyzes more cases in which BLM falsely claims police brutality and racism. Chapter 7: The Summer of George Floyd, details even more cases, again debunking BLM's lies. This is not hard to do: the proof is in the police reports, court rulings, and eye witness accounts. But that did not deter BLM from spreading its propaganda and shameful, bold-faced lies. Chapter 8 is the crowning chapter: The Evidence on Police Shootings, Race, and Crime. Just read it. The stats speak for themselves. BLM's lies are obliterated in this well-written chapter that anyone who has had questions about BLM should read. This one chapter, if you read no other chapter of the book, will shed much light on the type of organization BLM is. Chapters 9 and 10 round out the book really well. Horowitz asks, "What Kind of Movement is This?" He details the background of the co-founders of BLM including their obsession with Fidel Castro, hatred for the Jews and alignment with anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan, their desire for the dissolution of the nuclear family, and their Marxist training. He deftly unmasks the true face of BLM in this chapter. The final chapter, 10, entitled "Whose Future?", Horowitz outlines the 2020 election irregularities, the lawless moves of the Democrat party to block any sort of investigation into them, and the January 6 debacle. This chapter leaves the reader unsettled and angry. Bottom line: the 2020 election was the most corrupt of all US elections and the Democrat party, its operatives, and limp-wristed Republicans allowed it to happen. The American people have been abandoned by their government. I highly recommend this book to freedom-loving Americans and those who are concerned about the racial strife in this country. It is also for truth lovers, people who judge by statistics and hard facts rather than emotional objects based on neither.
I'm only on page 7 and while much of the book has good sense in characterizations, Horowitz already made a grave error in saying 'Side of the neck' when in the chauvin trial the prosecution was forced to point out that the knee was on the 'neck and back' IE shoulder blade.
"Pro" point just for fun: When I first heard the reader's voice, it struck me as the voice one would hear on an action movie trailer, and when I heard "Read by John McLean", I first took it as "John McClain". Those who know their 1980s-and-beyond action movies can probably get this. Little to do with the content itself, but still fun.
Now for the content:
What I first liked was that the chapters were divided into short individually titled mini-chapters running just a few minutes, about five on average. (For example: Many of the mini-chapters in "Black Lives Martyrs" were titled by name-of-alleged-victim, and each are individually selectable.) This helps make it easy to just pick up from where you had to previously leave off without worrying about losing your place or having to constantly bookmark. It is also helpful for those who only have time to listen in short bursts throughout the day.
I also liked the much-ignored-by-the-rest explanations of the the actions and attitudes, and reasons for the arrests of, each of the "martyrs". (Another favorite part is the revelation of Patrice Cullors being a product of the general black upbringing.) For a more in-depth illustration of the attitudes and behaviors behind their actions and the culture that not only excuses but celebrates them as well, a great companion book is Theodore Dalrymple's "Life at the Bottom". (I heard the audiobook. Just for fun: You might confuse the voice with that of Tom Baker.)
What kept me from giving the book an extra star was the omission of Toya Graham's abusive behavior in Baltimore and the public support for it, thus contradicting said public's black-lives-matter claim. That may seem unrelated to the "martyrs" list, but it was no less important to include in light of the "Black Lives Matter's Assault on the Nuclear Family" mini-chapter and the past actions of Korryn Gaines, Rayshard Brooks, Tony McDade and Jacob Blake with children. (See the "And Thus Dying Aroud Us Everyday" chapter in "Life at the Bottom" for more on the subject.) No critique on the BLM attitude is complete without reporting on the hypocrisy of the black community's anger over presumed wanton violence against their children by police yet excusing, celebrating and treating as any more acceptable the more common violence (among other mean, cruel, nasty, bullying, verbally/emotionally/physically abusive behavior) against children by the adults in their lives.
To summarize in closing:
The pros: The cool action movie trailer voice (audiobook only) Individually selectable minutes-long mini-chapters (audiobook only) Explanations of the crimes behind the arrests
The sole con: The Graham incident and anti-child behavior of black America is not reported on extensively. (Not that the Gaines, Brooks, McDade and Blake backstories are not appreciated.)
And also in closing, I cannot stress this enough: "I Can't Breathe" is absolutely beautiful on its own, but the best way to enjoy it (and in my book, the important way to enjoy it) is with "Life at the Bottom" as the companion book (or audiobook).
"I Can't Breathe" by David Horowitz offers a detailed account of the events and political climate during the riots of the early 2020s. The book is packed with facts, making it an interesting read for those looking to understand a different perspective on the period. Horowitz does a commendable job of questioning and critiquing the political decisions of the time, shedding light on some of the poor choices made by certain politicians. However, the book's clear bias is hard to ignore. Horowitz often conflates different events, such as lumping together the cases of Trayvon Martin and George Floyd, which detracts from the nuanced discussions these incidents deserve. The author tends to oversimplify complex situations, presenting them as part of a broader narrative that may not fully capture the reality of each case. However the author is far from a racist with access to a publishing company and does mention actual instances of racism and police brutality such as phillando Castile. David Horowitz points out, rightly so, that lumping actual accounts of racism in the same category as criminals who try to shoot cops does nothing for the BLM movement. While the book does provide valuable insight into one side of American opinions, it misses the opportunity to explore the middle ground. Overall, "I Can't Breathe" is a thought-provoking read, but it would benefit from a more balanced approach to the issues it tackles. Originally I was a going to rate this book 3 stars, however during my time reading the book and updating my goodreads progress I received an Interesting angry comment from a far leftist because she decided to judge a book by its title, how funny. Anyway that in itself deserves an extra star.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
What an interesting book. I really appreciate the factual overlook into the details that started and perpetuate the BLM movement. I also appreciate that the author included notes for reference. Of course, this is a book with very strong opinions, some that I definitely agree with, and others that I didn't. It's apt that there is a trigger warning because some people really struggle hearing opinions other than their own. But like I said, most of the book is factual with analysis and opinion thrown in to support the author's argument. The book is very succinctly written and stays on topic, which I also appreciated. Overall, it was a good read.
3.5/5 If you are a bit of a news junkie and keep up with all these kinds of stories in real time then there isn't really anything new here for you to learn. It is good to have it all in one spot, and I can see how this kind of book would help unfamiliar people get better context of what happened in each case and what continues to happens anytime similar circumstances emerge. Well written, and it gets to the point QUICKLY. Would recommend to my non-news junkie friends.
A lot of racists seem to REALLY like this book because it doesn't worry about changing any preconceived notions the people actually interested in reading this book will bring to it. If you think George Floyd didn't deserve to be murdered by police, would not recommend. If you have read this, you're probably old enough to have voted for George McGovern or you're Andy Ngo (possibly even worse than a segregationist).
Having heard the 911 recording of Zimmerman's persuit of Treyvon Martin it is easy to dispute the author's claim that Zimmerman persued the youth against the advice of authorities. He is heard stating that he does not think it is a good idea but continues to monitor the perp until police arrive. It is an odd and easily checked mistake to make. The rest of the book is a short but detailed account of the rampant violence whipped up by corrupt politicians and the media in favor of destabilizing the social order to better implement their own version of communism.
This is an amazing deep dive on the events that unfolded surrounding the 2020 Death of George Floyd while following the BLM organization and the political left as they used the tragedy to ignite a racial hoax in our country. How did we get to this place where burning down small businesses could be called "mostly peaceful?". This book explores every detail of this case and many of the players.
Another must read book by any American that cares about keeping our Democratic Republic from ending up in the dust bin of history. Horowitz lays out the facts behind the incidents that were co-opted by the radical left and their media supporters to spin a yarn of deception and anti-American vitriol.
Where to begin. This book brings to light the prospect of a corrupt system. Where it's fingers point directly at the Democratic party and the false narrative of the BLM movement.
I Can't Breathe a well-written book that provides proof that we have all lived through a hoax for a few years now. Most of what has happened have been lies and criminal. Yet our elected officials have allowed it to occur rather than stop it. We have all suffered from these actions. Many have lost all they owned, while some were killed—all for a hoax.
I don't typically read this genre, but wow this book was eye opening and fascinating. Offers great perspective on the Black Lives Matter movement no matter what your beliefs are.