If You Think Trump Is Bad…

Black people were here before Trump and we’ll be here when, shit I mean if, his ass leaves…

I say that jokingly, but for real though. We, black folk, have been here since the start of this mf.

We were here before Trump, and we damn ‘sho will be here when his ass leaves. I’m not saying this for some strange “race bragging rights,” or some shit. Nah, I say this to serve as a warning.

A warning to my white brothers and sisters…

You see, many of my white friends (like myself) grew up in the ’90s and had the extremely rare privilege of making their first vote in Americans Presidential race for the one and only Barack Obama, AKA O Beezy, AKA Mr. 44, AKA this country’s first ever biracial president.

*Quick History Tip*

Back in 2008, many people truly believed that we had entered a “Post-Racial” society…

Did they think racism and racist were still around? IDK, maybe they did… But if they did, I’m sure they’d say it was only a select few racists still alive from the ’50s and ’60s. 

Post-racial America | 

Some Americans saw the presidential candidacy of Barack Obama, and his election in 2008 as the first black president of the United States, as a sign that the nation had, in fact, become post-racial. The conservative radio host Lou Dobbs, for example, said in November 2009, “We are now in a 21st-century post-partisan, post-racial society.” Two months later, Chris Matthews, an MSNBC host, said of President Obama, “He is post-racial by all appearances. You know, I forgot he was black tonight for an hour.

 

I’m bringing this up because a lot of my friends (mostly all the white ones) are under the impression that tensions and tribalism in today’s political climate have never been this high, and see Trump as the worse this country has to offer.

Some of them honestly believe Trump is the main source of all the hate we see today. After all most of those kids in Charlottesville chanting, “Blood and soil, Jews will not replace us, and white lives matter,” love and support Trump. In fact, some say Trump’s rhetoric emboldened the racist outbreaks we’ve seen across this nation, including shit shows like the, Unite The Right Rally.

Related Sources:

• Trump’s Rhetoric Is Raising the Risk of Right-Wing Terrorism
• Riding the Tiger: How Trump enables Right-Wing Extremism

There’s no doubt that Trump is an awful human being, and represents the worst of America. Which doesn’t surprise me when a lot of my white friends tell me that their main focus for 2020 is to beat Trump.

In their mind, Trump is the ultimate boogieman, and the only way to cast him and his followers in the shadows of American history forever is to beat him in 2020…

Related Sources:

• Donald Trump is ‘worse than any horror story I’ve written’, says Stephen King
• This Election is About Beating Trump, Not Policy – Alyssa Milano
• The president has created an addiction to hate: Rep. Escobar

They know Trump is a racist and don’t hesitate to call him or his most crazed supporters out on their racism and bigotry whenever they have a chance to assert their privilege.

Even though my white friends are much more “woke” than their peers, they’re still much to be learned, especially when it comes to facing the realities of white supremacy.

Let this serve as a warning from a man who is all too familiar with the history, and true nature of this country.

If you think Trump is bad…

You ain’t seen shit…

Allow me to explain…

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

– George Santayana

I started this piece off by saying we black folks were here before Trump, and we’ll be here after he leaves. If there is any group of people in this nation that truly knows what this country is capable of, it’s us, black folks.

So trust me when I say, this country can elect someone much worse than Trump. Especially if we make the same mistakes we’ve been making since the era of Neoliberalism.

Defeating Trump in 2020 doesn’t mean shit. Like, beating Trump in 2020 isn’t going to magically erase Trump and his crazed followers from the face of this Earth. Our main goal for 2020 shouldn’t just be defeating Trump.

Instead, the goal should be defeating Trumpism. Which mean we need to elect someone who has a radically progressive agenda and enough courage to stand up against the powers that use race to divide and blind us all.

Related Pieces: Whiteness: The Ultimate Social Control Weapon

Since it’s still very early in the 2020 primaries I’m going to reframe from endorsing any one specific candidate running for the Democratic ticket.

However, instead, I’m going to leave you all with this quote from Malcolm X that I believe sums up the time we’re living in perfectly…

“The young generation of whites, blacks, browns, whatever else there is, are living in a time of extremism, a time of revolution, a time when there’s got to be a change, people in power have misused it, and now there has to be a change. And a better world has to be built and the only way it’s going to be built is with extreme methods.”

Malcolm X | Oxford University Student Union in the United Kingdom – December 3, 1964