They say Trump and the GOP will be going after Biden’s “you ain’t black” comment. Whether he should or should not have said it is one matter but let’s not forget who is attacking him.
Are we to believe that Trump is suddenly interested in defending black identity and pride? Is he about to lead a revival of the “Black is beautiful” movement? Don’t hold your breath.
Let’s take a look back at some of the actions and beliefs of the president when it comes to black people and other minorities:
Remember the Central Park Five? Trump insisted these young men were guilty and the death penalty should be brought back for them; they were innocent but he refused to concede the point even after the legal system established their innocence.
Trump helped drive the notion that Obama was not an American citizen: that he might have been born in Kenya and could be a Muslim and that’s why he refused to show his birth certificate.
When Obama produced the short form of his birth certificate (which replaced the older form) Trump kept going. Eventually Obama produced the long form as well and Trump had to shut his mouth but not before signaling to white racists everywhere that they would have a friend in him.
Sad to say, an observer can track many of Trump’s goals simply by watching one of his most obvious agendas: undo everything Obama achieved as president.
When the parents of Humayon Khan spoke at the Democratic Convention, Trump put them in his sights as he had done many others who dared to criticize him. They are a Gold Star family; their son was killed in action. He went after them with in his usual demeaning manner.
When Trump became president, he pushed hard to ban all Muslims from entering the country. Indeed, it was one of the first times the courts had to rebuke him for exceeding his authority as president.
He flip-flopped on DACA recipients, the Dreamers brought here as young children.
He authorized the detention of undocumented migrants, separating children from their parents. It was a poorly conceived plan, often illegal or unethical, and devoid of compassion.
Several children died, not receiving needed medical care in time. Some families have never been reunited to this day: acts akin to kidnapping in any other context than Trumpianism.
Charlottesville, Virginia: white supremacists marched in a Unite the Right rally in August 2017. The marchers included white nationalists, neo-Nazis, Klansmen, and other far-right elements.
Heather Heyer was killed by one of them when Alex Fields, a white supremacist, deliberately drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters (injuring 19 others as well.)
Trump referred to “very fine people on both sides” and refused to condemn the pro-Nazi white supremacists.
I can go on; this list lengthens rapidly. Certainly there may be those who think Biden blundered with his comment. Yet let us not forget who the other party is supporting and Trump’s atrocious record of inaction and insult when it comes to defending equality.
Trump’s father was no stranger to prejudice. He illegally discriminated against black families by refusing to rent to them; the rotten apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
(His father was once arrested and briefly detained at a Ku Klux Klan rally although the evidence is uneven regarding whether he was a participant, supporter, or merely an innocent bystander.)
Are we to believe Trump is taking up the cause of black people who feel Biden slighted them, at least those who are thinking of voting Republican?
Trump has a pitifully weak and inadequate record when it comes to civil rights. He refuses to speak up for black people and other minorities no matter how much injustice, slander, and violence is aimed their way.
One must suspect, then, that Trump is only shedding crocodile tears; he is exploiting an opening to badger and bluster his way to a second term. The man has no shame and no level of hypocrisy and contradictory behavior is beyond him.
For any black person thinking about voting for the GOP, I would remind them:
Remember the Central Park Five, remember his father’s racism, remember the Khan family, remember his anti-Obama agenda, and please remember Charlottesville and Heather Heyer.
Don’t let a Biden gaff blind you to the truth. �+�\ �y�
