By Nate Abraham Jr. COMMENTARY
I was walking out of church last Sunday, and a woman stated that she watched the news to see if someone else had taken a shot at Donald Trump. She indicated that she was disappointed that the assassin missed, and said that if a Black man had done half of the crimes Trump committed in the White House, he would be under the jail.
Another time, I was at a church dinner and another member was going on and on how Trump was going to become a dictator if he wins and Black people were going to be put back into slavery.
It’s time to cut out the BS and the hysteria. There is something sick in our nation’s souls when an old woman can walk out of church upset that their political opponent survived an assassination attempt. Or that highly-educated people believe that they are going to be picking cotton next year.
I don’t fear Donald Trump. If you made a list of the top ten things that are negatively affecting the Black community, Donald Trump would not be that list. Not even close. Donald Trump isn’t running around our neighborhoods shooting people. Donald Trump isn’t selling drugs in our community. Donald Trump is not responsible for the breakdown of the Black family.
Black people have lived through a Donald Trump presidency. If he beats Kamala Harris, we will live through it again. Black folks are the ultimate survivors. We have survived everything that has been thrown at us. That isn’t going to change based on the results of an election. The fact that Black people are panicking over an election is an insult to the resilience of our ancestors.
I also don’t get caught up in the Project 2025 hysteria. Anybody can go to the Heritage Foundation’s website and read the actual document. I will always go to the source material instead of paying attention to what other people say about a topic. From what I have read so far, there are some things I agree with, and some things I don’t. But it is not the end of democracy.
In reality, this is just the latest scare tactic designed to get Black folks in a state of panic so they will run to the voting booth seeking salvation. With the exception of the Obama years, the same crap has happened every election since 1980. That year, the hysteria was that if Ronald Reagan defeated Jimmy Carter, he was going to bring back Jim Crow. In the 1990s, it was the Contract For America that was going to take away our rights. After that, it was the Koch Brothers who were going to end democracy, or the American Legislative Council had a secret agenda to take away our rights.
Damn, Black folks. When the hell are we going to grow
up and stop falling for the hype?
Instead of falling for the scare tactics every election, we need to start acting like EVERY OTHER interest group in America. When a political party tries to scare us into voting in a way that serves their interests, we need to tell them to shove it. The only thing they need to talk about is our agenda.
Claud Anderson, the author of Powernomics: The Nation Plan to Empower Black America, has a brilliant suggestion. He said political candidates, regardless of party, should be asked to come to a meeting to discuss whatever issues the community felt were it’s priorities. The candidate that signs a pledge to fight for those issues would get the support of the voters. When it was time for the politician to run for re-election, voters would evaluate their success in advancing those issues. If no progress was made, a new candidate would be chosen.
Every other group in America does this – except Black America. That is why we have very little political power in this country – locally, statewide or nationally.
Damn, Black folks. We can have real political power in the country.
Instead, we have manufactured hysteria and church women hoping that the next assassin has better aim.