I talked with an African American man in my neighborhood this weekend who whispered to me under his breath (so that his daughter couldn’t hear) that he was actually glad in a way that Trump won and that he’s doing what he’s doing.
Why?
It’s really very simple. He and his wife have had enough of America’s Pollyanna attitude towards the human rights crisis that is “Racism in America 2017.”
Their position is: Do you believe us now, America?
From their standpoint, what Trump has outlined this week isn’t any more abusive, fascist, or inhumane than the conditions their fellow African Americans have had to live with for centuries. The illegal unjust incarceration of their family members, their children… it’s just part of daily life in our two Americas.
They’re tired of people telling them that the majority of white American voters are good people and not actually racists.
They’re tried of American leaders telling them that the police aren’t ordered by bad actors in key positions to behave like a fascist brute squad eager to do the bidding of white supremacists.
They’re tired of people telling them to calm down and to stop being so melodramatic about the injustices that African Americans face every single day of their lives.
They’re tired of nothing ever getting better and seeing hard fought gains flushed by white Americans eager to forget the bloody history they’ve inherited, the racist legacy which underpins white wealth.
They’re tired of being told they can’t use words like Nazi or Holocaust because it’s disrespectful.
They’re definitely tired of hearing that this is a post-racial country where affirmative action is no longer necessary.
They’re tired of nobody believing them.
One black man and his wife are horrified, angry, and saddened by what they’ve seen this week to the point that they no longer read the news and now refuse to talk about the President in front of their kids, for fear of frightening them. They’re horrified, because they have compassion and empathy, but they aren’t surprised.
And in a twisted way, they’re glad it’s happening.
Because now that it’s not necessarily happening just to blacks… maybe, just maybe now enough Americans will at least believe them. They don’t really have any illusion that enough Americans will come together to do anything to prevent the injustices black people already live with… but they just want to be believed.
You didn’t believe them, America. Even many Democrats didn’t believe Trump and his team meant what they said... and they didn’t believe enough white Americans would vote for it.
And from their standpoint, that willing denial, that irrational eagerness by many Democrats and independents to believe in America’s “greatness” despite obvious long term warning signs is in fact part of the reason we are where we are.
So, do you believe African Americans now, America?
And if not now, when?