Fighting for scraps: The allure of Trump’s rhetoric to the Black community

Many of us see Donald Trump as an existential threat — a culmination of the sentiments of White Christian Nationalism, which have found their way to the surface of the American political project since they were suppressed in the 1960s in favor of a view of America that aimed to transform itself into a project of progress and equality.

For many Black people, Trump is the nightmarish concoction of Andrew Jackson, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan’s administrative legacies all combined into one. Indeed, the ghost of the Trail of Tears, the Southern strategy and the War on Drugs all echo themselves in the rhetoric that has propelled him back into the presidency. Trump has demonized immigrants and promised to launch a mass deportation plan as soon as he takes office.

But for another group of Black people in America, especially those who have been cast to the margins, Trump’s rhetoric represents a chance to echo ideas and values that have been warped by the anger and hatred that is inevitably born from perpetual suffering and subjugation. 

Many of us will be shocked to learn in the coming months just how many Black people, primarily poor and disenfranchised Black people, are supportive of Trump’s immigration rhetoric.

Those of us who work in food pantries have seen this reality firsthand. A colleague of mine recalled to me an incident where, after being informed that they could only take one carton of eggs per week, an elderly Black woman berated the food pantry volunteers, claiming that they “give the immigrants anything and everything they want.” I have seen similar sentiments echoed on Instagram and Facebook, where Black people claim that immigrant populations are essentially jumping them in line for resources such as public housing, food stamps and health care. 

Then there is the issue of Black men, many of whom were forced at one point or another into criminality to survive, who see their distorted reflection in Trump’s sentiments.

Those who see Trump as a gangster of sorts, as a strong man and as a disciple of the gospel of money. I’ve heard it from colleagues, co-workers, barbers and the like, who see Trump as someone who will set straight the political establishment that has abandoned them and will bring strength back to a country whose domestic and international failures they have had to bear. 

This erosion of values must be addressed with honesty and courage. It is a failure of the Democratic party, which has abandoned the base of Black voters who have been trapped into voting for them for survival. It is the failure of Black organizations who have discarded radical grassroots community organizing for nonprofit and political careerism. But most of all, it is a moral and spiritual failure of our entire community in allowing the values and struggles of the best of our ancestors to become a thing of the past. 

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📸Cover photo: Getty Images.