Have we reached Peak Trump Hysteria?
Perhaps.
But don't forget: the invention of the mechanical cotton-picker made black labor in the southern states obsolete (ushering in the so-called Great Migration of blacks to Detroit, Chicago, Buffalo, Baltimore, Gary, Newark, Washington D.C, New York City, Camden... which helped DESTROY those cities).
| Yes, he was published by Time magazine actually worrying about Trump's election leading to black people being enslaved |
It could be argued white America enslaved their progeny when they failed to repatriate blacks back to Africa, forever burdening future generations with a never-ending hustle they must not only tolerate, but fund. [Why I Fear America Could Enslave Black People Again, Time, 10-18-16]:
Donald Trump’s ‘Make America great again’ slogan and this Republican Congress's actions raise unanswered questions
Recently I appeared at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Penn., for a talk entitled “Making America As Good As Its Promise.” So you don’t confuse the theme of my talk with the slogan of a particular presidential campaign, let me delineate the difference.
When I hear Donald Trump suggest that he wants to “make America great again,” it always triggers the same three questions in my head.
One: How is Trump defining “greatness”? I’m not sure he and I share an understanding of what makes a nation truly great. For me, it starts with how you treat the children, the poor, the aged and infirmed, how you embrace equality as you labor for equity. Equality means that everyone gets the same in America, whether they need it or not. Equity says we commit to ensuring that all fellow citizens have the basic resources that will give them commensurate opportunities to contribute meaningfully to our society.
Two: Since so many fellow citizens have yet to experience the true “greatness” of America for the first time, for whom are we making America great again?And, three: To what specific period of American greatness are you wanting us to return? When black folk suffered segregation after slavery?
When women had no right to vote or control their own bodies? When gay brothers and lesbian sisters felt ceaseless hate? When we stole land from the Native Americans? When we sent Japanese families to internment camps? When America lynched Mexicans? I just need Trump to give me some clarity on the time period he wishes to travel back to.
I disdain the way Trump is exploiting it, but I actually understand the anger that many of his supporters feel. I believe those questions, in fact, represent their pain better than he does. While I’m not an angry black man, I do have a righteous indignation that burns inside me about the myriad of injustices that result in a daily contestation of people’s humanity. The question is whether that feeling of being left out or left behind will be channeled into love and justice or hatred and revenge? I told the students at Lehigh that evening that I’m going with unarmed truth, unconditional love and being creatively maladjusted to injustice.
But at the conclusion of my talk, I was introduced to another question that still haunts me. I had handled most of the closing Q&A questions. Then one student hit me with this:
“Mr. Smiley, do you believe that given the crisis state of our democracy, we black folk could ever find ourselves enslaved again?”
Whoa. Didn’t see that one coming. Neither did the mostly white audience. A quiet fell over the room. I swallowed hard.
Looking directly at the student, I could see he was dead serious, and I wanted to treat his question with the soberness it deserved. But, truthfully, I stumbled as I began to respond, not knowing how to properly frame my response.
My answer? Yes.
So, could the Constitution be thwarted and black folk end up enslaved again? Legal scholars, of course, will find the question ludicrous and laughable.
It wasn’t farfetched for the young student who pressed me at Lehigh that evening.
And, honestly? With the hair-raising, bone-chilling, spine-breaking, nerve-wracking path we’re on right now, I shudder to think where this democracy could end up one sad day, if we don’t get off this low road and make our way to higher ground soon.Let's call this Peak Trump Hysteria, which will only work to further Negro Fatigue running rampant in America.
