Donald Trump’s alternate reality
It is no secret that Donald Trump is vigorously courting the Black vote. In Trump’s twisted mind, his conviction gives him something in common with Black people. Oh, he’s trying to “color” it in such a way that it doesn’t sound racist. He now claims a bond because of “an unfair justice system.” We know what you’re doing. Black folks aren’t stupid. Because he has nothing else, Trump is trying to capitalize on his criminal charges. Who wants a convicted felon in the White House? Perhaps Trump’s supporters, who know no better, but does he honestly think he’s going to bring a slew of Black people to the polls to vote for him?
Trump is a racist. He’s never tried to hide it, and even if he did, we would peep him out. Trump is known for his negative comments about both Blacks and Latinos. Now, we’re supposed to forget all that and feel like Trump is some kind of kindred spirit because he’s a convicted felon. Most Blacks and Latinos are not felons, so we can’t relate to him or any other felon for that matter. Trump will court these votes, and as soon as he’s in, he won’t have the time of day for any minorities, especially those who fell for his ploy.
Trump is, of course, taking full advantage of Blacks like Byron Donalds and Tim Scott, who will willingly jump through hoops for him. This past week, Scott, stumping for Trump, told CNN viewers: “The reason we’re seeing so many African Americans come into the Trump campaign-two big things: jobs and justice. As an African American born and raised in the Deep South who had concerns about our justice system as it relates to race, I’m now seeing it play out from a partisan perspective.” Tim Scott has likely never had a run-in with the police. He’s not speaking what he knows but what he has heard. He thinks that because he looks Black, Black people are going to fall in line with him. It doesn’t work that way.
Then, you have Byron Donalds, who said last week that Black folks were better off during Jim Crow. Hakeem Jeffries told him off, but it didn’t stop there. Daniels appeared on Reid Out with Joy Reid and said that people took his comment out of context. There’s a positive context when referring to Jim Crow laws? The fact that we’re now seeing more responsible fathers and two-parent families has absolutely nothing to do with Jim Crow. We had no rights under Jim Crow, so of course we stuck together. You cannot blame what happened after on Lyndon Johnson or anyone else. Donalds is basically saying that it was wrong to reach out and try to pull people from poverty. The biggest problem with and for all people is that we have freedoms. We have the freedom to make the right choice, and the freedom to make the wrong choice. It has nothing to do with politics or anything else. I still agree with Hakeem Jeffries: Donalds needs to check himself before he wrecks himself.
Shirley is a former entertainment writer and has worked in the legal field for over 25 years