(ThyBlackMan.com) The question of intellectual freedom has always existed within Black America. Even a cursory glance of the storied history of Black America reveals that luminaries such as Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois did not always agree, Marcus Garvey and DuBois were often at each others throat, even our beloved Malcolm X issued horrific condemnation for Dr. King and his non-violent civil disobedience tactics. My understanding of the political in-fighting of yesteryear does not remove an innate feeling that current disagreements within Black America appear markedly different.
At the present moment, black Trump supporters are crying foul as they receive thunderous attacks from a numerically superior left-leaning black political populace. Those on the “Left” are demanding not only silence, but also conformity from those that they derisively characterize as political court jesters and lackeys for white supremacists. One could comfortably say that black leftists consider their political rivals to be akin to the “house slave” that Malcolm X accused of identifying so much with his “master” that when his “owner” got sick, the enslaved African asked, “What’s the matter boss? We sick?”
The alluded to in-fighting has managed, as it always does, to blur the perspectives and reason ability of all combatants. Thus far, the most important consequence of this intra-racial battle has been Black America’s collective failure to recognize that the demands placed against black Trump supporters such as those young people who recently participated in the Young Black Leadership Summit is not necessarily one of conformity, rather a call for them to realize that their foremost goal must always be the uplifting of Black America. The inability or conscious decision to not adopt such a goal structure will always be a deal breaker among the vast majority of black “leftists.”
Let us be clear that black political thought has never been monolithic. As mentioned earlier, it has been contentious and filled with rivals who disagreed regarding tactics and strategies, however, there was consensual agreement among even the bitterest of rivals that the primary motivation for their activism was “the liberation and salvation of the black nation.”
Of all the concerns that arise among “leftists” at the sight of young African-Americans rallying around Trump, none are greater than the following; “what is the endgame for black Trump supporters.” It is the grievous concern that the ultimate goal of black neoconservatives has nothing to do with uplifting Black America and everything to do with ingratiating whites who have historically exploited blacks.
Most black progressives believe that the slogan of “Make AmericaGreat Again” instantaneously mutes any concern of racial solidarity and black liberation. For most, the stated intention of black Trump supporters to revert this nation back to an unspecified draconian period is frightening. One can only wonder if they desire a return to chattel slavery, the Nadir, sharecropping, or segregation.
I guess that it is reasonable for black Trump supporters whose rhetoric and activism communicates a nearly non-existent understanding of the African-American experience to cry foul when their political opponents chastise them for unwise political choices, however, the assertion that their right to voice their opinion is being curtailed by those on the “Democratic Party plantation” is ludicrous. Despite their strongest protests to the contrary, the truth of the matter is that it is not censorship that they are experiencing, rather an attempt to inform them that it is not the path that they are choosing to travel that worries black progressives so much, rather the fact that their desired destination is an unworthy one.
It is time that black Trump supporters understood that the political game rests on long-standing ideas of collectivism and identity. There inability to recognize that the refusal to embrace others of similar racial identity and non-elite economic status makes them fools in a political arena full of savvy and persuasive white elites who have enchanted them with half-truths and fallacious assertions.
As the saying goes, you can always come home. Unfortunately for black Trump supporters, they have absolutely no idea of where home actually is.
Staff Writer; Dr. James Thomas Jones III
Official website; http://www.ManhoodRaceCulture.com
One may also connect with this brother via Twitter; DrJamestJones.