(ThyBlackMan.com) As we enter 2026, Americans of all walks of life are witnessing the continuing political and cultural shifts in our nation. While these shifts began long before last year’s presidential election, the return of the Trump administration to power has accelerated the pace of changes impacting our nation economically, politically, and culturally. The way Americans interpret these changes will often come down to a person’s political persuasion and alignment. Too often, politics will override sound Christian doctrine, economic vulnerability, and racial identity.
The term “Make America Great Again” has a specific meaning when it is viewed through a racial and moral lens. For many throughout the Black community, MAGA is more than just a catchy phrase to excite a conservative movement. Through our moral lens, we see MAGA as a political movement whose immoral goal is to rebrand discriminatory laws, racial violence, and systemic barriers reminiscent of our nation’s dark past. On the surface, we continue to hear the Christian talking points, but we refuse to be blind to the corruption, cruelty, and hypocrisy underneath. We hear those who talk about salvation, but we don’t see the Christ-like discipleship in defending the poor, oppressed, and strangers (immigrants).
We hear the talk of strengthening the border, reviving the economy, and developing an “America First” posture in foreign policy. But through our moral lens, we continue to see the unjust harassment and suffering of those within the Brown community. We see the way the killing of Renee Good in Minnesota at the hands of an ICE agent is being covered up and justified by Trump administration officials. Some conservatives will deny that racist intentions exist from the MAGA movement, but we hear claims of “reverse discrimination” from a U.S. president who tells us that civil rights-era protections have “hurt” white Americans.
In an interview with The New York Times, President Donald Trump stated, “White people were very badly treated, where they did extremely well and they were not invited to go into a university to college,” referencing affirmative action in college admissions. Vice President J.D. Vance has also backed the claim that DEI has hurt job prospects for white men. Recently, he shared an essay calling DEI “a deliberate program of discrimination primarily against white men.” When they talk about reverse discrimination, they want to “Make America Great Again” by returning to a society where there will be little or no protections in place against all forms of discrimination in both public and private institutions. Derrick Johnson, the president of the NAACP, pushed back against Trump’s claims of reverse discrimination. Johnson said there is “no evidence that white men were discriminated against as a result of the civil rights movement, the Civil Rights Act, and efforts to rectify the long history of this country denying access to people based on race in every measurable category,” in a statement to The New York Times.
To those who are unfamiliar with the horrors of the Jim Crow era, the shift we are experiencing may not be a strong enough warning for what lies in the months and years ahead. Even worse, the MAGA misinformation and rebranding of history may become an effective strategy with young Blacks starting to believe and accept it. As we celebrate Martin Luther King Day, are we fulfilling his legacy? Are young Blacks drifting away from his messages and legacy? As our nation is shifting as a result of the conservative MAGA movement, how are we resisting the conservative shift?
As we witness the rebranding of discrimination through a moral lens, we are also viewing the political and cultural changes from Dr. King’s perspective. Dr. King promoted a message of non-violence, but he was still very radical. He confronted the hypocrisy of his white counterparts and respectfully held them accountable in his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” Every person of color needs to read this letter. Members of the Black community cannot afford to look at the ICE raids nationwide with the attitude that it is not our fight. Dr. King’s example was very clear when he wrote, “It was illegal to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler’s Germany. Even so, I am sure that, had I lived in Germany at the time, I would have aided and comforted my Jewish brothers. The conservative MAGA movement means the resistance has to be a joint effort between Black and Brown communities working together in the trenches. Both communities have a common oppressor when they promote the idea of reverse discrimination, resulting in anti-DEI initiatives. The events unfolding in Minnesota affect all of us. In his letter, Dr. King explained to those who questioned his presence in Birmingham.
He wrote, “Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.” One reason the conservative movement is able to politically and culturally shift our nation backward lies in the truth that we shifted away from Dr. King’s legacy.
Written by David W. Marshall
Official website; https://davidwmarshallauthor.com/
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