This blog is to provoke thought amongst a growing number of Black Americans who are joining the Republican party. It is understandable why Blacks would have conservative beliefs regarding religion and preferences for the traditional family structure. To have endured centuries of racial oppression, the Black family always has been under attack. For most Blacks, the ideal family consists of one mother and one father. If Blacks were turning Republican solely to honor the beforementioned conditions, I would be slightly less critical with my assessment.
However, more Blacks are turning Republican because they believe something is in it for them, which is where they are sadly mistaken. Dear Black Republicans, before you become defensive and tune me out, I want you to understand that I write to you from a place of concern. This blog is not an attempt to tear you down or to convince you to be a Democrat. For the record, I am not a Democrat. It is in my best interest to not belong to any party.
For the rest of this blog, I will go back in forth between the usage of the words Black and Negro. I am doing this on purpose because each word has a different emphasis. When I use Negro, I am referring to how most Whites see us, and when I say Black, I am referring to how we see ourselves. I will begin now that I have gotten that out of the way. First, I am going to define what is a Republican Negro. Here, I say Republican Negro because a Black Republican only exists in the imagination of Blacks who identify as Republicans. In other words, regardless of what “Black” Republicans believe in their hearts, they are now and will always be Republican Negroes.
I apologize if you are losing patience and want me to get to the point. Please understand that words are essential, and I had to clarify terms first to understand this blog fully. Republican Negro, you may be wondering what this is. Republican Negro- an expendable missionary who shamefully volunteers to further the agenda of racist Whites. They often convince non-Republicans Blacks that racism is a thing of the past and that Blacks struggle to get ahead because they have not put in the work.
For racist Whites, Republican Negroes are the attack dogs unleashed on Black people who threaten White supremacy. Contrary to what most Republicans “claim” to believe, White supremacy is not in the nation’s past. White supremacy is present, and with the support of Republican Negroes, it will be in the future. I understand what I have written up to this point can be infuriating. To be fair, I will not leave my readers hanging by not offering support for my claims.
I know Republican Negroes are protective over their support for the Republican party. I am no stranger to Republican Negroes’ attempts to deflect from the behavior of many racist White Republicans by pointing the finger at the historically racist behavior of the Democrats. To the surprise of many Republican Negroes, I do not downplay the blood on the hands of the Democrats. However, in life, there are times when there is no excuse for specific endorsements, and Blacks turning into Negros to endorse the Republican party is no exception.
The uneducated Negro in 1863 had an excuse to forgo freedom and stay living on the plantation. The slaves that stayed behind knew of no other way of life and were afraid of the unknown. However, to willingly rejoin your oppressor and to act as a spokesperson suggest you are ignorant at best or have sold your soul at worst. Before you offer your rebuttal, wait until I have finished explaining how many of you have sold your souls for fool’s gold.
Purposely ignoring unapologetic White supremacists that attend Trump rallies and downplaying the killings of unarmed Black men and women to avoid confronting the darker side of your party is where I will start. Consciously not looking into the details of police brutality to free yourself from any moral obligation to stand up for fellow endangered Blacks is where I am now. Maintaining friendships with Whites, you know, are racists, but you are not concerned because they have made an exception for you is where I am going.
I want to take a moment to revisit these relationships you have with racist Whites that you believe have accepted you. Whenever a Black person is dubiously gunned down in the streets, and you avoid discussing this with your White friend or lover because it will lead to an argument, you have sold out. For those of you who have had to sleep in separate rooms from your White significant other because things got heated after another highly publicized killing of an unarmed Black person did not make it to trial, but come morning, it is business as usual; you have sold out.
If you are critical of Blacks every time we behave poorly but defend overt bigotry and racist attitudes from Whites claiming they do not know any better, you have sold out. For the record, picking apart the Democratic party in an attempt to remove the focus from the ongoing racist beliefs of your party does not make your case. Referencing racist policies like the three strikes the Democrats ushered in does not make your case.
This blog is not a contrast of parties or an attempt to convince anyone to change sides. Historically, both parties have failed Black people. However, presently, the Republican party, with many members, overtly poses a direct threat to Black people and democracy. The Democrats lost the last election, and the Republicans lost this current election. Yet, it is the Republicans who stormed the capital brandishing confederate flags and spouting their hateful rhetoric, and these are the loudest people that form a large part of the party you chose.
It is time for the Republican Negroes to look in the mirror and reevaluate their priorities. Please do not talk to me about policy when most of you are too poor to have benefited from any tax breaks Trump may have passed. If you oppose the democratic agenda because it supports untraditional lifestyles and choices, ask yourself this question. What poses a more significant threat to you, anybody being able to marry, transgender people in the military, or reinvigorated White supremacists who are decedents of the people that mercilessly beat and enslaved your ancestors?
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