Opinion: For black people, the real 'prize' is not defeating Donald Trump

During the commemoration of the 55th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday,” the ailing Prince of Troy (Alabama), John Lewis, returned to Selma and encouraged those present to “keep (their) eyes on the prize.”

Of course, at this historical moment, it is perfectly legitimate to ask, what exactly is “the prize” for black people? Is it simply voting? Is it perennially and unquestioningly joining with Democrats in their ongoing war with the Republicans for political seats? Or is something more at stake?

Undoubtedly, Democrats would argue “the prize” is defeating Donald Trump. While this would be a desirable outcome for many, truly conscious black people, as were their ancestors, are not singularly obsessed with defeating Donald Trump, but with destroying white supremacy in its myriad manifestations. Any candidate not sharing in this goal should be unacceptable.    

To be sure, this struggle is muddied by the deceptive narratives and tired clichés mainstream media, politicians and their supporters nauseatingly proffer. For example, a current one concerns “electability.” We hear endless variations of, “Democrats must expand the electorate to beat Donald Trump.”

Ironically, this argument actually confirms the presence and power of white supremacy in America. Translation: “Democrats need to convince as many black and brown people as possible, along with a minority of whites, to support them in stopping the majority of whites from reelecting Donald Trump.”

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Remember, about 52% of white women and 63% of white men voted for Trump in 2016. In 2020, they are saying, “No matter how malfeasant, mendacious, vicious and racist Donald Trump has proven himself to be, the majority of white Americans still prefer him.”

All the obstacles to dismantling white supremacy do not lie outside the race. As Carter G. Woodson warned, a good percentage of the black masses remain miseducated, misled and easily politically exploited. For the most part, the petit black bourgeoisie is not interested in helping, either.

Robert Allen accurately observed in “Black Awakening in Capitalist America,” that what many in the black privileged class “seek is not an end to oppression, but the transfer of the oppressive apparatus into their own hands” in order to advance their own interests.

Suffering people need political revolutions — real structural change. But, in the midst of political sleight of hand from both parties, black choices become obfuscated and limited. For instance, while simultaneously begging black voters in South Carolina to save him, gaffe-prone Joe Biden commented, “Americans don’t want a revolution, they want progress.”

It was reminiscent of the accommodationist Booker T. Washington’s 1895 claim to an all-white, segregationist audience in Atlanta, “In all things that are purely social, we (blacks and whites) can be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress.”

Like Washington, who had a nasty tendency to personally advance at the expense of his people, Biden’s idea of “progress” isn’t very clear.

Biden isn’t alone in his confusing “moderation.” Inarguably, on the Democratic side, only two candidates are transformative — Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Though she is a superior political athlete, Warren has failed to gain traction for whatever reason. This leaves Sanders as the only remaining viable political revolutionary, and the moderates (Translation: politicians who, for all intents and purposes, are supportive of the structural status quo) launched an all-out assault against him prior to Super Tuesday.

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Racially challenged moderates Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar both dropped out of the race and endorsed Biden. Klobuchar did so after she was forced to cancel a rally in her home state of Minnesota because black voters vociferously protested her.

Klobuchar wasn’t the only target of black resistance. On the same weekend John Lewis returned to Selma, former Republican and black antagonist Mike Bloomberg was there as well lobbying for votes at historic Brown Chapel AME Church. It did not go well. A small group of black parishioners silently rose and turned their backs on him.

Be clear! This should not be read as an endorsement of Republicans. It is not! Most black people know the GOP is cold-heartedly hostile toward them. That said, we need to ask hard questions of the Democrats. Because candidates need the votes of the party’s most loyal constituency, there’s a lot of talk about black people right now, but how much of it addresses systemic suffering rooted in race? How long will their attention last? Seriously, how much do they talk to, or about, black people BETWEEN elections?  

Also understand this is not a call for black people not to vote. It is, however, a plea to demand a political environment in which choices are not limited to witchy Republicans or devilish Democrats — neither of which will seriously challenge a status quo rooted in white supremacy.

Indeed, referencing America’s demonization of Bernie Sanders, Princeton professor Eddie Glaude lamented, “I wish some people were as unsettled by white nationalists as they are by democratic socialists.” But alas, they aren’t — even though most can’t define democratic socialism.

Ricky L. Jones is chair of Pan-African Studies at the University of Louisville. His column appears bi-weekly in The Courier Journal. Follow him on Twitter @DrRickyLJones.