Opinion

The Black Community Is Oppressed… Unless Trump Says So

Reuters

Scott Greer Contributor
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Donald Trump is making a a pitch to the African American community, and the professional commentariat could not be more livid.

“You’re living in poverty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs, 58 percent of your youth is unemployed. What the hell do you have to lose?”

“You walk down the street, you get shot.”

Those are the highlights of Trump’s pitch to black voters which hasn’t gone down well with the pundits. The consensus among media elites and liberals is that it was at best tone-deaf. At worst a racist dog-whistle to white supremacists.

“For [African Americans], as for most Americans, crime is at historic lows, and cities are safer than they’ve ever been,” Slate’s Jamelle Bouie wrote of Trump’s pitch, which he saw as thinly-veiled racism.

The New York Times ran an in-depth piece last week saying the speech offended those living in black America. According to The Times, life is great for the vast majority of black Americans who can enjoy safe neighborhoods free of dire poverty.

Hillary Clinton echoed this sentiment in her “alt right” speech Thursday. Clinton said it was “ignorant” of Trump to focus on these negatives when black communities are thriving.

Maybe America owes a thanks to Donald Trump for getting everyone to give up on the whole notion the country is oppressing black communities. Prior to Trump’s comments, we were constantly reminded that all African Americans risk being murdered by a police officer at any moment and for any reason.

Hillary once said on the matter, “I will call for white people, like myself, to put ourselves in the shoes of those African American families who fear every time their children go somewhere, who have to have ‘The Talk,’ about, you now, how to really protect themselves [from police], when they’re the ones who should be expecting protection from encounters with police.”

Thanks to Trump, we can now rest easy knowing the vast majority of blacks can safely walk down their streets without the fear of being shot by anyone.

Systemic racism has become a common word in our political lexicon and is frequently deployed in order to explain why so many African Americans are barred from the American Dream. Clinton has said previously that our country needs to face up to the “reality of systemic racism” which keeps “people of color” down.

But after Trump said that things don’t look so good in many black communities, we learned that millions and millions of African Americans have college degrees, successful jobs and beautiful homes. So long systemic racism! Hello American Dream for all!

It’s surprising how all the rhetoric in the media went from apocalyptic to sunshine and rainbows overnight, all thanks to Trump. If we want to talk about divisive fear-mongering, it’s worth pointing the finger at how America’s premier news outlets have covered police-involved shootings as examples of law enforcement’s war on black bodies. When riots happened in Baltimore, Ferguson and Milwaukee, apologists came out of the woodwork to say these are acts of the voiceless against a system that oppresses them.

Apparently, no system is oppressing them if the vast majority of African Americans are reaping the rewards of living in America, if we’re to believe Trump’s many detractors. The problems of black communities vanished into thin air all due to Trump’s blunt pitch.

So what story will the Left eventually settle on? Is America a nightmarish hellhole for African Americans? Or is the land of opportunity for people of all colors?

It seems like the answer is “both,” judging by the rhetoric.

The Democratic National Convention presented this cognitive dissonance last month. Speakers railed against Trump’s “Make America Great Again” with the rebuttal that America was already great and everything is going swell in the nation. Yet, at the same time, speakers made a clear point to highlight rampant police brutality and systemic racism. Hillary mentioned all of those differing points in the same speech accepting her party’s nomination.

So much for a clear message.

What might be the end result of this confusing rhetoric on the part of liberal leaders is the controversy surrounding NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s refusal to stand for the national anthem. He says he sits during the national anthem because, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.” But if the real America is represented by the DNC — filled with diversity and minority success stories — how is it oppressing people like Kaepernick? (RELATED: Millionaire NFL Quarterback Has Mind-Boggling Reason For Refusal To Stand For National Anthem)

Then again, the more radical elements of the Left, such as Black Lives Matter, still like to vandalize the flag and condemn the country as built on white supremacy. These elements, however, are coddled by more mainstream liberals, which creates a confusing picture for what the young leftist should think of America and how it treats African Americans. It’s unlikely Democrats will embrace Kaepernick when he is protesting the America they are now supposed to represent.

It’s a nice thought to think Trump’s pitch to minorities magically turned liberals into doubters of systemic racism, similar to how the candidate’s spat with the Khan family turned them into fanatic defenders of veterans. (RELATED: The Disingenuous Outrage Over Khan-Gate)

But that’s only a nice thought.

Democrats will continue stoking the fires of racial division and paranoia long after the 2016 election. Just not when a Republican decides to make a pitch in the same style.

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