Image by Mattia Faloretti.

Significant numbers in the Black community feel betrayed by our so-called allies who ignored the warnings of Black people regarding the elections, its political rhetoric, and the history of racism and white supremacy in the country. So, in response to feelings of betrayal a Black preacher in Chicago recently framed the sentiment on social media writing, “Nope, I turned out in November; they didn’t!” This feeling is pervasive within the Black community as people articulate the frustrations felt because of the outcome of the presidential elections last November. When asking people to turn out for the “Hands Off” rallies, the Gaza and pro-Palestinian demonstrations, or even to protest the roundup of immigrants there is a post-November 2024 pushback which is derived from a sense of betrayal because the people now asking for our participation and support did not stand with the Black community in the 2024 elections. In barbershops, beauty shops, nail salons, social clubs, fraternities, and sororities discussions have been animated expressing various theories in America’s rejection of a Black person for President, and particularly in this case, a Black woman. The underlying feelings is that of betrayal and desertion.

Sure, there are all kinds of justifications for the rejection of the Harris/Walz ticket ranging from the Biden/Harris support of the genocide in Gaza, “She was a prosecutor who contributed to mass incarceration”, to “I will not vote for the lesser of two evils.” There were also the economic arguments citing inflation, and the failure of the Biden administration to deal with the cost of going to the grocery store. There were also the clandestine discussions laced with misogyny and race offering that a woman was unable to lead, and a Black woman was even worse than a Black man. Race and gender hatred are strong undercurrents of the Harris rejection which is confirmed by the Trump/MAGA obsession with attacking and dismantling all Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives. The dog-whistle to white America is that DEI led to the election of a Black president in 2008, the increasing visibility of other Black faces, the prominence of people of-color and different kinds of people in government and leadership, as well as advancing the sensibilities of gender equality. The anti-DEI framework also believes that immigrants have been welcomed and coddled by offering sanctuary and protection multiplying their numbers which dilutes the white population and poses a serious threat to the powers of white supremacy and the white ability to rule. Indeed, we are seeing and witnessing currently an aggressive clutch for power and the reassertion of white supremacy.

The Black community had seen all this before and can still hear the ghostly chains of enslavement synchronized to the racist tropes of old. The Black community largely was not fooled by the appeals of grocery store affordability or removing immigrants to make way for “black” jobs, or the other empty promises of MAGA/Trump. We had seen it all, and it is incredulous for us to believe that others could not see what we saw. Likewise, it is difficult and unbelievable to hear people now state that “it is worse than I imagined.” We knew what would happen, and we feel betrayed by so-called allies who did not listen to our counsel, should have understood the racist history of America better, and heeded the violence planned against people because of race, immigration, gender, or belonging to the LGBTQIA community. Instead of heeding all our warnings and alarms significant enough numbers of white women, Latinos, and even some Black folks chose to drink the Kool-Aid of a sanitized racism sweetened with appeals of bringing jobs home, cheaper eggs, and making America first in the world.

There are all........

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