Month: November 2024

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Removing yourself from your family because they voted for Trump is not only NOT productive, but it is more harmful than you think.

In the past week or so, a scenario i bring up a lot in conversation has once again surfaced.

A European friend of mine has invited me to their house, to have dinner with members of their family. All seems fine, until someone (also a European) spouts off racist and queer-antagonist epithets. i, an African, am forced to struggle with this person, while the friend who invited me sits in silence. Once we leave, the friend laments how horrible it was i had to endure said epithets.

The film Get Out has also been on my mind in relation to this scenario; you know, that film which dispels the conventional narrative of the most damaging actors of racist violence. In fact, the film shows this very scenario. While we are conditioned to admonish these caricatures in film and literature as ‘uneducated hicks from the South’; Get Out depicts a more realistic account for many of us: that those who claim to be allies are among the worst offenders.

Many who disassociate themselves from the racist actions and sentiments of those depicted in both scenario and film have potentially voted for Kamala Harris this year, as well as cut themselves off from their Trump-voting family members. This serves as a problem, as the focused perception of racism and racist violence is individualist. It lacks a class analysis (while being simultaneously classist). it lacks intersectional and international awareness.

While we in no way advocate someone staying with an abusive partner; it should be clear that abuse crosses political party lines, and anyone experiencing abuse should find spaces and communities of support and healing. Who we are addressing here are those who renounce membership in families and partnership, simply because those they have renounced voted for Donald Trump. It does lead us to wonder why, if at all, there have been no discussions regarding principles, ideological frameworks or political leanings, prior to November of 2024.

Leaving a partner, friend or family member singularly based on who they voted for is due to a lack of ideological development. It is also, again, an individualist position. What is going to ultimately happen is what ALWAYS happens: The problem becomes urgent when it is personally felt by you, and because you don’t want to deal with it, those who are on the political and social margins are going to have to deal with it. You will once again leave others to deal with what you don’t want to deal with.

Because you go in ‘freeze mode’ and don’t want to deal with your racist uncle, we are being left to deal with him, while you tell us, ‘That’s horrible what my uncle did.’
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Concerns regarding a Trump presidency tend to be universalized. When people are lamenting the incoming of further injustices on reproductive health under a Trump administration, the fact that this injustice has ALREADY been happening to African women for decades (and i would argue, the foundation of this country) is barely up for discussion. This has been discussed in various academic studies, as well as articles; nor is the fact that violence against trans and gender non-conforming folks has increased over the past few years (during both democrat and republican administrations). There is also little discussion of the “pandemic within a pandemic” of violence against African trans women.

i have also seen little to no discussion regarding the already existing class inequities/economic disparities of queer and trans communities. The primary problem/contradiction is not Donald Trump. The primary contradiction is capitalism and imperialism.

As i keep saying, Trump is the manifestation of the foundation of this country, which was founded to protect those who uphold white supremacy, patriarchy and class exploitation. Every single president in this country has represented that, and Trump’s role is to uphold it. The difference between Trump and other presidents is that he pronounces that manifestation in the most vociferous manner.

If you are not willing to ideologically struggle with those closest to you, how are you going to be prepared to strategize and struggle against larger systemic structures of oppression- unless you are going to sit back and watch others do that, then reap the benefits of it all when liberation of the masses has finally been achieved?

If this is you, you must ask yourself, which is actually the most harmful- those who remain silent or apathetic in the face of oppression, or those who make mistakes, while actively fighting it?

If people continue to emphasize Trump’s platform as harmful (which most people, outside of his staunchest defenders can agree on) and therefore are want to actively fight; yet continue to rationalize the violence which democrats wage upon the masses every day, simply because it doesn’t appear as egregiously evident (despite there being ample evidence)- which is ultimately more dangerous in the long run?

If you are not willing to struggle with those closest to you based on their voting preferences, how can we expect you to be sustainably present alongside the most marginalized of us, when it actually counts?

We all have to remember that none of us were born (unless we were born into a revolutionary family) with an advanced analysis, and we all have to do decolonizing work every single day of our lives. You voting for Harris (or any democrat) does not make you morally or ethically better than a Trump voter (or any republican), since again, both parties not only support repression of populations in this country through means of state violence, but also contribute to funding and supporting the destabilization of any global movements of self-determination.
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Imagine another scenario- that i, or anyone who has chosen not to support the capitalist/imperialist duopoly of republican or democrat decided not to talk to our democrat-voting friends, partners and family members, because it was a democrat (Bill Clinton) who signed the 1208 Program into law, under the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1997? This law (which has expanded into what is now known as the 1033 Program) undoubtedly affects African and poor people directly, via the militarization and mass surveillance of African and poor communities directly.

What if we stopped talking to you because you support a political party that consistently oversees the destabilization of democratically elected governments, as well as sanctions and blockades upon countries that take an anti-imperialist position? What if we stopped talking to you because of the increased building of Cop Cities under the watch of the democrat party, and the repression and imprisonment (and RICO charges) of land protectors, and those who protest police militarism and violence- or, the fact that teachers were fired and students tear gassed (while the democrats’ watch) for protesting US tax dollars being utilized for what is, by various human rights organizations in the world (including Israel-based B’Tselem), either an apartheid state, or a genocide? If we stopped talking to you because we considered you a ‘genocide defender’ for voting for Kamala Harris (or ANY democrat, if we wanna keep it real); would that be a fair assessment on our part?

Would it be disingenuous to see your vote for Harris (or any other democrat) as remaining silent while Palestinians, Africans (both diaspora and Continental) and other folks who have been directly negatively impacted by her policies, both as Attorney General, and as vice president? You know, ‘That’s really horrible what my uncle said/did to you,’ but on a larger level?

Or would it be more productive if we continued to struggle and organize with you, because that is the most effective way we are going to effect actual change against the systems which oppress up all (regardless of who we did or did not vote for)?

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Kamala Harris’ loss is no one’s fault but her own.

Regardless of which of the imperialist warhawks were chosen, not much would change for the material conditions of the working classes and poor folks of this country. State-sanctioned murders of unarmed Africans would still exist. Sanctions and blockades would not be lifted on places around the globe that have challenged imperialism and colonialism and its acronymned appendages.

That said…

Donald Trump’s selection should be of no surprise to anyone who has been paying attention to the sociopolitical environment of the imperial core of the U.S. As i’ve written and stated previously, Donald Trump is the manifestation of the foundation of this country. He is also the manifestation of the realization of hypercapitalism, and the individualism that is encouraged within it. He is the realization of the worship of celebrity culture, and the parasocial relationships that have developed in turn.

He is also the realization of an increasing disillusionment with the notion of ‘America’ as a beacon of morality and equitable jurisprudence.

Trump has been selected not only because the billionaire class and political elite align with him (and his (still) political naivete); he has been selected because so many of the masses recognize that the system that exists is devoid of humanism; the dearth of its intersections is evident for all to see. The fact that Trump was selected (despite indictments, impeachments, and more) is, again, the clear manifestation of what this country was founded on, as opposed to the facade of what the ‘party of Kennedy and LBJ’ claimed to be.

You cannot repair a system in which its very foundation is exploitation and death. And with that, the masses spoke. They spoke by either not voting for a candidate at all, or voting for an alternate candidate.

What will happen is that this section of the population will be blamed for ‘letting Trump win’, their reasons ignored. There are those that have lamented and feared a(nother) Trump term, who will admonish the sociopolitically marginalized among us. As i echoed in the previous piece, i will bear no surprise if the recipients of the liberal wrath will be Africans, Arabs, Muslims, student protesters and poor people, Trump voter or not. The racism and classism (be it covert or overt) will perhaps be festering for a good while.

The idea that spamming our emails and phones (or doling out celebrity endorsements) over the past few months was going to guilt trip anyone into voting for a Harris/Walz ticket, is a form of denial of the ever-increasing disillusionment with the democrat party.

While admonishing Trump for a slew of anti-trans advertisements; there are trans people who have not forgotten Harris’ role in preventing gender-affirming care in prisons, as Attorney General in California. Sex workers also have not forgotten. And we all know for certain that the people of Haiti, the Sahel states, Cuba, Venezuela and Palestine have a fresh memory in their minds… with wounds that haven’t even had time to heal.

To tell people that ‘now is not the time’ to make a principled decision to not vote for Harris, despite a genocide being on her watch is ultimately (whether or not people want to acknowledge this) an aspect of right wing ‘American exceptionalism’. Despite U.S. politics affecting the whole world (actively aiming to neutralize any movement of self-determination), it is only what occurs in the U.S. that matters, when it comes to one’s vote. It also reeks of a covert white supremacy, since we are being goaded into ignoring the fact that the majority of places most affected by the hegemonic violence of U.S. empire are occupied by ‘Black and Brown’ and Indigenous people.
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While i am saying that Trump is the manifestation of the foundation of this country; it is clear to see that Kamala Harris is as well. While people are fixated on the titles of ‘democrat’ and ‘republican’, anyone who has seen Harris’ Democratic National Convention (DNC) speech should easily attest that the only differences (if any) are the cultural, low hanging fruit ones, to keep people in a stupor. The material conditions would be the same, as well as international policies. There were LITERALLY chants of ‘USA! USA!,’ as she echoed red scare-era sentiments of defeating China in the tech war, and also as she stated: “As commander in chief, I will ensure America ALWAYS has the strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world.”

People who claim to be ‘anti-MAGA’ and pro human rights are literally cheering for the U.S. to be the world’s militaristic enforcer. World police, if you will.

As she addressed “the war in Gaza”, advocating for a ceasefire, she also said directly after this: “Let me be clear. I will ALWAYS stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself, and I will ALWAYS ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself, because the people of Israel must never again face the horror that a terrorist organization called Hamas caused on October 7.”

She also mentioned (despite it being over a year at this point… No, 77 years) that “what has happened in Gaza over the past ten months is devastating. So many innocent lives lost. Desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, over and over again. The scale of suffering is heartbreaking.” She added that she and Biden were “working to end this war, such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination.”

So yes…. talking out of both sides of your mouth is not gonna get you support, especially when “The expansion of Israel and its proxies is vital to US interest.” The man you are supposedly “working to end this war” with has claimed that Israel “is the best three billion (at the time) dollar investment we make.” and that “Were there not an Israel, the US would have to invent an Israel.” This is a man who openly says he is a zionist.

Harris, Biden, Obama, Clinton and any other democrat have always appealed to the right wing. While there was always some hope that these people ‘could be moved to the left,’ their policies have always indicated otherwise.

And by virtue of this clear evidence over the past few years, the people have spoken.

Liberals have taken for granted that because Trump is so egregious., that Harris (or any democrat) should be an obvious choice. It should be noted that it is also egregious to think that one is entitled to a democrat candidate’s vote.

There’s only so far you can take a discussion about ‘reproductive rights’ without acknowledging the US’ role in preventing it for other places around the world. There’s only so far you can be saddened about what is happening to the people of Palestine, without recognizing that the people you vote for are invested in ensuring the ethnic cleansing of the very people you are saddened for, in order to have direct access to the land and resources.

Kamala Harris’ loss is no one’s fault but her own. Displaying an assured hawkishness and taking a cavalier position on a genocide in order to protect fellow settler colonials- and disregarding the voices of those negatively affected by it- is no one’s fault but hers. Allowing protesters’ voices to be silenced, sitting by idly as the state assaults them; stating that the U.S. is ‘a country of laws’ while violating all sorts of human rights across the globe (including consistently voting in favor of a blockade on Cuba)… It is no one’s fault but hers, that the people decided to speak.

i am sure a few people here and there will take what i write here as being in support of Donald Trump, since we are conditioned to process things in a binary way. My only response to that is, go back and read what i have written- not only this post, but past ones as well.

What i AM saying is that, Donald Trump has (once again) been selected to be president, not only because those who actually control the political system find it advantageous for him to be in that position; but because the masses are increasingly seeing this country for what it actually is.