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)?
Overjobbed and Underworked 