By Vincent L. Hall
Columnist
“It’s an evil wind that blows no good.” –Aretha Franklin, “Share Your Love With Me,” 1969
In 2016, Donald John Trump received a stunning 13 percent of the Black male vote. Political wisdom has it that Black women are the most intelligent voters, and they proved as much. Only four percent of Black women fell for Trump’s lies. In Pennsylvania, he only mustered one percent. Vox Magazine released an article earlier this year that said as much, but it added some info that scares me. “As a general rule, Black Americans do not support Donald Trump. According to a recent Wall Street Journal/NBC poll, Trump enjoys just a 14 percent approval with black Americans, while roughly eight in 10 Black voters say they’re “uncomfortable” with his 2020 run for reelection. In a poll of roughly 800 Black registered voters conducted by BlackPAC, Trump had a 59 percent net job approval rating. But within those numbers is another story—a stark gender divide. Roughly 24 percent of Black men polled by WSJ/NBC approve of Trump’s efforts while in office (72 percent of Black men disapprove), but that number plummets to 6 percent when Black women are asked the same question.” There is a recent poll stating that one in five Black male college students are voting for Trump. And, while that would be astounding, it is less surprising when you realize how little most of our young people know the history of race, racism, and public policy. Trump has enhanced the threat to their lives, liberty, and longings.
Trump’s lies are too broad and bedeviling to enumerate in this small space. However, one of the lies Trump promulgates about “poorly run Democrat cities” is easily explainable. Since he insists The Atlantic is lying about his disrespect of the military, I chose a 2015 article on “White flight.” It doesn’t get much press anymore, but it set the foundation for Democrats reigning in urban areas. “In the 1960s, white families moved from cities to suburbs when they saw Black neighbors move next door. Now, they move from suburbs to farther-out fringe areas often not counted in academic studies “hunkering down in all-white neighborhoods, affluent gated communities, or unincorporated housing developments at the exurban fringe,” the researchers write. On the flip side, white communities make decisions that keep minorities out. Exclusionary zoning laws make it difficult to build mixed-income housing or apartment buildings in some towns, despite court cases seeking to make cities more diverse. These housing policies mean that cities compete for different types of people, and by banning apartment buildings or affordable housing, cities can better attract affluent white taxpayers.”
Dallas, like Houston and so many other major cities, have Black, female, or minority mayors. Urban life comes with urban problems. Rural areas see their share of painful drug addictions, crime, and homelessness. Somehow when it is smaller in scale, we as a society ignore it. News coming out of Dallas County, Texas, population 2,635,516 goes national, but a murder-suicide in Dallas County, Iowa, population 93,453 won’t get out of the state. Trump plays up urban myths and plays down rural realities. All of America is hurting; he just lies to keep his base in the dank darkness of his personal dystopia. The winds of change are waiting beyond the clouds. The only wind coming out of 1600 Black Lives Matter Plaza is hot, humid, and heretical. Aretha was right. It’s an evil wind that blows no good, and Donald Trump has no love to share with you, especially if you aren’t rich, white, male, and beneficial to his causes.
Vincent L. Hall is an author, activist, and award-winning columnist.
