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PROTECT THE WEAK: AN OPEN LETTER TO BLACK AND LATINO MEN VOTING FOR
TRUMP  
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Nicholas Powers
March 25, 2024
Indypendent
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_ Trump’s outlaw persona and a desire for economic security are
driving support for the former president among Black men, Nicholas
Powers writes in this opinion piece. _

Working-class Black and Latino men are likely to be a pivotal swing
vote in November’s presidential election. , (Johnny Silvercloud)

 

Oh, Trump wasn’t that bad.” I saw my neighbor hold court on the
stoop. “Had money in my pocket. Hell, half the time he told the
truth!” He and two friends, all Black men, belly laughed. One said,
“And the other half?” The Trump lover made an I-got-caught gesture
with his palms, “Well…” 

They guffawed loudly. I walked and rubbed my temples. I heard this
before. I have heard it on stoops and in barbershops and bars. I heard
you laugh off the Trump years. I heard you openly talk of voting for
Trump. When asked why, you say, “I’m broke under Biden. Trump made
it rain.” 

It’s not about money. Trump was fun. He jokes about murder. He does
not give a fuck about pronouns. He kinda said COVID-19 was a
conspiracy. You kinda believe it was. He threatened to nuke North
Korea. He’s an honest liar. So he’s bat-shit crazy, racist. Ok.
Better than Democrats, Obama included, who talk like politically
correct robots. 

The media sniffed you out. _The New York Times_, MSNBC and _The
Washington Post_ run articles about you. What if you do vote for
Trump? Or do not vote at all? Since the presidential election is
decided by tens of thousands in swing states, you could be the
kingmaker. You could decide the fate of the world. Please read that
sentence again. 

You could decide the fate of the world. 

Has anyone told you that yet? You literally hold the lives of people
you have not met in your hands. Your vote means the difference between
the old and the poor getting ­Social ­Security and welfare or being
cut off. Imagine a family sleeping in a car. Imagine an old woman
going hungry to afford medicine. Your vote decides whether the United
States builds more solar panels, electric cars and curbs CO2, or if
global warming drowns cities and people flee with their lives in bags.
Your vote decides if we can vote. Imagine Trump closing polling
stations and requiring hard-to-get ID’s until voting is an
impossible gauntlet. Imagine Republicans losing an election but
refusing to give up power. Imagine seeing the military in the streets,
guns in hand, enforcing the new order. 

Has anyone told you how important you are to the future? Has anyone
said to you that we need you? We need you to protect the weak.  

_The ‘Woking’ Class_

We need you to protect the weak because no one else will. The
Democrats lie. I know you know this. 

Democrats love, just love, the moral high ground. Ever listen to them?
Jesus fucking Christ. They sell the greatest hits of social justice
rhetoric like late-night Power Rock commercials, “This collection is
not sold in stores.” Remember “re-imagining policing” during the
George Floyd protests or “safe spaces” or just add whatever
adjective to “equity” or “justice” and hocus pocus, a star is
born!  

You are done with it. You see the game is rigged and they rigged it.
Sure white liberals show up to protest racism but send their kids to
private schools or cock-block school integration. Our kids are taught
by overworked and underpaid staff. I see my son’s teachers palm
their eyes and sigh. Many quit to find better pay. Yes, white liberals
talk of Martin Luther King Jr. like the Second Coming of Christ but
swiftly block attempts to build low-cost housing in their leafy
suburbs. 

They are fucking hypocrites. They love the “woking” class not the
working class. They love MSNBC Blacks and Latinos but not us, not the
living breathing ones who make a dollar out of 15 cents. 

We need you to protect the weak and vulnerable. The ones left behind.
I think you know them too. Maybe a brotha caught in a revolving door
between the street and jail I know, I do. I give him dap walking back
from the bodega. Late at night on the stoop, he showed me shiny scars
under his shirt. He told me in a shaking voice, how he got shot by a
crew. Suddenly, he leaves. I watch him walk into the night, lost in
the dark. 

I know you. I know one reason you are voting for Trump is because you
never, never want to be as vulnerable as that homeless, scarred
brother. You never want to be dependent on others. You want control of
your destiny. You want that money. 

Instead of protecting the weak, you are running as fast as you can to
have power. Even if that means supporting a racist. Even if that means
electing Trump. 

_Bullies_

We need your strength. We really do. I don’t think you hear that
enough. I think, hermanos, you hear the opposite. 

Liberals love your trauma. They want your sob story. They love to make
movies where you are slaves or ghetto kids who need a white teacher to
believe in them. They love seeing you as a victim. 

That is why Trump is appealing. He is no one’s victim. He can do
whatever the fuck he wants to whoever he wants, whenever he wants.
Stiff his workers? Sure. Grab women by the pussy? Done. Sell bullshit
to idiots? Easy money. 

Can I tell you a secret about Strong Men types? Whether it is Putin,
Trump or Trujillo? Strong men are not strong. They are bullies. They
attack the poor. They attack women and gays and workers. They will
attack you too. 

Trump, the Republicans and the whole MAGA crew are bullies. Rich men
in nice suits passing tax cuts for the wealthy and dismantling unions
while scapegoating easy targets like trans people who are less than 1%
of the population. 

Trump is selling you a lie. Please hermanos, take it from me. _Ese
hombre está lleno de mierda_. I am a New Yorker. I see tourists
getting sold fake goods all the time. I know a hustle when I see it. 

What fake goods is he selling now? That immigrants are your enemy.
They’re not. They are families, scared and running from death. We
have enough room. America is immense. Purple mountain majesties.
Windswept valleys. We have the space. We have work that needs to get
done. New roads, new buildings, new energy grids. We need immigrants.
Welcome them. 

_Protect the Weak_

We need you. Please, we need you to do the right thing. I know being
strong is fueled by a fear of being weak. Fear can blind us. Fear can
make us hurt those who have less than we do. Fear can make us into
bullies 

We need you to protect us. What you do in the voting booth matters.
You have the lives of people in your hands. You can give life or
death. 

I know. It is a lot to put on you. I am asking you to turn away from
the fun choice. I am asking you to set aside qualms about LGBTQ people
or immigration. I am asking you to take responsibility for the lives
of people you never met. 

I am asking you to be a man. 

_The Indypendent is a New York City-based newspaper
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