A few of my readers have asked why I so often write about the link between politics and race. Aside from living as a Black American for over sixty years, American history disallows separation. I believe in the Shakespearian adage; the “past is prologue.” One does not have to look back at presidents who enslaved men, women, and children or even a president who screened D.W. Griffith’s racist film Birth of a Nation in the White House. Modern examples exist and are incrementally dragging us backward.
I have long contended that Ronald Reagan was the first president to permit open racism as a political tactic in the past two generations. Famously he opened his campaign in Neshoba County, Mississippi. Once that foray into racist signaling was accepted, it was not long before Mr. Reagan was exploiting the myth of the welfare queen. A woman named Linda Taylor was a prolific fraud and cheat. Reagan got wind of her story on the campaign trail from a Chicago newspaper along with her derogatory moniker, making her the poster child for the gross exaggeration of the welfare queen. Although Reagan rarely used the phrase[Welfare Queen] publicly, he made sure her story of driving a Cadillac and having an income of 150,000 dollars per year (which was disputed) was the cornerstone of his anti-entitlement policy. All the dog-whistling signals were present, Cadillac, welfare, and Chicago.
George H.W. Bush learned the lesson well and made the face of a violent black criminal the scariest man in America. Willie R. Horton was the next racial dog whistle, scaring white America into submissive compliance. Infamously George H.W. Bush used a vicious campaign ad depicting a retouched darkened photo of a menacing Horton to help propel him into the presidency. Democrats were not immune from the racism that fueled the campaigns of so many past Presidents. Former President Bill Clinton had the ‘Sister Souljah moment.’ The rapper and activist waxed philosophically about black-on-black crime, saying, “I mean, if black people kill black people every day, why not have a week and kill white people? You understand what I’m saying? In other words, white people, this government, and that mayor were well aware of the fact that black people were dying every day in Los Angeles under gang violence. So, if you’re a gang member and you would normally be killing somebody, why not kill a white person?” Sister Souljah’s nuanced explanation of her speech later, saying it was more about blacks killing blacks, was useless. Clinton exploited the opportunity and engineered a meeting with Jesse Jackson denouncing Sister Souljah and renouncing Jackson’s advocacy for social welfare programs, endearing Clinton to the so-called “Reagan Republicans.”
George W. Bush had the Hurricane Katrina disaster on his resume, and his infamous flyover of floating dead black bodies in the ninth ward earned him criticism he could never shake. Barack Obama was the first black President of the United States, and America had its first chance to fete an accomplishment many thought they would never see in their lifetimes. Instead, from the outset, the opposition filled the airwaves with accusations of radicalism, secret Islamic terrorism, questions about his association with Black Liberation preacher Jeremiah Wright and finally, a promise by Republicans to make him a one-term president.
It seems the past is on our heels. The shameful racial legacy of Donald Trump is almost too numerous to name; he released the racial Kraken with such ferocity that white nationalists made him a recruiting meme. There was Charlottesville, NBA players, and instituting an insurrection because he felt black voters are inherently cheaters, to name a few. Even the current President, Joe Biden, issued a back-handed compliment calling Mr. Obama clean, “I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that’s a storybook, man.” It is easy to attribute Trump and Biden’s comments to the ramblings of white septuagenarians caught in a time warp. Still, with voter suppression, critical race theory, and daily racist microaggressions, maybe Shakespeare should be read more carefully.
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