All politics is local.
Perceived racist and belittling comments by former President Donald Trump and his allies toward Vice President Kamala Harris are part of serious conversations in the Black community in Baton Rouge.
Oh, yeah, and around the country.
It’s difficult to miss conversations in certain settings, where Black professionals are fuming about Trump and his sycophants suggesting that Harris is a DEI selection by the Democratic Party. It’s not lost on Black people anywhere what DEI means to some: “Less than.”
DEI stands for diversity, equity and inclusion. Critics say it helps minorities and women get jobs that White people, especially White men, should have. Supporters say it gives minorities a chance at jobs and positions that formerly went to friends, relatives and White men and women who were not as qualified as Black applicants.
Yep, that happened, and DEI hasn’t stopped it. But it does give minorities a better chance.
Ed Pratt
“DEI is code language … it’s a subtext for inferior … unqualified,” said the Rev. Fred Jeff Smith, pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church in Baton Rouge. “The continued use of saying DEI is meant to galvanize the resentment of like-minded people.”
“It’s a shame that as a Black woman you have to be 10 times better than your White counterparts to prove ourselves,” said Courtney Hunt, president of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Inc. of Metro Baton Rouge. “It’s really disgusting that Kamala Harris has to deal with this.”
Hunt was one of thousands of women on a group phone call Sunday night to discuss their support and to fundraise for Harris, the presumptive Democratic Party nominee for president of the United States.
“She has been and wants to continue fighting for the American people and has to be subjected to this kind of racism,” Hunt said, adding that she is among many women who are discussing daily ways to counter the racism and present Harris in a positive light.
Harris’ qualifications are significant. She is a lawyer, a former district attorney, an attorney general, a former U.S. senator and a vice president. On the other hand, JD Vance, Trump’s VP pick, has this background: He is a lawyer, Marine veteran and has been a senator for two years. Oh yeah, according to reports, he once described Trump as an “idiot” and supposedly compared him to Adolf Hitler.
The American Psychological Association says this: “Racism is a form of prejudice that generally includes negative emotional reactions to members of a group, acceptance of negative stereotypes, and racial discrimination against individuals; in some cases, it can lead to violence.”
The racist and demeaning remarks against Harris reached such a crescendo last week that Louisiana’s own, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, felt the need to ask his Republican compadres to tone down rhetoric that could be deemed racist.
Interestingly, Trump, the head of the GOP ticket, didn’t echo Johnson’s position. Think about that.
Trump and some of his supporters “clearly have a low opinion of women … They are disposable,” Smith said.
The president goes out of his way to mispronounce Kamala, much to the delight and screaming approval of his crowds.
“Sadly, it’s going to get much worse,” Hunt said. “You shouldn’t have to tell grown-ups to stop this. You can’t condone this type of behavior.”
Judging by the roaring approval in Trump’s crowds, there are thousands, perhaps millions that do.