Many in the crowd cheered

There are times when I just have to shake my aging, balding Black head, and sigh, “Myyyy people!”

Last Friday night, was definitely one of those times.

Reportedly, some uppity-up Black right-wing group known as the Black Conservative Federation (BCF), held a closed-door, major black-tie gala event in Columbia, S.C. on the eve of the GOP South Carolina primary, with Donald Trump as their main attraction. Folks got dressed to the nines, ladies wore their jewels and gowns, gentlemen sported tuxedos, and top tickets went for $500-a- pop.

 In case you’re wondering, The Black Conservative Federation is a millennial-aligned Black conservative organization whose mission is to promote economic stability, educational opportunity, and community empowerment, they claim.

And this year’s gala theme was “Restoring the American Dream.”

Well, who wouldn’t want to put on their Sunday best, grab the old lady, and show up to this hot-diggity-dog elitist event, ready to hobnob with the Black conservative upper crust of the nation, all gathered for a grand evening of brown-nosing, glad-handing and glasses clinking?

So what happened?

By now you know…Trump happened!

Among other things, to the faces of those so-called “dignified” Black folks, he got up on stage and said:

When I did the mug shot in Atlanta, that mug shot is No. 1. You know who embraced it more than anyone else? The Black population.

A lot of people said that’s why the Black people like me, because they have been hurt so badly and discriminated against, and they actually viewed me as I’m being discriminated against. It’s been pretty amazing but possibly, maybe, there’s something there.

 The lights are so bright in my eyes I can’t see too many people out there. But I can only see the Black ones. I can’t see any white ones. That’s how far I’ve come.

 I’m being indicted for you, the Black population!

And after all of that, Trump was honored with the “Champion of Black America” award from the BCF. Now ain’t America grand?!!!

I think the Miami Herald Editorial Board summed up this fact-defying calamity this way:

Here’s one key difference between Trump’s [criminal] situation and that of Black Americans, who have faced systemic racism: Trump is facing the consequences for his own alleged actions in the 91 criminal charges filed against him in four different cases, including for his efforts to overturn the 2020 elections.

Now, obviously, “Dr. Demento’s” crass insults to this august Black audience bothered me. But what really disgusted me was reading this line in the Associated Press report about the audience’s response to Trump’s racist diatribe:

“Many in the crowd cheered throughout the speech.”

People who looked like me, and paid damn good money to sit in a prim and proper audience, allowed themselves to be mocked by an ethically-challenged psychopath they know is a racist and white supremacist.

And, led by clowns like Sen. Tim “Smiley” Scott and former HUD Secretary Ben “Sleepy” Carson, this Black conservative crowd of so-called “educated” businessmen and women, educators and government leaders, applauded and cheered this monster on.

Who are these well-dressed slaves rattling their GOP chains? 

I can better tell you who they aren’t.

The Black Republicans I grew up having respect for, people like baseball legend Jackie Robinson, Olympic hero Jessie Owens, inventor Booker T. Washington, journalist Ida B. Wells, football great Lynn Swann, politician Hiram Rhodes Revels, businessman Samuel B. Fuller, Sen. Edward Brooke ( R-MA); musician Lionel Hampton, writer Zora Neale Hurston, Rev. Martin Luther King, Sr., fight promoter Don King, journalist Tony Brown; Congressman George Henry White, civil rights leader James Meredith, Gen. Colin Powell, entertainer Pearl Bailey, NBA center Wilt Chamberlain, football great Roosevelt Grier, GOP Chairman Michael Steele, civil rights leader James Farmer, and Arthur Fletcher - the father of affirmative action, all brought something to the table in their day. They believed in the two-party system, love of country and advocating for their community. 

Even the Black Republicans in Pres. Gerald Ford’s administration got him to be the first president to formally recognize “Black History Month,” as a way to reach out to the African-American community, show respect, and give us a sense of pride.

Here in North Carolina, we had prominent Black Republicans like Asa Spaulding, and Durham City Councilman Howard Clement, Jr., who was well-known and embraced by his community. 

I’m sure I’ve missed a few, but my point is given this distinguished list of Black Republicans from yesteryear (although many were more moderate than conservative), I can’t imagine any of them - leaders of decency, dignity and integrity - just sitting there while Trump is insulting them to their shocked faces about their community essentially being a bunch of criminals.

Criminals who “love” him, and presumably will vote for him in November.

Those Black Republicans would have gotten up, grabbed their fur coats and top hats, and bolted out of that joint while their dignities were still intact. 

And before she left, Pearlie Mae (Ms. Bailey) would have turned herself around and cussed Trump out from the front door too, GOD bless her.

In contrast, Black conservatives today, particularly those who call themselves MAGA, have no pride in themselves or their community. They exist only to lap up the crumbs that might fall off the table of their white Republican “massas”…like Trump. What happened in Columbia, S.C. proves it!

 And this recent Fox News foolishness about Black people possibly voting for Trump because he’s also selling $400 gold sneakers now, sadly proves it even more. 

Not a word of protest from even one Black GOP’er about this madness!

During my youth, many of the proud Black Republicans I listed above never identified themselves politically, and didn’t have to. They were naturally part of the broader African-American community. But that was during a time when Black people embraced the Republican Party because of their families’ generational reverence for Pres. Abraham Lincoln, who famously “freed the slaves” in 1862.

It took “Daddy” King’s endorsement of John F. Kennedy for president in 1960 after the Massachusetts senator got his son, Martin Jr., released from a dangerous Georgia state prison, to get Black folks nationally to change from being Republicans to Democrats.

Recently, we’ve seen how the Republican Party, and almost everybody in it, has changed for the worse, especially with Trump taking over. In my opinion, the GOP today offers nothing positive to African-Americans.

Now make no mistake, Democrats aren’t perfect. Many have indeed been taking Black voters for granted for years, and have not delivered on important  promises. Part of that is our fault for not doing a better job of holding them accountable. We’re still learning the politics game.

But at least there are serious Democrats of integrity like Rep. Alma Adams (D-NC), Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), to name a few, that we can count on when the going gets tough.

And yet, clowns like Tim Scott, Ben Carson, Byron Donalds, and yes, our very own “Governor” wannabe Mark Robinson - the culture warrior-in-training - are leading the applause for “Mr. Criminally Insane,” and expect Black folks to follow them.

If they don’t watch out, they’re going to find themselves used up and thrown away by Trump, just like he did Diamond and Silk (remember them?), Herschel Walker, Candace Owens, and the gone-but-certainly forgotten Herman Cain, who reportedly died days after contracting COVID-19 at a Trump rally. It took Trump four hours after the news broke to even acknowledge Cain’s tragic death.

What loyalty!

Trump, a crook who, along with his father, refused to rent apartment units to Black people in New York City during the 1970s; years later, took out a full-page ad in The NY Times in 1989 demanding the death penalty for the wrongfully convicted Central Park Five - even after they were proven innocent; declared that President Barack Obama was not an American citizen; and called Haiti and African nations “sh-thole countries” - has no respect for African-Americans or Black people, and isn’t afraid to tell us that to our faces.

But the sad part is, many in the crowd who look just like me, will just sit on their behinds, and cheer him on!