I’m not your homie, all right dawg?
Dear Blago, I am not your “homie.” And for that matter, Dear Republican Party, Donald Trump and various Trump homies now going to and fro, seeking whom you may devour — I mean, trolling desperately for Black male votes — neither am I your Negro.
I’m not Kanye. Not Ice Cube. Not 50 Cent. Not the Rev. Dr. Darrell Scott.
And I’m not for sale. Not falling for the political okey- doke. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever.
Not that I blame you for trying, dearest former Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich. Hell, if Trump had granted me early release from the federal slammer, he’d have my vote — and my loyalty — for life.
So on the one hand, I feel ya, uh, homie. But on the other hand, I just don’t, dawg.
I heard what happened this week at Trump Tower downtown during an event dubbed as the launch of a pro- Trump nationwide tour “to promote harmony and equality,” where you reportedly declared to a group of mostly people of color who support Trump: “I’m one of your homies.”
I was like, “Hell, nah. Wow. … Come on, bruh.” I mean, I like you and all. But “homie?”
What’s up with the Black talk? And what’s up with this apparent sudden focus on courting the Black male vote for Trump?
As a lukewarm, lifelong Black male Democrat, please allow me to respond in the vernacular: “My man, y’all barkin’ up the wrong tree. Y’all trippin’ — for real.” Capisce?
Now, I would be remiss to think I speak for all Black men. Clearly, I don’t. We are not monolithic. But I think I speak for many in saying: “Man, you crazy as a road lizard if you think we gon’ vote for Trump. … You must be outta yo’ cotton- pickin’ mind.”
For starters, Trump has yet to even publicly denounce or disavow himself from white supremacists and other hate groups. If he is not a racist, the racists think he’s racist. Enough said.
Indeed, Trump has yet to acknowledge the existence of systemic racism in America, which was built on the original sin of slavery. Matter of fact, Trump has yet to come clean about his racism against the “Central Park Five,” or about his refusal, once upon a time, to rent apartments to Blacks.
Look here, partna, when that white Illinois teen with the AR- 15- style rifle in Kenosha fatally shot two Black Lives Matter protestors, wounding a third, on Aug. 25, what did Trump say? What he say?
“He was trying to get away from them … and he fell and then they very violently attacked him. … He was in very big trouble.”
Excuse me. But wasn’t he the one with the gun?
Why on earth would I — would we — support Trump?
Trump — who has called Black women “dogs,” and Black NFL players SOBs. Who incites violence with divisive rhetoric but proclaims himself to be “the least racist person in the room.” Who sanctioned the snatching of Brown babies at the southern border from the arms of their parents, not “coyotes” as Trump claims — more than 500 of them potentially lost to their parents forever.
Then Trump had the nerve to say that he’s done more good for Blacks than any president other than Abraham Lincoln?
Negro, please.
And for the record, the Democrats don’t get a pass either — not for their past sins and neglect, or for taking the Black voter for granted.
But desperate times like these, amid a nation drowning in divisiveness, and a rising sea of COVID- 19, and teetering on economic disaster, need leadership, character and decency.
That’s what I’m voting for. Leadership. Not a homie, ya dig?