BY SOUMANOU SALIFOU

Arguably, CNN commentator Van Jones’ emotional breakdown immediately after the network called the election for former Vice President Joe Biden on November 7 resonated with a large segment of the American population, notably Blacks, Browns, Native Americans, women and others who have been on the receiving end of the racism, bigotry and misogyny that have defined Trump’s presidency: “This is vindication for a lot of people who have really suffered. ‘I can’t breathe’ — that wasn’t just George Floyd. A lot of people felt like they couldn’t breathe,” said the former adviser to President Obama, wiping tears from his eyes.

Trump’s racism, bigotry and misogyny had been known to some people decades before the 2016 presidential election, but they were exposed on a wider scale during the 2016 campaign by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham from South Carolina, one of several Republican candidates Trump bullied to win the party’s nomination: “You know how you make America great again? Tell Donald Trump to go to hell. He’s a race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot. He doesn’t represent my party. He doesn’t represent the values that the men and women who wear the uniform are fighting for. … He’s the ISIL man of the year,” Graham said on national television in December 2015.

Trump proved Graham right every step of the way throughout his presidency—though the South Carolina senator, probably out of fear of the bully president who has ended the political career of many Republicans who dared cross him, became one of his staunch allies.

Indeed, the signs were clear when, during the 2016 campaign, Trump refused to distance himself from the worst racist figures in American history, such as David Duke, former grand wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux, who embraced his candidacy. Not surprising, Trump’s victory was celebrated by some members of the same group, such as 42-year-old Dallas, Tx native Richard Spencer, a key member of the radical conservative movement, who was quoted in an article by reporter Caleb Downs of the Dallas News published on November 16, 2016 as saying about Trump:

“He’s not your father’s conservative. He’s not in this to promote free markets or neoconservative foreign politics or to protect Israel, for that matter. He’s in this to protect his people. He’s in this to protect the historic American nation.”

Just as black lives mean nothing to the David Dukes or the Richard Spencers, Trump publicly threatened to crush the nation-wide Black Lives Matter demonstrations that sent Americans from almost any racial background to the streets this past summer, despite the pandemic. He indeed carried out his intention by having security forces use tear-gas on peaceful BLM demonstrators in front the White House on June 1, 2020.  

If Trump’s hands are soiled with the blood of the now-more than 350,000 Americans who have died of covid-19 as a result of his cruel decision to publicly ignore the virus (though he knew it was real,) Blacks, Latinos and Native Americans have been disproportionately hit by the virus, because of their greater health challenges stemming from the higher poverty rate among the minorities, and the fact that they constitute the largest segment of essential workers (grocery stores employees, etc.)

It’s a known fact that Trump, a bogus billionaire who has filed for bankruptcy a half-dozen times, achieved business “success” mostly by cheating. After the failure of his repeated, unfounded claims that he has won the election, he pushed the envelope last week by asking the Secretary of State of Georgia to literally “find 11, 780 votes” to change the election result in his favor.

It’s unlikely Trump will flee to Russia to be under the protection of Putin as rumored. It’s certain this dangerous man who is galvanizing the crowds around his fantasies and criminal intents will stick around and try to cause trouble—until he is hopefully put behind bars. But he cannot stop the wheels of history that have ushered in the Biden administration now poised to push his agenda through Congress thanks to gaining control of both chambers of the parliament. 

Yes, CNN commentator Van Jones is right: Biden’s election “is a big deal for us, just to get some peace and have a chance for a reset.” As he said, “Being a good man matters.”

2021 brings back the decency lost for four agonizing years, and with it, hope among the black, brown and native American communities, and the more than a dozen women who have made credible accusations against the predator that is Donald J. Trump.

Soumanou Salifou is the founder/publisher of The African Magazine