Politics and Current
At church, Trump stirs up tensions among black immigrants. Are Democrats ready to respond?
If you listened closely during Donald Trump’s recent visit to a “black” church in Detroit, you could have heard whispers concerning the ghosts of the political past.
“They are attacking your jobs,” Trump said. “People crossing the border – all these millions of people – are causing enormous harm to our black population and our Latino population.”
Trump’s dire warning was not a brand new claim, however it has been repeated across political eras, sometimes even by Democrats themselves. After all, President Bill Clinton signed a law in 1996 that made it easier to deport more immigrants while narrowing the trail to legal immigration.
For many Black Americans, this remains to be not the case – for them, immigrants are their allies, exploited by similar economic systems designed to marginalize the “other.” But for other groups of voters within the broader Black community, even when it isn’t politically correct to say it out loud, Trump’s claim about competition from immigrants could also be attractive.
For these voters, immigrants – most frequently Latino immigrants – are allegedly the explanation why Black Americans lose their jobs and are marginalized within the very country they helped construct with their sweat and blood. For them, while immigrants began to pursue the American dream, sometimes called “hard workers,” black Americans were trampled on as they climbed the ladder of racial and social caste. If immigrants didn’t take jobs, they not less than sometimes clashed culturally.
So whose interpretation is true?
The query of whether immigrants are “taking” jobs and opportunities from Black Americans is a sensitive one for advocacy groups and a few political circles since the answer requires nuance.
The American Immigration Council argues that there isn’t a significant correlation between high levels of immigration and high unemployment among black Americans because immigrants often play complementary roles within the labor market. These are positions requiring lower qualifications, which opens the best way for native employees to perform better-paid positions. However, in an article within the journal “Beyond conflict and competition”, authors Chrisshonna Grant Nieva, Laura Pulido and Nathan J. Sessoms explain the next:
In short, the reply will depend on your occupation and level of education.
This research shows us that policy frameworks for “immigrant competition” must acknowledge complexity, otherwise they may appear to disregard the true experiences of some people. For those that want easy answers, heroes and scapegoats, the above explanation doesn’t satisfy either side of the talk.
But that does not imply Democrats should avoid it.
Doing so only strengthens the case as an efficient tool for the Republican Party. Look no further than the handfuls of immigrants bused into predominantly black Chicago neighborhoods to sow deep resentment among residents.
“Our particular frustration is with the continued and blatant disregard for the safety and overall quality of life of Black residents, as many of these migrants have been abandoned in our neighborhoods with no plan in place to monitor and house them long-term,” she said. Natasha Dunn, Chicago resident, quoted on Fox News article regarding a housing plan that assumed the location of migrants in a close-by abandoned school.
And speaking of Fox News, one seek for “Black” and “migrants” yields quite a few articles portraying immigrants as a threat to the Black community. Somehow, the identical right-wing media brands that disparage and demonize the Black Lives Matter movement, DEI, racial justice efforts, and America’s first Black president are concerned concerning the well-being and pain of Black communities.
The most astute media consumers can spot contradictions. But others won’t care concerning the source of the news. It also doesn’t negate the concerns of Black Americans, especially in the event that they live in swing states where each vote could make or break the consequence of an election.
Democrats tend to lump essentially the most racially and ethnically diverse communities under one big electoral tent, with Black and Latino voters (including Black Latinos/Latinos) being a part of their electoral coalition. For Democrats to counter Trump’s attacks on them as a celebration out of touch with immigration on the expense of the Black community, they should have a transparent explanation of how the concerns of immigrant communities align with Black American communities.
They must even be prepared to tell the story of how these groups formed the coalition.
Just as Black Americans aren’t a monolith, immigrants to America, especially Latino immigrants, who come from over 20 countries, aren’t a monolith, speak different languages, and belong to different races.
In cities like New York within the Sixties, Black American and Puerto Rican immigrant communities fought side by side for his or her civil rights, with groups just like the Black Panthers and Young Lords demanding healthcare, education and an end to exploitation. Even though Puerto Rican migrants are American residents, there are still lessons to be learned from cross-cultural cooperation (and sometimes tension).
What was it about their situation that made them even closer? Some scholars say the concept of “connected fate” convinced these communities to work in partnership.
Differences in immigrant nationalities (Mexican, Cuban, Jamaican, Dominican), race (black, white, Asian, mixed race), and geography (West Coast vs. Northeast vs. American South vs. Midwest) mix to create different responses to narratives about rivalry between immigrants and ethnic groups across the country. Democrats should tailor their immigration messaging and never treat all voters the identical.
Democrats even have a number of work to do in countering Trump’s claims to be the champion of Black America: his death wish for the Central Park Five; his claim of “very good people on both sides” after neo-Nazi marches; confirmed contempt for black employees; threats of military motion against BLM protesters; the initiation of the birth movement; and his “shithole countries” comment, which deemed people from majority-black countries unworthy of immigrants.
But it isn’t enough to pull out Kanye and say, “Donald Trump doesn’t care about black people.” Democrats must show how policies actively reveal concern for the economic and private well-being of Black people. They have loads of work to do, from child tax credits and prescription drug caps to student loan forgiveness.
However, when it comes to immigration, messages need to be more direct and targeted. They should remind the general public that President Biden is on his first day in office proposed immigration reformAmerican Citizenship Act of 2021. The bill was rejected by Republicans and had no probability with a Senate filibuster.
Democrats should explain how they crafted a bipartisan immigration bill that might address essentially the most pressing points of the crisis, but Trump advised against passing it, largely to prevent a legislative victory for Biden. They also needs to reveal why the party believes that immigration is legal improves the general economy for all Americans, and although immigration has been broken under Democratic and Republican presidents, they’ve a plan to fix it.
But most significantly, Democrats must clarify that Black Americans is not going to be left behind of their vision for America and the long run in 2025. Because for these voters, being prioritized is mandatory, not optional.
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The campaign’s legal department reports that President-elect Donald Trump is stalling the presidential transition process by refusing to sign an ethics pledge that is legally required of each sitting president
Under the Presidential Transition Act, Trump and his transition team must sign a document ensuring he avoids any conflicts of interest once he takes office. Only after the document is signed and sent to the General Services Administration (GSA) can the incoming administration gain access to federal agencies.
The transition, which President Joe Biden has promised will likely be “orderly and peaceful,” sets the tone for the Trump-Vance administration’s approach to transparency, accountability and earning the trust of Americans, all of that are seen as essential to making sure the administration fulfills its responsibilities to the U.S. people mean .
The reasons for withholding Trump’s documents are unknown, but some speculate it has to do along with his latest financial disclosure reports and for one reason particularly. Many of his holdings might be considered conflict of interest red flags, equivalent to his latest cryptocurrency business, a majority stake in his social media platform Truth Social, real estate, books and licensing deals.
It’s not only the GSA that the president-elect is avoiding. According to , Trump also refused to make use of the State Department’s secure phone lines and interpreters and kept away from using the FBI’s security clearance system. That’s why House Democrats issued latest laws on November 19 requiring Executive Office employees to have FBI security clearances. If not, Congress will likely be warned.
Democratic lawmakers and powerful Trump opponents like Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) are baffled by his transition team’s refusal to sign an ethics agreement.
“Donald Trump and his transition team are already breaking the law. I would know because I wrote the law myself,” Warren wrote in X on November 11. “Future presidents are obliged to prevent conflicts of interest and sign an ethics agreement. This is what illegal corruption looks like.”
Skepticism towards the bill, presented by Representatives Don Beyer (D-VA) and Ted Lieu (D-CA)persists. The upcoming GOP-controlled Congress is seemingly leaning toward Trump. Once back in office, Trump will give you the chance to issue security clearances to anyone he wants, no matter the FBI’s objections or whether the person faces legal charges. This latest situation involves two of Trump’s Cabinet picks – Matt Gaetz as attorney general and Pete Hegseth as defense secretary, each of whom have faced allegations of sexual misconduct.
Politics and Current
Social media reacts to video of Susan Smith’s tearful plea for parole 30 years after she killed her two sons and blamed their disappearance on a black man
Parole was denied Wednesday for notorious South Carolina mother Susan Smith, who drowned her two young children after initially claiming a black man had kidnapped them.
“I wish I could take it back, I really do,” Smith, now 53, said. “I didn’t lie to get away with it. … I used to be just afraid. I didn’t know the way to tell the individuals who loved them that they might never see them again.
Smith said she found peace because of her Christian faith. God is a vital part of her life testified on Wednesday, “and I know he has forgiven me.”
It was her first appearance before the state parole board, which voted unanimously to keep her in prison for the remaining of her life. After serving 30 years, Smith is eligible for parole every two years.
“I know what I did was terrible,” she said in her testimony given via Zoom. “And I would give anything if I could go back and change it.”
“I love Michael and Alex with all my heart,” she said openly, crying and wiping away tears.
The disappearance of 3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alex made national headlines after their mother told the chilling story of how a black man stopped her automotive and took her children. She appeared incessantly on television, playing every bit the role of a distraught mother, and the search for her boys lasted nine grueling days.
Susan Smith, a South Carolina woman who pleaded guilty to killing her 3-year-old and 14-month-old sons in 1994, speaks at her parole hearing.
Smith initially lied to police, saying that a black man had kidnapped her and kidnapped her sons. pic.twitter.com/oppN49EvWj
— ABC News Live (@ABCNewsLive) November 20, 2024
It was then that Susan Smith, questioned by police who began to doubt her story, truthfully confessed what really happened on October 25, 1994.
Smith, then 23, strapped her sons into their automotive seats and drove the automotive into a lake near her home in Union, South Carolina.
Smith’s pleas fell on the ears of not only the parole board but in addition many on social media. As videos of her interrogation began circulating online, a whole bunch of comments condemned the mother for not seeming sufficiently remorseful about her actions.
“☠️MONSTERS should be kept in CAGES☠️”, one person wrote on Xformerly Twitter.
Another added: “I remember it when it happened. She claimed that her children were kidnapped by black people. And people believed her, unfortunately. She should be sentenced to death. He must remain behind bars until the very end.”
“I’m sure her children, strapped in their automotive seats, screamed and cried as they drowned in their own mother’s hands for her lustful pleasures. Shameful,” – wrote one other commentator.
Sixteenth Judicial District Solicitor Kevin Brackett recalled pulling Susan Smith’s automotive out of the water with her children inside. She added that these crimes shocked not only the family but your complete country.
“On behalf of the community I now represent, I do not believe she should ever be released from prison until the last living person who remembers Michael and Alex dies, and that will not happen in her lifetime. She should never have been released,” Brackett said Wednesday.
Defense lawyer Susan Smith argued that she planned to die with her sons, but jumped out of the automotive on the last minute.
Lead prosecutor Tommy Pope noted that Smith was not wet or injured when she ran for help after the automotive disappeared beneath the lake.
“God is an important part of my life and I know he has forgiven me… I just ask that you show the same kind of mercy.”
Killer mother Susan Smith applies for release 30 years after drowning her two young sons at her first parole hearing. The Parole Board unanimously rejected… pic.twitter.com/0jR88Mkuzo
— Fox News (@FoxNews) November 20, 2024
“Susan’s focus was always on Susan,” said Pope, who presented evidence during Smith’s murder trial that she was distraught over her breakup with one other man. Prosecutors say the connection ended because Smith had children.
“Susan made a terrible, terrible decision, choosing a man over her family,” Pope said. “If she could have put David in the car, he would have been there too.”
David Smith, Michael and Alexander’s father, who was captured entering the constructing, told the board that his ex-wife had never shown any remorse for their murder.
David Smith has just arrived at Susan Smith’s parole hearing.
He is her ex-husband and the daddy of the boys she murdered.
He wanted the death penalty, and now 30 years later he must face it again when it asks the South Carolina Parole Board to release her. pic.twitter.com/2WdqXjwQxM— Brian Entin (@BrianEntin) November 20, 2024
“It wasn’t a tragic mistake. (…) She deliberately wanted to end their lives,” he said.
David Smith testified that his grief over the loss of his sons “came close to taking my own life.”
His current wife, Tiffany Smith, says there are still days when her husband cannot get out of bed because of the pain.
“Michael and Alex didn’t get a chance at life,” she said. “They were given the death penalty.”
He said his ex-wife served just 15 years for each child. “It’s just not enough.”
Susan Smith’s attorney, Tommy Thomas, told the parole board his client’s case shows “the dangers of untreated mental health.” He said Susan Smith was not diagnosed with depression after the birth of her second child.
Her stepfather testified that he had sexually abused her for years.
Susan Smith was not a model prisoner. She was convicted multiple times, once for sex with a prison officer and one other time for drug possession. She was also threatened with punishment for providing documents with her ex-husband’s contact details.
Her lawyer said that if she was released on parole, she would live with her brother.
David Smith said if his wife applied for parole again, he could be there for the sake of his sons.
(*30*) he told the board.
Politics and Current
The Congressional Black Caucus is ready to take on Trump and Republicans, says presumptive Republican chairwoman Yvette Clarke
U.S. Rep. Yvette D. Clarke (D-N.Y.) is set to turn out to be the subsequent chair of the Congressional Black Caucus throughout the next session of Congress, marking a pivotal moment for the longtime New York congresswoman and the 53-year-old caucus.
When the subsequent session of Congress is sworn in on January 3, Clarke – who is unopposed as the present first vice chairman – might be ready to lead the CBC at its peak. This comes as Democrats come face to face with a Republican troika in full control of Congress and a White House stuffed with President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration.
While Congresswoman Clarke admits she and her colleagues within the Congressional Black Caucus are “extremely disappointed” in Vice President Kamala Harris’ defeat, she believes the caucus can effectively stand between Republicans and policies that would harm Black communities.
The congresswoman noted some vivid spots within the 2024 CBC elections, similar to expanding the caucus and winning more “non-traditional” seats, like Rep.-elect Janelle Bynum’s flipping of Oregon’s fifth Congressional District. The congresswoman also highlighted the historic victories of Senator-elect Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland and Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware – each Black women – bringing the overall variety of CBC members within the U.S. Senate to 4, probably the most within the club’s history.
“We will have members on every committee of jurisdiction, which puts us in a good place in terms of … advancing legislation that will advance the benefits of Black communities across the country,” Clarke said.
She added: “…in addition, we are positioned to combat disinformation and disinformation regarding any suggestions made by colleagues that are not in the best interests of the Black community.”
Clarke said the CBC have to be “vigilant” now greater than ever because it serves as “the vanguard of the Black community across the country.” Even though Republicans can have full control of federal power in Washington, Congresswoman Clarke said caucus members will proceed to focus next 12 months on reintroducing key laws to improve voting rights protections, combat police brutality, and delineate path forward for renovation.
“We will continue to be the conscience of Congress and advance legislation that will greatly benefit Black communities,” the hopeful CBC president promised.
Democrats are already preparing for a controversial 4 years of the second Trump administration. The president-elect has nominated several controversial nominees to his Cabinet, including former congressman Matt Gaetz as attorney general, Fox News host Pete Hegseth as defense secretary and, most recently, wrestling entertainment mogul Linda McMahon as education secretary.
Clarke said she’s not surprised by what many see as Trump’s several unqualified picks or the shortage of diversity within the proposed administration up to now. The congresswoman argued that the selections prove that Trump intends to implement the controversial Project 2025, which he claimed he had no idea about throughout the campaign.
“It is abundantly clear to me and members of the Congressional Black Caucus that planning around Project 2025 puts Black communities in the crosshairs of mistreatment and retaliation,” Clarke said.
The congresswoman expressed particular concern about Trump’s plan for the “largest” mass deportation within the country’s history, which she described as “unknown territory.”
While the problem of immigration and conversations about deportation largely focus on Mexican and Latin American immigrants, Clarke said she is equally concerned about black immigrants.
“We live in a society that has stigmatized people of African descent from the beginning,” she explained. “So when you think about the terrible disinformation campaign being waged against Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, you get the idea of the kind of justification and targeting of people of African descent in this mass deportation.”
While Democrats and members of the Congressional Black Caucus will definitely use their positions to oppose what they see as harmful policies from the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress, additionally they hope there could also be pockets of bipartisanship.
Rep. Clarke said she would love to see the favored Child Tax Credit, which expired in 2021, restored and laws to higher improve privacy regulations within the tech space, particularly on social media. However, the congresswoman admits that she is unsure whether such cross-party cooperation might be possible at the subsequent Congress.
“The body has changed quite a bit in terms of membership, and with that comes a change in GOP chemistry and strategy,” she said. “It’s much more magnetized… so hopefully there will be places where we can connect.”
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