In a Presidential debate more cringeworthy than a straight-to-Tubi movie, one of the more uncomfortable moments occurred when the “Black people” portion of the program commenced.
President Biden and Donald Trump were asked how they would address the needs of Black voters.
That’s when Trump remarked that he would stop immigrants from taking “Black jobs.”
We have a question for former President Trump: What is a “Black job?” #CNNDebate pic.twitter.com/uYrTYxFaYV
— The Atlanta Voice (@theatlantavoice) June 28, 2024
It was a dangerous response from the former President, who again reminded us of his divisive, scarcity-minded, zero-sum view of governance.
The comment was shocking and straight up confusing, leaving many to wonder, ‘What does he mean by ‘Black jobs?’
What exactly are Black and Hispanic Jobs!?! #CNNDebate
— NAACP (@NAACP) June 28, 2024
WTF is “Black Jobs”? Huh Donald? #Debates2024 pic.twitter.com/ze7TNI5Otn
— Brolivia Pope 🤣 (@QuenteSential1) June 28, 2024
While my parents often say that I look too deeply at stuff sometimes, I can’t help but feel some type of way about the remark, which only deepens my concern over what another four years of Trump could look like, especially as a Black person in America.
Thankfully, the “Black Twitter” armies flooded X to offer their interpretations while reimagining the culture, protocols and meaning of a “Black job” — offering a temporary escape from a troubling reality.
List some “Black Jobs.”
I’ll go first:
Person who starts electric slide at event to keep everybody on beat.
Person who has TikTok dance stolen and monetized.
— Arif “Felonious Munk” Shahid (@Felonious_munk) June 28, 2024
Me clocking into my new black job pic.twitter.com/4o0wN36wx5
— Naijaboy41 (@Naijaboy41) June 28, 2024
This is what they mean by “black jobs.” They view us as the help. We got Master degrees and Ph.Ds to serve them. 🙄 pic.twitter.com/Cs5AzT3Cat
— Rev. Mrs. Mommy (@revlaurelj) June 28, 2024
Me at “Black Job” orientation pic.twitter.com/yYPNsAsUil
— Sweet Honey Buckiin’ Battalion (@ThisMagicalMF) June 28, 2024
***
But if you’ve been Black long enough in this country, you know that the blues can lurk underneath the laughter and that joy is often hardwon in the face of systems that are often not in our favor.
In Trump’s comment, I heard a good old Freudian slip, where someone unintentionally says something that reveals their inner feelings—saying the quiet part out loud.
Does he see all Black people as worthy of having only one type of job?
What Trump also said was a GOP-derived dog whistle for Black voters concerned about their economic prospects in general and whether newly arrived immigrants would take their jobs, in particular.
It’s a concern felt deeply here in Chicago, where a recently released report titled “Color of Wealth in Chicago” found that the median net wealth for a typical Black family in the city is $0, while the median net wealth for white families is $210,000.
I won’t dare try to enter Trump’s mind to decipher what he meant by “Black jobs,” but I can go off precedent, which is enough to distrust the idea that he truly gives a damn about us and our employment.
Earlier this year, he released a $400 pair of gold high-top sneakers, a move he believed would connect him to Black voters because, ‘Hey, we looove sneakers.'”
In April, he appeared at an Atlanta Chick-fil-A—on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive that was organized by a Black conservative—where he made sure to take selfies with Black workers and customers because, “Hey, Black people looove chicken.”
This is also the same candidate who said in February that his legal troubles were what made him relatable to Black voters.
“A lot of people said that’s why the Black people liked me because they have been hurt so badly and discriminated against,” he reportedly told a group of Black conservatives at a South Carolina gathering.
To reiterate, Trump conflated his legal issues, which stemmed from offering a hush money payment to a porn star and interfering with an election, to the decades of discriminatory policing and criminal justice practices that have afflicted Black people.
What played out on national TV Thursday night was worthy of mockery, yet it was sobering.
The “Black jobs” comment came from the mouth of a Presidential candidate in 2024 who is unable to see us for who we are—as unique, wonderfully divergent and complex human beings.
Trump’s ideas about Black people are informed by caricature.
Yet, he is a whole “Boondocks” character all to himself.
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