Ceritalah USA - A Missed Opportunity? Black America and the Transition to Trump
Karim Raslan
November 24, 2016 16:48 MYT
November 24, 2016 16:48 MYT
Andy Russell, 30, was born in Columbus, Ohio but currently lives in Washington DC. - Karim Raslan Photo
THE crowds at the newly-opened National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington DC are predominantly black - a neat reversal from the lily-white composition of the queues I'd experienced only the week before at the Trump rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Deep in bowels of the gorgeous coppery-brown building, the mood is intense, hushed and deeply respectful. Families gather in front of the various vitrines and video monitors, staring at the tools of bondage: rusty shackles, horrific images of the slave ships and the 'crossing' from West Africa.
However, it isn't entirely gloomy. There are moments of resilience and hope – lives lived nobly and bravely despite slavery and oppression culminating in flashes of the Civil Rights Movement, of Martin Luther King, Motown and of course Obama himself.
But as America's first black President approaches the end of his second term and President-elect Donald Trump gets ready to assume the nation's highest post, many in the African American community are dismayed.
Andy Russell, a handsome, thirty-year-old cello-playing film-editor is downcast: "I was 100 percent sure Hillary was going to win. All the polls and pundits pointed to her victory.”
"When the results became clearer, I was in total disbelief. There’s a certain precedent for what we want our president to look and sound like - a certain demeanour. This guy is a boisterous TV celebrity, a womanizer.”
He is perturbed by the prospect of being led by a man whose racist rhetoric has dominated the country's public discourse for well over the past two years.
All this as #BlackLivesMatter has brought a harsh spotlight on police brutality. He acknowledges ruefully "things were not that spectacular under President Obama, but we felt more stable. Obama could have been great, but Congress did not allow him to be.”
As the son of a high-ranking pastor from the Seventh Day Adventist Church and a care-giver, Andy's exuberance is tempered by an unexpected degree of self-discipline as he abjures alcohol and tobacco.
Born in Cleveland, Ohio but having grown up in much of the States, he has the natural assurance of someone whose parents are well-respected members of society.
Nonetheless, he's all too aware of how the system is rigged against him just because of his skin colour.
“I have to wear a suit at work to be taken seriously. I take cognizance of everything - from how I talk, my posture, to how I present myself. Despite a college degree and going to Art school, it still isn't easy."
“The fear of race relations under Trump is real. People who have said derogatory things are now empowered. What does that look like for the rest of the country? There is dread.”
Yet, exit polls have also suggested that the African American community didn’t come out to vote for Hillary Clinton in the numbers that were expected.
Indeed, there are those who argue that Trump’s victory sweep across the Midwest could have been avoided had black enthusiasm been more pronounced.
Despite his family background and his hard-earned career, Andy cannot escape the casual prejudice that pervades American society.
For example, when I comment on how articulate he is, he replies: "I hate it when someone tells me that I am articulate. I don't take it as a compliment, because to me it means you saw me, you judged me and I surprised you."
Andy recalls one particularly chilling encounter with the law which left a deep scar. Detained because of technical problems relating to a suspended driving license, he was held in lock up for a couple of days, only to be slapped with a USD 200,000 bail for the minor offence. Thankfully his parents were able to intervene but the incident (which almost cost him his job) left him with a bitter and first-hand taste of racial prejudice in action.
“I don't see race relations improving anytime soon." Andy explains, "It's going to get worse before it gets better and there’s an institutional bias against us."
The latest Pew Research Centre findings revealed that nearly half of U.S. voters (46%) expect Trump’s election to lead to worse race relations, while just 25% say they will improve.
By contrast, after Obama’s election eight years ago, 52% of voters expected race relations to improve, while just 9% said they would be worse.
In the same survey conducted after Election Day, the results reveal that roughly three-quarters of blacks (74%) expect race relations to worsen under Trump’s presidency.
In 2008, these views were almost the reverse: 75% of black voters said Obama’s election would lead to better race relations.
When asked what he personally felt about the first African American president of the United States, Andy said “Obama was cool, relatable, and as a former constitutional law professor, he explains his policies well.
Most importantly, Obama Administration made serious attempt at transparency. To see a black family in the White House which was built by slaves, it made many us feel we've made it”.
As the Trump Presidency fast approaches, many wonder whether the Obama years will have been a 'false dawn' for the community.
READ: Ceritalah USA