Ice Cube Has to Realize 2020 Not Year for Negotiations
Rapper/actor Ice Cube can meet with whichever politician and administration he wants to in most circumstances.
When the president or his administration calls, many people would not hesitate to meet with him.
But President Donald Trump has gone against the grain of what a true leader is from day one.
Therefore, Ice Cube should not be surprised at the backlash he received for meeting with President Donald Trump’s administration to discuss his Contract with Black America.
But Ice Cube’s track record proves his dedication to the African-American community.
Therefore, Ice Cube should not be canceled.
He should have been cautioned after seeing what getting into bed with President Trump has done for the popularity of comedian Steve Harvey and rapper Kanye West.
Over the past four years, Trump has epitomized racism.
Trump has disrespected our democracy in favor of a dictatorship.
The 45th President of the United States of America has ignored science, which has cost hundreds of thousands of people their lives, just to help his re-election bid.
He has packed federal courts with justices who probably do not take racial equality for African-Americans seriously.
Trump has retweeted supporters shouting, “White power.”
The Republican Party is actively trying to suppress the African-American vote.
Therefore, African-Americans would be foolish to meet with the Trump administration, let alone consider voting for him.
Ice Cube said that African-Americans should withhold their vote until a candidate agreed to some of our demands, which is admirable if the year was not 2020.
This election season is too consequential for African-Americans to talk about withholding our votes from the Democratic Party.
If former President George W. Bush was running for re-election, I could see negotiating for the best deal for African-Americans.
If the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) had won the presidency, I could see that as well.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush?
Yes.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).
Yes.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine).
Yes.
Even the senator formerly known as Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) would deserve the honor of a meeting.
I say the senator formerly known as Sen. Graham because the Graham we see in the Senate now is not the one many had grown accustomed to.
But Trump’s administration does not deserve that type of sit down.
Trump has not even tried to hide his racism his entire life.
He is not the first racist president like former Vice President Joe Biden erroneously said.
But he is the first president in a long time not to hide his overt racism.
This is a president that did not want to do prison reform.
He only did it because people told him it would improve his ratings with the African-American community.
When it did not, he questioned why he did it in the first place.
Ice Cube has to know that this is a president that used Harvey as a prop to disrespect former President Barack Obama and the Affordable Care Act.
This is a president who has encouraged far right wing nut jobs like the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by” as if preparing for a race war or the next civil war.
This is a president who has called White nationalists in Charlottesville, Va., “fine people.”
This is a president that separated Latino children from the parents, locking them up in cages just for seeking a better life in America.
Now, hundreds of children cannot find their parents because of Trump’s policies on immigration.
This is a president that rose to power partly as backlash for America electing an African-American president to two terms in the White House.
So, Ice Cube has to understand why many in the African-American community have chosen not to ride with him on this one.
This is not the year for African-Americans to exercise their voting options as free agents.
The year 2020 is the year we sign the franchise tag like in the NFL, which contractually obligates a person to stay with their current team for one more year before becoming an unrestricted free agent.
This is so because the consequences are too grave to elect a maniacal, wanna be messiah back into the mansion on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C.
I honestly believe that African-Americans should negotiate with Republicans.
But I believe those negotiations should not happen until 2024 at the earliest.
Four years from now should be the earliest because African-Americans should not get amnesia after Nov. 3 and forget how many Republican governors like Texas Gov. Greg Abbott have tried to suppress the African-American vote over the last couple of years.
Poet and author Maya Angelou once said when someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.
Rapper Jay-Z said it’s only so long that fake thugs can pretend.
Some Republicans pretended for a long time.
But under Trump’s tyrannical rule, they have revealed themselves to be wolves in sheep’s clothing.
When Ice Cube began immersing himself in the teachings of the Nation of Islam, he began foolishly calling some White people devils.
While the belief that White people are devils is asinine, it is very true that some people of all races have the devil in them.
Trump’s behavior actually does resemble the behavior of Lucifer.
Who else would destroy their own people, divide a country and willingly let people die from a pandemic just to benefit themselves?
Ice Cube has to realize that anyone who would destroy an entire nation for his or her benefit has no problem damaging one person’s reputation for his or her own selfish gain.
