(Todd A. Smith)
New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart has every right to introduce or support President Donald Trump.
America is so special because people have the right to express themselves openly on issues that affect them and others.
But Black people have every right to be upset at Dart because he has built his swagger on Black culture and style.
Therefore, to see him introduce President Trump at a rally is the ultimate slap in the face because Trump and his acolytes have gone out of their way to limit Black voices in Congress, erase Black history and erase all programs, like diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, which were intended to lessen the blow of systemic racism and White supremacy.
Black people have many sayings that should be considered gospel when it comes to race relations.
Many in the Black community like to say, “they want our rhythm, but not our blues.”
That simply means that many non-Black Americans love the swagger and style that originates from the Black community, often appropriating Black culture for their benefit.
But when it comes to supporting Black causes and showing concern for the Black community, many of those same people ignore the reality of racism, even if it is blatantly coming from the White House.
I know a MAGA and Trump fan who likes to tell me he has done more for the Black community than most other people.
He believes that because he owned one of the first dance studios dedicated to the hip-hop artform.
Furthermore, he often brags about the number of Black kids who have visited his family’s home because of their connection to his hip-hop dance studio.
One time, I bluntly asked him what he had done for the Black community, since he bragged about his work so much that he must have thought it was community service and philanthropy.
He answered by saying that he owned a hip-hop dance studio and that is what he did to help the Black community.
I asked him if his dance lessons were free, and he said no.
So, I asked him again what he had done for the Black community, and he repeated the same answer.
I told him that he had taken Black culture and a Black art form, which is hip-hop, and made money from it by charging Black kids for his dance instructions.
More importantly, I told him that he had done nothing for the Black community.
In fact, the Black community had done for him by providing him a way to make money off Black culture and from Black consumers.
Now, there is nothing wrong with a White guy teaching Black children a Black art form.
But there is something wrong with that White guy profiting off Black culture and Black consumers because he is the type of White guy who goes out of his way to ignore or minimize the effects of racism.
Even when White people admitted to doing something to be racist, he still did not believe that their actions were racist.
In fact, he believes that White men face more discrimination than Black Americans because of diversity initiatives.
The type of mentality is highly prevalent within the MAGA movement.
Trump welcomes White South African migrants into America with open arms because he believes that they have been so mistreated, but he castigates legal Haitian immigrants who came to America to escape harsh treatment in their country.
The president has offered reparations, from taxpayer money, for Jan. 6 insurrectionists who attempted to overthrow former President Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential victory.
Most of those rioters were White men.
Trump has said that White Americans, impacted by DEI programs, should receive reparations for their experiences.
But if you ask White Republicans, and maybe even some White Democrats, if Black descendants of slaves and those who experienced losses under Jim Crow should receive reparations, their answer is often that Black people should pull themselves up from their own bootstraps.
During Trump’s first term in office, hate crimes against Black people increased.
Peruse social media, and people will see a constant stream of White people harassing Black people with racial slurs like the N-word.
The president has a history of discriminating against Black renters in the 1970s.
He called for the death penalty for five Black and Latino boys who were falsely accused of attacking a White female jogger in the late 1980s in New York’s Central Park.
Even after all five men were later exonerated, Trump refused to apologize.
While many people voted against former Vice President Kamala Harris because they believed that Trump would be better for the economy and would not start any new foreign wars, to still support this man means that a person is stupid or racist, or maybe even both.
And that reality, and the fact that Dart has built his swagger off appropriating Black culture, is why many Black people are looking at the young quarterback from Ole Miss sideways.
If Nick Bosa or his brother Joey Bosa had introduced Trump, no one would have batted an eye because of their personality and style.
But the fact that so many White people love our rhythm, but ignore our blues, is why the criticism has been so loud towards Dart because his style is 100 percent “Black.”
Many Black people know a White person who tries to “act Black,” but does not like Black people or care about their concerns.
And when that happens, Black people are not mad at that White person.
They just know where to put them and where to keep them because their true colors have been revealed.
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