In these pages we have denounced the excesses of the current federal administration against the Latino community in the United States. But it is fair to recognize that Donald Trump’s government is relentless, especially against the African-American community. He attacks her from different angles, with viciousness, inventiveness and cruelty.
Their presence decreases in the ranks of elected officials, the armed forces, the academy and, with special emphasis, the country’s historical memory.
Thus, the administration has abandoned the application of civil rights on behalf of historically marginalized groups, rights that managed to increase the percentage of voters of those groups. This government today classifies these rights as “discriminatory,” but against whites.
Some 24 generals and senior officers were dismissed or forced to resign; 60% of them are African-American and at least two are women.
Of the 39 countries whose residents are prohibited from entering the country, 26 are African, in addition to Haiti.
At the same time, the dismantling of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs, which fight against racism and segregation, in universities, institutions and private or public companies, is intensifying. This involved massive layoffs in government agencies and withdrawal of federal funding or grants. Last month Trump issued a new executive order targeting federal contractors who may be hiding ongoing DEI programs.
Furthermore, it highlights the contempt and hatred emanating from the White House. Since 2018, Trump has called countries with an African or black majority with an unrepeatable epithet, using other derogatory terms after that. In March, he shared a video on his social network in which former President Barack Obama and his wife were caricatured as apes.
But especially disturbing is the notion that the federal government no longer explicitly prohibits contractors from having segregated restaurants, waiting rooms and drinking fountains.
Although it may seem incredible, it is true. It is included in a document signed by William Clark, director of the Office of Government Procurement Policy, on behalf of the President.
These executive orders and memoranda bring us closer to the days of Jim Crow laws, when newly freed slaves following the North’s victory in the Civil War faced endless discriminatory laws from Southern states.
The language they use is cynically anti-racist, anti-discriminatory, when they refer to actions against white people, against themselves, as victims. This government considers itself a bastion of the white race, which has a superior ideology and which, considering the civil rights laws of recent decades, deserves government protection.
Hence the revival of the false claim that the Civil War was not fought over the issue of slavery, but rather the autonomy of the states.
In this way, one can better understand the feverish desire of the governments under Republican relief to amend the electoral districts, as the April 29 decision of the Supreme Court in Louisiana vs. Callais has allowed them to do.
The ruling allows states to ignore race when drawing maps, as required by Section 2 of the Civil Rights Act as reinterpreted by the high court, and allows states to cancel majority-Black districts, which they are doing right now.
It is estimated that African Americans, who traditionally vote Democratic, will lose between 15 and 19 seats in Congress, enough to retain Republican relief.
The governor of Louisiana suspended the primary elections that had already begun to modify the electoral map and subtract one seat from the two held by African Americans.
The number of African Americans in Congress from the end of the Civil War in 1869 to 1965, with the passage of the Civil Rights Act, was zero or close to zero. But it grew from then on and is currently at 63, 14% of the total, corresponding to its proportion in the total population, according to the Census. African Americans also now make up 11% of all state legislators, a record that reflects their ever-increasing participation in public service and their enthusiasm for voting.
It took decades of struggles for the African American community to be recognized. Latinos were inspired by those struggles. In pursuit of the costly victories of African Americans, Latinos organized for their own victories. And we understand that today, an attack against the African-American community is also an attack against Latinos.
