By Dayvon Love
One of the impacts of the descent of news media into the realm of pop culture is a general neglect of political discourse in Black spaces on foreign policy. The focus on things that will get likes and shares disincentivizes rigorous foreign policy conversations in Black civic and political circles. This has placed limitations on the salience of the kinds of political demands that Black organizations and activists make on political leaders regarding foreign policy.
With the genocide in Gaza being a notable exception (and, even then, in Black political spaces, political demands relating to this are not often articulated), there are major issues at play, including the Trump administration’s military aggression toward Venezuela, it’s bomb strikes on Nigeria, and the false allegations of “White genocide” in South Africa that should be topics of conversation in our community.
Venezuela has been an ally to Black liberation globally and anti-US imperialism in its own foreign policy since the emergence of Hugo Chavez who was elected president in 1999. Chavez was the first world leader to offer to send support to Black folks during Hurricane Katrina. The Venezuelan government sent oil to low-income communities in New York that were without heat in collaboration with actor Danny Glover and entertainer and civil rights legend Harry Belafonte. Chavez opposed U.S. invasions in Afghanistan and Iraq and was using the wealth of his oil reserves to support revolutionary political activities across South America.
Leftists forces in South Africa were able to force a largely neoliberal ANC to remove a policy that would allow the government to expropriate land without compensation. Eighty percent of the land in South Africa is owned by White people, which is the epitome of settler colonialism. This policy allows for land to be more equitably redistributed to the native Black population. The first Trump administration made threats that he would levy consequences against South Africa as a result of their pursuit of land expropriation without compensation. Additionally, South Africa filing charges of genocide against the Israeli government in the International Criminal Court (ICC) on behalf of the Palestinian people is viewed negatively by establishment political figures in both major political parties.
Nigeria and Venezuela are oil rich countries, and the demonization of them – in the case of Nigeria, under the guise of Christians being oppressed, and for Venezuela, under the false racialized premise that its current leader, Nicolas Maduro, is engaged in drug trafficking – are the instruments of U.S. imperialism (the allegations of drug trafficking are completely baseless but politically resonant to the White supremacist American mainstream). The aggression against these two countries by the U.S. is about enriching the networks of wealthy White corporate leaders in the name of democracy.
“The public dollars that are invested in the military should be invested in our communities instead of fueling the U.S.’ White supremacist imperialist domination of the world.”
There are three major aspects of the foreign policy issues mentioned previously that should be of particular importance to Black people. First, allowing wealthy corporate leaders to use U.S. foreign policy to enrich themselves gives them more resources to oppose domestic revolutionary and progressive forces. That means more money to corporate entities that want to deny the existence of climate change, perpetuate a neoliberal economic agenda that mostly provides low-paying service sector jobs to a largely Black and Brown workforce, opposition to policies like reparations and Medicare for all, and more (policies that disproportionately impact Black people). Secondly, the U.S. spends more money on its military than all other countries in the world combined. The public dollars that are invested in the military should be invested in our communities instead of fueling the U.S.’ White supremacist imperialist domination of the world.
Lastly, many of us are looking for places outside the U.S. for refuge and a life that is not inundated with the structural violence that is central to American civil society. Supporting efforts to challenge U.S. foreign policy that props up the global system of White supremacy can provide more options for those of us looking for another home outside the US.
From this analysis there are two demands that I think serve as a good starting point for Black people to make of elected officials, particularly the Democratic Party that is reliant on Black people for its electoral viability. First is significant cuts to the military budget. Those cuts should focus on cutting funding for programs like Africom and Caricom, major cuts to the CIA (which is allowed to engage in de facto military activity without congressional oversight) and ending military and foreign aid to Israel. The second demand is to take the money from the previously mentioned cuts to the military and invest those dollars in community-based violence prevention work. With the major gains that have been generated by the increased investment in community based violence prevention which is largely led by folks who are formerly incarcerated, this should be a priority for Black political leadership.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the writer and not necessarily those of the AFRO.