After 11 years away from the spotlight Dave Chapelle, arguably the most incisive comedian in the world since Richard Pryor, made his triumphant return to the spotlight as host of “Saturday Night Live,” just a few days after the world was turned upside down with the election of Donald John Trump.
Chapelle’s timing (as usual) couldn’t have been better. And the venue, the venerable comedic repository for Progressives and smirking hipsters, was the perfect stage.
Sean Yoes (Courtesy Photo)
“…America’s done it. We’ve actually elected an Internet troll as our president,” Chapelle quipped during his monologue. “The Whites were furious. I’ve never seen anything like it. I haven’t seen Whites this mad since the O.J. verdict…So, I’m staying out of it. I’m just going to take a knee like Kapernick and let the Whites figure this out among themselves,” Chapelle said.
In this context, I suspect Chapelle is talking mainly about the Democratic Party, which is in full-blown, ashes and sackcloth, gnashing of teeth mode.
“The truth is, Democrats should not be losing to a candidate who insults so many people… (there is) something fundamentally wrong (with the Democratic Party),” said Vermont Sen. and former foe of Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, during a TV interview.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist, even without the benefit of 20-20 hindsight, to discern Clinton was a deeply flawed candidate (although she is infinitely more qualified to be president than the man who will succeed President Obama). However, her Election Day demise was hopelessly entangled with her Party’s efforts to appeal to the seemingly ubiquitous working-class White voter. Their obtuse strategy was exposed in America’s Rust Belt.
Clinton got wiped out in Ohio, which was not totally unexpected although copious resources (including Jay-Z and Beyonce) were invested in the state. Clinton lost by razor thin margins in the Democratic strongholds of Michigan (although the votes were still being counted a week after Nov. 8) and Wisconsin. The well-worn consensus is the Dems and Clinton failed to speak effectively to the meat and potatoes issues confronting so many of those working class Whites left behind by her husband’s NAFTA deal and the general loss of manufacturing jobs.
But, there was a phrase never uttered once by mainstream media for the duration of the process to elect the 45th President of the United States; Black working-class voters. If Clinton and the Dems are guilty of ignoring White working class voters (and they are) how do we fully assess the sin of omission against the Democrats most loyal constituency? Although the U.S. economy is showing signs of tangible improvement, for most of the Obama years it was stubbornly wobbly. No group suffered more during those years than the Black working class and many of those fiercely loyal Democrats spoke loudly on Election Day; many simply stayed home while others did what so many thought was unthinkable, they voted for Trump.
Trump, a virulent racist in the minds of many, allegedly got more Black votes and Hispanic votes (!) than Mitt Romney in 2012. According to analysis by National Public Radio, Clinton fell significantly under President Obama’s totals with Black voters in 2012 in Michigan and Wisconsin. She lost Wisconsin by about 24,000 votes, but notched about 43,000 less Black votes than Obama in 2012. In Michigan, Clinton only lost the state by roughly 13,000 votes, but got about 78,000 less Black votes than Obama in 2012.
As the Democratic National Committee begins the scramble for their next leader (Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota, former DNC chair Howard Dean of Vermont, South Carolina DNC chair Jaime Harrison and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley are all in the running), the new reality of “Trumpism,” is quickly taking shape and that new reality may be even worse than many of us had imagined.
Trump is assembling one of the most diabolical groups of White men to run his White House in recent memory. The list of possible top Trump picks include former U.N. Ambassador and super Neo-Con John Bolton and former New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani, architect of the draconian stop and frisk policing policy in New York, are allegedly being considered for Secretary of State. Former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a one man voter suppression and anti-immigration machine, is Trump’s immigration adviser on his transition team. And perhaps the most horrifying of Trump’s men is former Breitbart executive chairman Steve Bannon, a media sponsor of the shadowy alt-right, a loosely aligned group of White nationalists, anti-Semites and sexists. Bannon has been officially named Trump’s senior counselor and chief White House strategist. If this motley crew is any indication of things to come, darker days for Black people, Hispanics, women and the LGBT community are sure to follow.
Elections have consequences.
Sean Yoes is a senior contributor for the AFRO and host and executive producer of AFRO First Edition, which airs Monday through Friday, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on WEAA 88.9.
