Ice Cube Explains Why The Democrat Party Has Nothing to Offer Black Men...

Ice Cube Explains Why The Democrat Party Has Nothing to Offer Black Men...

In the preface of the Contract With Black America that Ice Cube published in late August — amidst the ongoing global civil-rights uprising — professor and economist Darrick Hamilton wrote about what the 22-page document hoped to accomplish. Encouraged by the reinvigorated movement he’d seen around the world, Hamilton wrote that “younger generations and social movements may be redefining economic good to embrace the principles of morality, humanity, and sustainability,” and that “This Contract with Black America is a patriotic pathway to promote our shared prosperity and achieve racial economic justice.” If this did indeed characterize the Contract, why would Donald Trump or his campaign be interested in it? Moreover, why would Cube want to talk to his people about it? I get why Trump’s people did it. The optics, for one, are good. The president has allowed a plague to kill our people with greater speed and breadth than any other group, while at the same time discouraging safety measures. He has bragged about lower black unemployment numbers that his policies did nothing to bring about, and ignored disparities and exacerbated discrimination with his administration’s policies. Why not, in the interest of looking Not Racist to white voters, have his campaign appear to embrace the ideas of one of the hip-hop greats; a man whose records and tapes they may have enjoyed as children, even thought they couldn’t rap all of the lyrics aloud? Why not welcome this legend to help you tweak your “Platinum Plan” — the list of racial-reform agenda items that Trump announced in October? The “Platinum Plan” is precisely the kind of vague list of policy goals and action items that we’ve seen from too many candidates. (“Eliminate Long-Standing Healthcare Disparities” — magically, I guess, after they kill Obamacare.) This one happens to include a ton of things Trump could have accomplished in his first term, had he truly given a shit about black folks. However, this was Cube’s contention when we spoke: neither side of the political equation cares enough about black people, or about putting dollars into our neighborhoods and municipalities. He sees this as a moment of desperation for black Americans, where we cannot afford to rely upon merely one party for solutions — particularly if Republicans are holding the White House at the moment. “I would hope our friends would help us change the narrative,” Cube tells Rolling Stone. “But I think we’re at a critical point where I don’t know if we can fuss or argue about which way the check or the relief is coming from.” “With all this controversy over a meeting, I mean, damn,” Cube says — his June ruckus over tweets with anti-Semitic images not that far behind him. “Jesus met with power. Moses lived with power. I mean, damn, you got to go talk to power.” It wasn’t just the Trump campaign that he spoke with; he talked to Joe Biden’s people. But since Trump senior adviser Katrina Pierson crowed in a Tuesday tweet about Cube’s “willingness to step up and work with @realDonaldTrump Administration to help develop the #PlatinumPlan,” he’s been catching hell. First things first, man: can you tell me what it is that you did with both campaigns exactly? I had a Zoom call with the Biden campaign. People on the call from Congress, to people working directly with the Biden campaign. They actually said that they agreed with 85 percent of the Contract With Black America. They [said that they] basically want to win the election, and then they would bring me in to discuss it and try and get things pushed through. Basically a seat-at-the-table situation. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/ice-cube-trump-campaign-interview-1076681/

Oshay Duke Jackson