During Thursday night's CNN presidential debate between former president Donald Trump and President Joe Biden, Trump didn't answer many questions truthfully, but one he did answer is raising even more questions in the Black community.
In pounding Biden for his policies on immigration, Trump said this:
“The fact is that his big kill on the Black people is the millions of people that he’s allowed to come in through the border. They’re taking Black jobs now,” he said. “They’re taking Black jobs and they’re taking Hispanic jobs. And you haven’t seen it yet, but you’re going to see something that’s going to be the worst in our history."
Huh? What exactly is a "Black job?"
Within seconds after he said it, Black people on social media were asking the same questions I had when I dropped my lower jaw, raised my eyebrows and choked: Is an assistant attorney general job a "Black job?" If moving up means an immigrant takes my "Black job," why should I be against it? Can only Black people do the job I have?
Let's be clear: Trump meant low-wage, menial jobs that some, but not all, Black people do to make a living. He also meant something else.
As he repeated the phrase the next day, Trump was speaking to White nationalists and those who don't acknowledge how Black people have advanced, or who want to believe that diversity programs are the only reason Black people have positions that require talent and skill.
Seems that part of his "Make America Great Again" vision is to erase or discount the gains that Blacks have made in the workforce when opportunities have opened up.
“There is no such thing as a Black job. That misinformed characterization is a denial of the ubiquity of Black talent. We are doctors, lawyers, school teachers, police officers and firefighters. The list goes on,” said Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP. “A ‘Black job’ is an American job."
To be sure, some people I know have had what Trump would refer to a Black job — they're the cooks, housekeepers, service workers and agricultural workers who have formed the backbone of this country. And they've done these jobs with dignity. Others have held executive jobs. "I don't know where I'd be today without my Black jobs," a friend told me.
But why deny immigrants those jobs? Maybe, like Black people and immigrants before them, they'll have children who'll become our next generation of doctors, lawyers, school teachers, police officers, firefighters — or journalists.
Trump's "Black jobs" line shows the limitations of his pitch: Not everyone is included in the America he wants to make great again.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to my Black job.
