Wednesday, November 03, 2021

VA governor race was the warning to black and LGBTQ communities. You will be targeted as 'the enemy' during the midterms.


On Tuesday night, GOP candidate for Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin won his race in part by scaring white suburban voters. He implied to them that their precious boys and girls are in danger in the state's schools because classrooms are teaching them to be ashamed of being white, transgender girls are lurk in the dark corners of school bathrooms seeking to rape them, and that librarians are attempting to indoctrinate them with obscene books featuring homosexuals.

Scaring white suburban voters that their children are being targeted was a winning formula. That's what happened and that's what our mainstream media  should be saying. But they won't. Instead they give us the same tired narrative of what the Virginia election may mean on the national front and how it will doom President Biden, which is symbolic of how overpaid, lazy and completely lacking of diversity they are.

We shouldn't be astounded too much about what Youngkin achieved. Scaring white suburban voters is a hallmark of winning campaigns and he's not the first candidate to benefit from it. George Bush won the presidency in 1989 in part by conjuring up images of scary black convicts committing assaults and rapes with his Willie Horton ad. The National Organization for Marriage won more than few referendums against gay marriage by claiming that it would corrupt children.

With his dog whistles against Critical Race Theory (even though it's not being taught in K-12 classrooms in Virginia), exploiting a terrible event in which a young girl was sexually assaulted in a high school bathroom (which had nothing to do with trans kids or laws and ordinances protecting them in schools), and issues about gay-themed books (which weren't even available in elementary schools), Youngkin combined racist, homophobic, and transphobic tropes to make a powerful weapon. 

His false argument that parental rights were being undermined was a psychological spear powerful enough to pierce through the self-described "tolerant to a point" white suburbanite armor and spring a gusher of red hot fear.

 It's rather ironic that weeks ago, comedian Dave Chappelle initiated a firestorm between the LGBTQ and black communities by insisting that the LGBTQ community has progressed better than the black community in terms of rights. He even implied that the life of an LGBTQ person means more than the life of a black man in America.

My point in bringing this up is not to verbally bash Chappelle (I've done that enough already and he deserved every bit of it.) And I'm certainly not going to speak ugly about the LGBTQ community. But isn't it odd how both groups went at each other tooth and nail for respect and then a third party swooped in and kicked them both in the face? And afterwards, neither group seems to have acknowledged the incident or the irony of it all?

It's not rocket science to disseminate what happened.  Youngkin exploited the black and LGBTQ communities as the enemy. He portrayed himself as a veritable angel with the flaming sword in front of the Garden of Eden while proclaiming to white suburbanites that  "These people are the enemy. They want your children. Vote for me and I will stop them."

It all reminds me of what someone I knew once said:

 "We may have all come to this country in different ships, there are times when some of us need to recognize that we are in the same boat."

Let me add another point. while folks in that same boat are fighting for deck chairs or position, they should be reminded that none of it matters if a third party is looking to torpedo them to kingdom come. And it doesn't matter where they were on the boat if they end up in the long run treading water.

In other words, don't even think that this nonsense is over. What happened with Youngkin is just a prelude to what promises to be an ugly mid-term election in 2022.He gave the GOP a clear roadmap to take back Congress and, they hope, the White House. 

It's probably best to describe it as a big barbeque because the LGBTQ and black communities will definitely be on the menu. I hope that instead of seasoning themselves for the fire, they recognize the real enemy.  And take steps against them instead of each other.

No comments: