In 2008, voting for a black man for president was not only a must-have, but also a significant and historical shift in the landscape of presidential elections. Record numbers of first time voters from all walks of life went to the polls and put Barack Obama in office. That was then, this is now. While the Democrats attempt to position black voters as the party’s faithful sheep, Trump becomes more interesting with each passing day.

By Don Allen, Publisher – Our Black News

Black Minnesotans, as well as black men and women from all across the United States are now wondering what has the black president done for the betterment of black society since taking office in 2008. Black people in the United States watched as President Obama assisted with the forward motion of gay rights; made sure that gun controls was on the top of his agenda all while on any given Saturday night in his hometown of Chicago, Ill, more than 20 people could be shot and killed in sometimes random and organized black-on-black crime. But no executive orders as yet for black Americans.

Black unemployment is at an all time high in the black community; black wealth has sunk to the point of in some neighborhoods in the Twin Cities, black families are in double-digits below the federal poverty line. State agencies, governed by local law makers have made a mockery of Federal regulation CFR 49; Part 26 to the point of obstructing black owned businesses to participate with equity on major state projects resulting in zero-dollars out of in some cases multi-million dollar federal awards where Blacks, Asians, Latino and Somali vendors see no contract awards if qualified.

A busy Saturday morning in a local barbershop on Broadway Avenue in north Minneapolis, the topic of politics and the upcoming Iowa caucus came up. The barbershop, filled to capacity with black men and women waiting on haircuts and stylist went in-depth about the presidential campaigns of 2016 and why they are leaning towards Donald Trump.

“Trump has never asked any of us to be Republicans,” said Rudy, a lifelong Northside resident who works for a major insurance firm in the Twin Cities.  “He (Trump) said he wants to make America great again. I remember when the north side was great. I will never be an all-out republican because I support congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN) and state senator Bobby Joe Champion (D), and my whole family has always voted for candidates from the Democratic side. I cannot see any evidence of what President Obama has done, or is doing for black people. It’s time for me to try Trump. I feel like I know him and he’s rough around the edges and says things I would say.”

Kathy, a confident and committed progressive and educator at a local university said, “The Trump phenomenon is here. I kind of like how he is making the Republicans shake in their boots. Its time we (United States) had a change in the political structure that has always been politically correct and talking points that never make too much sense. I like Trump’s likability and his wordiness. He just puts it out there. We need more people who are willing to do that. I’m sure once he’s in office, the race thing will be addressed and the way he likes to fire folks, I’m sure those who have been at the top looking down on people of color will be looking for new jobs.”

The battle for Trump to win the black community is thwarted daily by the liberal mainstream media who sees it as a duty to deflect black voters from Trump. Stories like, “The Majority of Black People Will Not Vote for Donald Trump” (Huffington Post, 2015); and “Do Black Votes Matter to Donald Trump?” (The Atlantic, 2015) are simply fodder by unknown reporters trying to make a name for themselves, again, riding off Donald Trump.

The challenge the mainstream media has with the spreading of anti-Trump propaganda is that the lower one-third of the black community does not read their news via the websites, nor do black Minnesotans pick up a Star Tribune (Minn. local paper).  Each of these outlets depend on pluralistic ignorance, or the message of anti-Trump passed down in conversations by people who might have seen a headline but never clicked on a link or read the story but do not have the critical lens in which to process liberal propaganda targeted to the black community and its members.

Donald Trump will be good for black people in Minnesota.