Former President Barack Obama insulted black male Trump supporters and rappers in general during an interview with The Atlantic. Obama covered a wide variety of issues during the written interview including the virus and the election. But the 44th President’s comments about black male Trump voters, specifically, raised quite a few eyebrows. It is expected that a Democratic former President would want everyone to vote for his same party. The only issue is the insulting and shaming language Barack Obama used to get his message across.
It is no secret that rap music and hip hop culture are giant movements in the United States and the entire world. It is also no secret that black people generally dominate rap and hip hop. Barack Obama took this basic knowledge a step too far by applying black people’s involvement with it in a stereotypical way. In the Atlantic interview article, Barack Obama said that Trump saw a higher portion of the black male vote because Trump’s values align with hip hop culture. “Materialism” is a key element that the former President brought up more than once to link the black male Trump vote to Trump.
The former President’s explanation of black males voting based on hip hop culture is extremely insulting. His explanation places black men in a narrow-minded and anti-intellectual box. Its almost as if Obama thinks that black men have no understanding of the world beyond what he can see in a rap video. If a white Republican said anything close to what Obama said about rap music influencing the votes of adult black men then their next appearance might be in GITMO turning big rocks into little.
Obama seems to have ignored that black women also voted more for Trump than they did in 2016. Early exit poll data shows a 35% increase for black men from 13 to 18% and a 100% increase for black women from 4 to 8%. Why would Obama ignore the change in black women? There are probably a couple of reasons why. First of all, the black woman can do no wrong in the eyes of the Democratic Party. It’s always the black man’s fault. Second, Democrats know that if black men become more openly conservative, then the women will follow. Democrats don’t want that. They want you to reject “materialism” while they live in a lavish estate with its own like in Martha’s Vineyard.
SOURCES:
Why Obama Fears for Our Democracy – The Atlantic
Barack Obama Explains Trump Support Among Rappers & Black Male Voters
Inside President Obama’s Final White House Concert – ABC News
Rapper Rick Ross’ ankle monitoring bracelet goes off during meeting with President Obama – New York Daily News
Barack Obama disses Ludacris track | Music | The Guardian