By Pelvo White 

Jackson Advocate Guest Writer

In light of the current Republican Party’s attacks on the political significance of African American history spearheaded by Republicans Ron DeSantis, and Donald Trump, Senior, the question all African-Americans should ask themselves today is whether we truly understand and believe in an America that values a pluralistic democracy (i.e., numerous political parties) with a capitalist economic base (i.e., the ownership and selling of property) that reflects an unequal distribution of available goods and services based on merit (i.e., a medical doctor merits more pay than a trash collector), or should we give credence to  Republican Party members’ suggested autocratic leadership devoid of the inclusion of African American contributions?

Although America does have social programs, our political and economic systems are not inherently socialistic, or communistic. Our fallen martyr, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., wanted nothing more than for African-Americans to be accepted by the white majority as American citizens equal to them. King did not advocate a back to Africa movement. He also did not advance an overthrow of the American government; instead, he suggested improvements in the American government.

King was content just to be a first-class American citizen contributing to the political glorification of America, and to that end he advocated integration of schools to improve African-American education, and to also help eliminate the dehumanization of both African-Americans and whites. 

Today, both white and Black American citizens underestimate the inherent organizing strengths of the U.S. Constitution by continually misinterpreting the corrective intent of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the U.S. Constitution, thereby maintaining a fallacious logic in law. All American citizens are entitled to equal protection under the law.

The logical qualifier should be “all” U.S. citizens, regardless of skin color or race, “are” U.S. citizens subject to protection by the U.S. Constitution, not “some.” 

African-Americans should utilize their acquired scholastic, technological, and global organizational skills to help defeat the political and legalistic resurfacing of racism emanating from the various states of the union, Congress, and the presidency.