Democrats love to fearmonger Black Americans, warning us that Republicans are going to “put us back in chains.” But let’s be real: Democrats have already ceded the moral high ground on so many critical issues, genocide included, that if Republicans ever did come for us, what leg would Democrats have to stand on? They’ve shown time and time again that atrocities are only unacceptable when someone else is committing them. When it’s their own policies, mass incarceration, police militarization, turning a blind eye to apartheid, they don’t just enable the harm; they actively defend it.
Look at Palestine. Democrats have been complicit in arming and funding a genocidal regime. They’ve watched as hospitals are bombed, as entire families are wiped out, and they’ve either cheered it on or fallen silent. They’ve set a precedent: genocide isn’t a dealbreaker if it serves their interests or protects their donor base. How can they possibly claim moral authority if, tomorrow, a Republican administration escalates similar policies against marginalized groups here at home? They’ve already shown that they’ll stay quiet as long as it’s politically expedient.
This is exactly what that famous poem by Martin Niemöller was about. First, they came for one group, and no one spoke out because it wasn’t them. That’s where Democrats are now. They didn’t speak out when Black neighborhoods were destroyed by mass incarceration. They didn’t speak out when the police state turned our communities into war zones. They didn’t speak out when Palestinians were massacred. They didn’t speak out because it wasn’t politically convenient for them to do so. And now, if the tide turns and Republicans push even further, Democrats have no credibility left to challenge it. They’ve built a system where mass suffering and injustice are acceptable as long as it comes with their party’s stamp of approval.
So when Democrats try to scare us with talk of what Republicans might do, let’s remember what they have done. They didn’t stand up when it mattered. They’ve already shown us where their priorities lie, and it’s not with justice, equality, or the marginalized people they claim to protect. If they didn’t speak out before, why should we trust them to speak out now? If they won’t fight for us today, they’re certainly not going to save us tomorrow.