Today, we’re diving into something many people don’t like to talk about: Why are people from historically oppressed groups—Black folks, Latinx/Hispanic folks, and Jewish people—supporting Donald Trump and the MAGA movement?
It’s a peculiar form of psychological gymnastics. And yet, they’re doing it. They are on social media platforms actively promoting Trump and his ideology despite the fact that what they are promoting is explicitly anti-them.
Let’s start with Black folks.
Every time you see Donald Trump on TV or look at his cabinet, who is there? Not one single Black person. The only Black person appointed during was given the “Black job, ”Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Aside from that, you don’t see any representation. And yet, there are Black conservatives all over platforms like LinkedIn and Substack promoting the idea that Trump and MAGA somehow represent “freedom” for Black people.
Some of them post about “self-determination” and even go so far as to claim segregation was a “great time” for Black folks.
No, it wasn’t.
Segregation was horrific for Black communities. People are confusing the sense of community that arose out of necessity with the overall conditions of the time. Segregation also deeply reinforced class divides within Black communities. A small number of upper-class Black folks had crumbs from the wealthy white table, and they used those crumbs to distance themselves from working-class and poor Black people, who were suffering the most. So this nostalgia for a “better past” is not only false—it’s dangerous.
Meanwhile, the same Black conservatives cheer on Trump for allegedly “helping” HBCUs, ignoring the fact that these very institutions are now reporting that their students are losing internships, apprenticeships, and mentoring opportunities. Companies are pulling out of partnerships, stating that they “can’t recruit only from HBCUs” because they are “too Black.” The goal is clear: segregate Black people into Black institutions, then delegitimize those institutions and limit opportunities.
It’s a deliberate strategy to reframe segregation as benevolence, and it’s being echoed by Black people who should know better.
There’s also a group of Black conservatives pushing a so-called “Blueprint for Black America.” No one listened to it because it didn’t make sense. They claimed to want criminal justice reform but also supported “ending the war on law enforcement.” That’s not reform; that’s regression. They advocated for banning critical race theory using Trump’s executive order on “Combating Race and Stereotyping.” In short, they’re out of their minds.
The Trump administration has made it abundantly clear: it is hostile to Black intellectual sovereignty and economic advancement. Just look at the defunding of departments like Minority Business Development and minority lending programs.
They’re not trying to help us, and yet, here we are with Black folks promoting the administration.
Let’s talk about Darren Beattie. Trump hired him as a senior official for public diplomacy. This is a man who publicly stated that “competent white men must be in charge” and that our national ideology coddles women and minorities while “demoralizing” white men. That’s who Trump hired. If you are not a white man, he believes you are incompetent by nature. Full stop.
So why would any Black person support this?
Add in Stephen Miller—Trump’s right-hand man—whose organization is now suing to get Black professors fired, calling them “unqualified.” They even sued IndyCar for running a program introducing Black youth to pit crew jobs. What is this, if not a cultural war against Black mobility?
It’s almost a form of racialized Stockholm Syndrome. Racism has so infiltrated the mindset that some people begin to identify with their captors.
But Black folks aren’t alone in this.
Many Latinx and Hispanic people who once believed they had proximity to whiteness are now finding out the truth. Under Trump, ICE has detained people based solely on their surnames—even when their skin color is “white.” The racial categories we use are fake—but their consequences are real.
Stephen Miller made it no secret that he despised Hispanic people since childhood. He architected the first administration’s harsh immigration policies. Still, many supported Trump: “Latinas for Trump,” “Venezuelans for Trump,” and so on. Either they weren’t paying attention or thought they’d be accepted as the exception.
But that’s not how this works. It never has.
Then we get to Jewish Americans. How can anyone in the Jewish community support an administration that is packed with antisemitic extremists?
Trump’s administration has repeatedly hired young white men with no meaningful credentials—except for being antisemitic. From performing Nazi salutes to circulating age-old conspiracy theories, these people are not fringe they’re in the inner circle.
Paul Ingrassia, the White House liaison to Homeland Security, performed Nazi gestures and made hateful comments about Jewish people. Still, wealthy men like Howard Lutnick work within this administration. Lutnick, who often speaks passionately about not forgetting the lessons of the Holocaust, somehow justifies his proximity to a regime that has openly hired Holocaust deniers.
This isn’t hyperbole. It’s a fact.
So, the question is: Why? Why align with an administration that so clearly despises you?
I believe it comes down to power and the relentless pursuit of whiteness. Some believe they can assimilate and blend in enough to be accepted. That if they keep quiet, they’ll be granted immunity. They won’t. They never have. And once they’re in, they think they can turn around and dominate others.
As a Black person, I have to name this. I have to push back. I respond to these posts when I see them. I probably got blocked by someone recently because of it. But silence is complicity.
So, I ask:
How is Howard Lutnick part of an administration where the Vice President goes to Germany to advocate for Nazis speaking in the public square?
How are Black conservatives supporting someone who has gutted every policy, agency, and program meant to advance Black economic opportunity?
How do Latinx folks justify this administration when Stephen Miller’s hatred for them was never hidden?
And how does Marco Rubio, a Cuban American, go to work every day knowing the administration he serves has targeted his own community?
It all requires psychological dissociation, a deep internal fracture fueled by a desire to be close to power, not truth.
But we must tell the truth.
No Black person should have voted for Trump. His vision for us is fields, kitchens, and custodial closets.
No Latinx person should have voted for Trump. Stephen Miller showed us who he was from day one.
No Jewish person should work alongside neo-Nazi sympathizers. The historical trauma demands that we know better.
We must be bold enough to say: “No more.”
Call it out.
Name it in our communities.
Speak truth to power.
Hold each other accountable.
Because aligning with victimizers doesn’t protect you. It only emboldens them.1 2 3 4
Until next time,
—Shari
Author of Qualified: How Competency Checking and Race Collide at Work
https://www.npr.org/2025/05/14/nx-s1-5387299/trump-white-house-antisemitism
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/06/laura-loomer-donald-trump-maga-influencer
https://www.yahoo.com/news/fact-check-trump-appointee-said-200100703.html
https://nationalcenter.org/Blueprint-For-A-Better-Deal-For-Black-America/
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