Peniel E. Joseph: Why Ice Cube's Political Logic is so Dangerous

ce Cube, the legendary Generation X rapper and hip hop icon, last week said he’s open to working with the Trump administration on implementing his “Contract With Black America.” That is a huge mistake that hurts the entire African-American community.

Cube sparked controversy after tweeting that the Trump campaign made adjustments to “their plan” for Black America after talking to him. Cube was referring to parts of his “Contract With Black America,” which features a preface written by Darrick Hamilton — one of the most respected and well-known Black economists in the nation — and calls for “a blueprint to achieve racial and economic justice” through polices that promote wealth creation, home ownership, small businesses criminal justice reform, and voting rights. Small parts of the “Contract” are reflected in what the Trump administration has dubbed its “Platinum Plan” with election time appeals to Black voters.

News of Cube’s seeming alliance with President Donald Trump’s anti-Black political empire set Black Twitter ablaze with anger and confusion; Cube responded by casting himself as a political maverick unafraid to go against the grain. In an interview with CNN’s Chris Cuomo, Cube said he is willing to work with people on both sides of the aisle. “I’m not playing no more of these political games, we’re not part of a team ... so I’m going to whoever’s in power and I’m going to speak to them about our problems, specifically,” Cube said, explaining that “our” is referring to Black Americans. “I’m not going in there talking about minorities, I’m not going in there talking about people of color or diversity or none of that stuff. I’m going there for Black Americans, the ones who are descendants of slaves.”

Though he denounced Trump in 2016, Cube’s more recent foray into politics has been shaped by statements that regardless of political party, he wants change. The trouble with this approach is that it implies somehow that for Black Americans, both major parties are or could be interchangeable. The moral equivalency behind such rhetoric is untrue. For as flawed as the modern-day Democratic Party is on race matters it is, for better and worse, the party of anti-racism and intersectional justice in contrast to the modern day GOP. The contemporary Republican Party has become, purposefully in certain quarters, a refuge for the architects of racial division, scapegoating, and hatred that has evolved past the dog whistles of the Nixon era into the bullhorn utilized by Trump and his acolytes.