When Being Offended Becomes a Distraction: What Offends Us v. What Breaks Us
- Feb 6
- 4 min read
By Richard A. Graves
One of my “blue no matter who” acquaintances recently asked me how I felt about President Trump’s video depicting the Obamas as apes. His question was framed pointedly. Was it racist enough for me to concede that racism exists on the American political right and within the Republican Party?
My response was simple and honest. I have never said that racism does not exist on the right or within the Republican Party. I never have. What I asked him, however, were the following questions.
I do not know, you tell me. Since the policies of the Democratic Party in Chicago long predate that video, are those policies racist enough for you?
Is the systematic underfunding and deprioritization of schools in Black neighborhoods racist enough for you? Is a governing regime that consistently allocates resources to nearly every other demographic while allowing Black communities to endure deteriorating infrastructure racist enough for you? Are policies that correlate with diminished job access, weakened food security, and persistently elevated crime rates in Black neighborhoods racist enough for you? Are so called criminal justice reforms that are reflexively anti law enforcement, yet predictably destructive for law abiding Black residents, racist enough for you?
Those are the questions I am asking.
In Chicago, these questions are not abstract. Between the early 2000s and the late 2010s, more than 200 public schools were closed, overwhelmingly in majority Black neighborhoods on the South and West Sides. During the 2013 closure wave alone, 42 of the 49 schools closed served predominantly Black student populations, displacing thousands of Black children and destabilizing already vulnerable communities (Parrish & Ikoro, n.d.; Wilson, 2024).
At the same time, Black unemployment in Chicago has remained multiple times higher than white unemployment across administrations that explicitly campaign on equity, while poverty rates in Black neighborhoods far exceed those of other demographic groups (Broady et al., 2022; Ewing et al., 2024). Research also documents sustained socioeconomic stress, neighborhood disinvestment, and diminished opportunity in Black communities across the city (Bailer, 2025).
Large portions of Chicago’s Black neighborhoods continue to experience limited access to fresh food and basic retail services, prompting even city officials to acknowledge the scale and complexity of food access failures on the South and West Sides (Chicago Tribune, 2023). These conditions are not rhetorical claims. They are measurable outcomes, and they long predate any provocative video.
Let me be perfectly cleare, the Imagery is racist, rather Trump meant it or not is not relevant, but no, I am not going to fixate on the video. That reflex is precisely the problem with liberals, progressives, and Democrats alike, Black and white. You want me emotionally consumed by a video. I refuse. My concern is with Black people dealing with real, grinding, day to day consequences in predominantly Black communities, consequences produced by poor governance at the hands of officials who loudly brand themselves as allies.
There is a hierarchy of priorities here. I am not a sycophant of the Trump administration, and I feel no obligation to perform ritual denunciations to prove that fact. I am not part of anyone’s political crew. What I will not tolerate is being emotionally conscripted, manipulated, or herded by fear narratives and symbolic outrage, particularly when those narratives are deployed as substitutes for accountability.
I have lived as a Black American in this country for over half a century. I do not need lectures on the existence of racism, nor do I need it theatrically reintroduced to me as a political boogeyman. I understand racism intimately. I also understand the difference between what wounds our feelings and what is actively damaging our people.
What is in dispute is this fixation on optics while ignoring outcomes. Rhetoric does not educate a child. Optics do not repair a road. Performative outrage does not create jobs, reduce violence, or stabilize families.
As Minister Malcolm once observed, there is a difference between foxes and wolves. One bares its teeth openly. The other smiles while it devours you. My concern has always been directed at the damage being done, not merely the manners with which it is done.
References
Bailer, B. (2025). New research explores socioeconomic conditions of Black Chicagoans. The Dig at Howard University. https://thedig.howard.edu/all-stories/new-research-explores-socioeconomic-conditions-black-population-chicago
Broady, K., Booth-Bell, D., & Griffin, T. (2022). Seven economic facts about the U.S. racial wealth gap (Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Working Paper No. 2022-32). Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. https://www.chicagofed.org/publications/working-papers/2022/2022-32
Chicago Tribune. (2023, November 29). As Chicago considers city-run grocery, officials say all options are on the table. But the challenges are steep. https://www.chicagotribune.com/2023/11/29/as-chicago-considers-city-run-grocery-officials-say-all-options-are-on-the-table-but-the-challenges-are-steep/
Ewing, E. L., Krishnan, S., & Lawrence, B. (2024). “No future for Black people in Chicago”: Out-migration as slow-motion disaster. Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World, 10, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1177/23780231241266511
Parrish, M., & Ikoro, C. (n.d.). Chicago public schools, school closures, and segregation. WTTW Chicago. https://www.wttw.com/firsthand/segregation/chicago-public-schools-and-segregation
Wilson, A. (2024, September 27). Perspective: School closures inflict harm on Black communities. University of Illinois College of Education. https://education.illinois.edu/about/news-events/news/article/2024/09/27/perspective--school-closures-inflict-harm-on-black-communities
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