I disagree with Ice Cube's tactic (as do most Black voters), but he has not "turned right wing," and he is not "unaware that he's being used by right wingers"

He's making the very specific point that most Democrats take the Black vote for granted. They expect Black folk to work harder than everyone to elect Dems, and then do nothing to prioritize the issues most important to Black people. Because they say, "What're you gonna do, vote GOP? Ha ha! They hate you even more!!! You have no choice!"

Biden wants to *increase* police funding. Even after we've all seen how ineffective that is at anything but increasing the harm experienced by Black men and boys.

Governor Hochul wants to *bring back* prison labor and reinstate cash bail, to resupply the required prison slavery workforce. Even though she knows how racist and harmful that is to Black folk. This is cartoonishly evil and racist. Slavery in NYC.

Progressive candidates that run on anti-racism are *kneecapped* by centrists.

Ice Cube is practicing a very dangerous form of brinkmanship.

He understands that if the GOP wins, Black folk will be more screwed than if Dems win.

He also knows that white Dem voters and politicians will be significantly impacted if the GOP wins, and that the Dems cannot win without the Black vote. It's "If you take the Black vote for granted, I will sink this whole ship. Yes, I will drown first because I'm on a lower deck, but we will all drown. I don't care. Try me."

Ice Cube doesn't need to convert every Black voter for his threat to be successful. He doesn't even need to convert every Black man. If he gets an incremental 10% of Black men to either vote GOP, or more realistically, just not fight the voter suppression and stay home on election day, then the Dems have zero chance of winning in 2024. None. We welcome president Trump/DeSantis/Ramaswamy.

So Ice Cube and other Black celebrities are incredibly valuable to GOP campaigns.

Most of the people mad at Ice Cube haven't even listened to what he is asking for. Because they just do not care what Black voters have to say, or why Black men in particular are disillusioned with the Democratic party. They are precisely the people taking Black voters for granted. "Vote and shut up. We're not literal Nazis, so you have to vote for us. If you don't vote for us, you ain't Black!"

https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/22/politics/biden-charlamagne-tha-god-you-aint-black/index.html

@MsSmartyPants

He was comfortable with Black people and segregationists. That's his whole thing. I don't like that.

He was comfortable with Strom Thurmond. Comfortable enough to speak at his eulogy!

Comfortable enough to be against busing.

Comfortable enough to pass the crime bill.

Hey, I voted for Biden! And likely will again. Like 95% of Black voters. But we can't gloss over or minimize his awful choices. Not even his providing a sound bite for taking the Black vote for granted.