By Juan McFarland, Contributing Writer
Posted 11:05 PM EST, Weds., Jan. 11, 2017
On Jan. 9, the President-elect Donald Trump’s administration officially announced that Howard University alumna Omarosa Manigault would be hired as an Assistant to the President and Director of Communications for the Office of Public Liaison. Her acceptance of these positions is a haunting reminder that while Howard may be known for its role in Black liberation, it has also played a significant role in fostering knee-buckling Negropeans.
Manigualt’s rise to fame came as she appeared on Donald Trump’s reality television show, “The Apprentice”, in 2004. Her fifteen minutes of fame was extended to well-over nine weeks before she was eventually fired.
Before her days as a “television star,” Manigault tried her hand at American politics, working with Vice President Al Gore in the Department of Commerce during the Bill Clinton administration. Throughout the Trump campaign, Manigault transitioned from a self-proclaimed “die-hard Democrat” to a boot-licking supporter of Trump, a white-supremacist and fascist.
However, while her association with the president-elect precedes her invitation to the White House, it is still a wonder why Trump would choose Manigault over many of his other supporters. She was certainly not the loudest back-up singer in his band, as that title could be offered to people like Tomi Lahren of TheBlaze. Nonetheless, she did hum a significant tune in Trump’s metaphorical concert, as she was arguably the highest-profiled African-American supporter. Manigault was pretty much the only Black person in Trump’s circle that could relate to and translate Trump’s agenda to Black folk — she looks like us, walks like us, and even talks in that smooth, velvety tone that could only come from the mouth of a Bison.
Her swagger, concomitant with her covert conservatism, was enough to make her instrumental in corralling the percentage needed of the African-American vote. So, then, why wouldn’t Donald Trump choose her? She was the perfect candidate for public engagement, and to keep the Black masses in line. It is an age-old strategy out of the colonizer’s handbook: Promote one of the slaves to keep the plantation in order.
Manigault has even expressed excitement over the coming administration, telling CNN that every detractor would have to “bow down” to Trump, and that his ultimate revenge is becoming the “most powerful man in the world.”
It is apparent that Manigault has been chosen as an overseer to make sure Black folk shuck-and-jive to our new master. The only problem is that the Trump team has misperceived our identities. The American people are not slaves, but autonomous human beings, and human beings do not bow down in the face of oppression — we fight back.
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