Michael Smith – ReflectiveMVS
ReflectiveMVS.com
“If the white man gave the Negro Jesus during slavery, then during Reconstruction, the Southern aristocracy gave the poor white man Jim Crow. And when his wrinkled stomach cried out for the food that his empty pockets could not provide, he ate Jim Crow, a psychological bird that told him no matter how bad off he was, at least he was a white man, better than the Negro.”
— Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., March from Selma to Montgomery, 1965
We’ve Been Here Before
Dr. King wasn’t just speaking to the past. He was warning the future.
He understood the playbook: economic theft wrapped in spiritual language, cruelty disguised as policy, division served as distraction. He saw how poor white folks were fed supremacy instead of solutions — handed flags and hymns while their wages shrank, their children sickened, and their towns emptied.
Fast-forward to now: Trump’s second term has arrived in full regalia. Not with the subtle dog whistles of old, but with full-throated declarations, military parades, and blunt authoritarianism. And once again, white Americans are being handed something to believe in — not bread, not health care, not hope — but nationalism, grievance, and the illusion of power.
The Crown Ain’t Yours, But You’ll Bleed for It
The Trump administration has turned the White House into a soundstage for grievance theater. Performances like the “Patriot Parade” aren’t just cosplay — they’re state propaganda. Designed to make struggling people feel like warriors in a holy war, even as the same administration strips them of basic rights, health care, and economic stability.
We are watching folks in trailer parks cheer for tax cuts they’ll never benefit from. Teachers defending a president who guts their budgets. Workers defending deregulation while their water turns brown.
They’ve been handed a crown — not to wear, but to protect. And they will bleed for it while the ones wearing it rob them blind.
Meanwhile in Atlanta and Youngstown...
I live in Atlanta, where hospitals are closing, teachers are leaving, and gentrification is pushing out entire communities. These aren’t theories — they’re lived realities.
I’ve got people in Youngstown, Ohio — a city that corporate America hollowed out and forgot. You want to talk about forgotten Americans? Look there. And yet many of them are being told their real enemies are migrants, Black folks, or trans kids.
This ain’t policy. It’s psychological warfare.
This Is the New Jim Crow Moment — for Everyone
Trump doesn’t need to give you Jesus. You already have Him — or think you do.
He doesn’t need to give poor white folks Jim Crow again — not explicitly.
Today, he gives them “freedom.”
He gives them “heritage.”
He gives them Project 2025.
It’s the same bird, just roasted in 4K and served with side dishes of fear, nostalgia, and TikTok soundbites.
Don’t Be Fooled. Don’t Be Fed
If you are watching all of this happen and saying nothing, you’re not neutral — you’re digesting it.
If you are defending this administration because it makes you feel like you’re on the “winning team,” even as your life doesn’t improve, you’re eating Jim Crow.
If you think none of this matters because you’re doing “fine,” you might be next on the menu.
Final Word
Dr. King tried to warn us that manipulation is baked into the American story.
But manipulation only works when memory fades.
So let me be clear:
This isn’t about left or right.
It’s about up and down — who gets stepped on, who gets fed, and who gets fooled into thinking they’re kings when they’re really just pawns.
Don’t swallow the lie.
Don’t defend the throne.
Burn the playbook.
—
✊🏾 Michael Smith
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