The Peculiar Politics of Assassination Attempts
There is an odd racial element to the history of assassination attempts on American presidents and presidential candidates. And even though this element leans in the same direction as everything else in American race relations (i.e. it’s bad for Black folks and better for White folks) this one is just strange. Even the most seasoned conspiracy theorist cannot come up with the three legs to hold this stool up. Let’s take a look back at the major assassinations and assassination attempts we have had in America and if I am wrong, you are formally invited to call me crazy.
THE GOOD GUYS DIE & THE BAD GUYS SURVIVE
We’re going to paint with very broad strokes for purposes of this discussion, but cool out and enjoy the ride: Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy were all famously allied with the interests of Black folks. Lincoln defeated American enslavers in a war and the Kennedy brothers were both sympathetic to civil rights and were activating those sympathies into a legislative agenda. And for all three of these men, their assassins did not miss. The bullets fired on them hit their marks and took those players off the field for good.
But Ronald Reagan, George Wallace and Donald Trump? Very different story: the shooters failed to deliver on their murderous intentions…
