Columnist a slave to his racial identity

Usually, it’s President Donald J. Trump making an ass of himself, such as admiring the ass of Republican Sen. John Husted, running for re-election in Ohio. Burnishing that ass numerous times to the roar of laughter from his fans of fannies.

But some of his most devoted acolytes were wondering WTF was going on with the boss.

Then — at last, a proper ending! — he made superstar rapper Nicki Minaj the butt of his remarks during a campaign rally in Ohio, where she appeared.

“I looked at one hell of a beautiful ass before: Nicki Minaj. That’s hard to miss,” Trump said.

He urged her to stand. She did, and waved to the cheering crowd, overwhelmingly white.

“I hope Nicki wasn’t insulted, but we love Nicki. She’s been with us for a long time.”

It is hard to imagine why Nicki would be insulted, when she has made her derriere — as you can see in the photo array — as much a part of her identity as her voice.

And she has been a Trump supporter, even though she is not an American citizen and can’t vote for him.

(Or with no voter ID, maybe she can. 😉)

To Trump, to the crowd, to Nicki, and to me, it seemed like slight sexy fun.

To Inquirer op-ed columnist Solomon Jones, “it was a moment reminiscent of a slave auction, with Minaj standing on the block where my ancestors stood after being branded with a hot iron.”

Can he be that clueless? Does he know nothing about Nicki’s assets?

His asinine comments were reminiscent of the race hustlers who say the same thing about the NFL draft — a slave auction. In the NFL, the “slaves” are multi-millionaires. The slave analogy is moronic to me, and ought to be insulting to the Black athletes.

When Beyonce campaigned for Kamala Harris at a Houston rally, was that a slave auction? No, I didn’t think so, and Beyonce’s stage act has some elements as sexual as anything Nicki has done. 

Full Disclosure, I am not Black, as far as I know [Ilhan Omar subreference] so I do not have the same sensibilities of Jones.

But I do have the gift of analysis, and I know Nicki was there because she likes what Trump is selling, and what she is selling, too. There is an upside, a downside, and a backside.

Jones speculates that their relationship is transactional, and drags into the column Nicki’s husband and brother, each a sexual offender. Fair game? You decide.

Nicki probably has more money than anyone in that arena, except for The Donald. She appeared there voluntarily, a free woman making her free choices, which sent Jones into a racial meltdown.

On the one hand, I feel sympathy for him, for the accrued burden of bitterness he carries, a prism through which he sees the world. I can feel his pain, yes I can. For real.

On the other hand, racial grievance is why he has his job. It is his calling card, his bowl of rice. 

When at the Daily News, he used to write really positive, uplifting stories about being a Black Dad heading a Black family, but I guess the Inky editors prefer grievance and division. 

A parallel to Jones’ experience would be like me watching someone get an Eagles logo on their bicep, and my finding it a reminiscence of numbers being tattooed on the arms of concentration camp prisoners.

It’s ludicrous, and I don’t mean the rapper.