Why Black People Can't Sit Down

On April 5, 2025, millions of people will march in protest of the attempts to dismantle the federal government, and advocate for the millions adversely impacted by such egregious actions. The protests, both national and international, are being organized as a means of channeling outrage and anger directed at President Donald Trump and tech-billionaire Elon Musk.

There is a movement afoot in the Black community, however, which is openly advocating that Black citizens do not support this march, indeed, that we “sit down” or take a “hands off” approach.

Some of the mantras generated by those leading this pacifism include, ‘This is not our fight’ and ‘We will not get involved.’

Much of the angst being expressed has to do with the prevailing opinion on the part of organizers and others that people in our community were warned about a potential devastating second Trump term. “We told you so” appears to be the rallying cry.

Or, as one social media participant expressed it, “All my Black folks y’all better not be out there trying to rally. Make sure on April 5th that you are at home, at work, and minding your business.”

Although I sympathize with the aims of this anti-involvement sentiment, I cannot support it. We cannot afford to mind our business.

What will sitting down get us? A seat at the table of fascism? No! Sitting down as Trump and Musk wage a vicious assault on the Black middle-class will only afford us the crumbs from the master’s table. Now some might argue that this is all we’re really getting now.

This is patently untrue, though. Black financial power has increased since the mid-twentieth century; fewer are living in poverty; more Black youth are earning degrees than at any point in our history in this country.

Why? Because we have endeared ourselves to the struggle for peace and justice. These gains and others have been realized through the vehicle of protest. In short, we have struggled to mightily and too heavily to sit down or sit out of any progressive movement.

Yes, we are still wallowing in the wealth gap, but our vigilance will pay off if we weather this storm intelligently.

Black Americans are deeply affected by policies on healthcare, climate, economic development, wages, and housing and education.

Adlai Amor writes, “The re-emergence of white supremacy today elevated the need to be vigilant and be more persistent in our anti-racist advocacy. We cannot afford to sit back as white supremacy wrecks our society, our democracy.”

Surely, we have come too far now to merely sit and allow the forces of fascism to run roughshod over us and other vulnerable communities.

The history of Black people in America has always been one marked by a dialectic of protest versus assimilation; integration versus separation, and by those who advocated working within the system versus creating a whole new system. Booker T. Washington and WEB Dubois, Dr. Marin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X are notable names which express those binary movements. Both camps had their pluses and minuses.

In fact, that phenomenon continues today. A sizeable portion of African Americans, including 21% of Black men voted for Donald Trump in the 2024 election. We have realized gains and losses from both ends of the perspective.

One vital concern for the organizers of this position is the possibility that death and destruction await protesters, Black ones in particular. But, as James Weldon Johnson reminds us,

'We have come/over a way that with tears has been watered/We have come/treading our path/through the blood of the slaughtered'.

But the real question is, ‘Is this the first election loss which bodes badly for Black people’? Some may argue that, because of Project 2025, this election loss will result in stupendous adversity for our community (and they are right). I recall as a youth the lamentations erupting after the election of Ronald Reagan.

But to sit down and let “them” handle it (whoever them is) would be the height of irresponsibility on our part and a slap in the face of all those men and women who came before us and struggled to make peace and justice a reality.

We must not sit! We must stand! Stand and fight for something or sit for anything. This is not an option!

Pastor W. Eric Croomes Ministries is based in Phoenix, Arizona.

Contact Pastor C: info@pastorwericcroomes.com