Rev. Al Sharpton: “Hope Won’t Help” in Trump’s America

by James S. Bridgeforth, Ph.D., The Black Wall Street Times

Reverend Al Sharpton doesn’t mince words. When I sat down with him for an interview, he offered a warning—and a roadmap.

“Donald Trump didn’t sneak in the back door,” he told me. “He came in through the front—with birtherism as his key.”

We are now living in a new civil rights era—one defined not by burning crosses, but by burning policies. What Rev. Sharpton calls “gangster power politics” has taken root from the White House to the courthouse, to your kid’s school board meeting. We’re seeing the rise of concentrated efforts to roll back civil rights, shut down DEI programs, reverse abortion protections, and militarize the southern border—all while daring us to call it what it is: white supremacy in a tailored suit.

And yet, large parts of our country co-signed this.

According to Pew, only 7% of White Americans believe Black people will eventually achieve equality. That’s not just disheartening—it’s damning. Even among African Americans, only half share the hope that true equality is possible. The rest of us? We’re tired. And tiredness can get dangerous when it turns into silence.

“Hope won’t help,” Sharpton said. “Not by itself. You’ve got to fight.”

Let’s be clear about who’s being targeted at this moment: Black folks, Latinos, women, immigrants, and queer people. If you fall into more than one of those categories, congratulations—you’re enemy number one in MAGA America.

Read about how Sharpton has been sounding the alarm for decades.

Sharpton’s nonprofit takes a stand against police brutality and continues the work of the activists who came before him.

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