By BARBARA HOWARD

So every election season, the Democrats, and especially the Democratic National Committee (DNC), ratchets up the race card strategy, which they use to keep black folks on the plantation. And why not, since it has worked so well for them for the past 60 years now. These people have figured out that all you have to do to make African Americans hate your opponent and love you is to say the other guy is a racist. You don’t have to prove it – all you have to do is to throw out the accusation. And black folk come running to your side.

Democrats have used this strategy on Republicans since the 60’s and so much so, that black Democrats just automatically see all Republicans as racists.In fact, the word Republican has become synonymous with racist. And it immediately elicits feelings of hatred and anger – without any accompanying facts to support such strong emotions.

For example, just a few days ago I was in the beauty salon and a black lady approached me to compliment me on my hair and jewelry. In fact she was just en- thralled about my overall persona. But a few minutes later, her entire demeanor changed when she discovered I was a Republican.

I was discussing a candidate who happened to be Republican. “I don’t like Republicans,” she responded. When I asked her why, she answered that they were racists. Then when I told her she was talking about me, she was shocked that I was a black Republican. But her attitude about Republicans remained the same.

I get that a lot. Some even have much stronger words like, “I hate Republicans.” But the belief that all Republicans are racists and all black Republicans are “fools, sellouts, traitors.” etc., remains the same, because that’s what white Democrats tell them.

I’ve watched them do this so much, it makes me nauseous.

So this year it’s Donald Trump’s time to wear the mantle of racism. He wants to build a wall to keep all the illegal aliens from crossing over the Southern border into Arizona and Texas: some smuggling drugs, some engaging in human trafficking, some killing farmers and their cattle, and thousands of minor children whose parents sent them through Mexico without adult supervision because President Obama put out the word they wouldn’t be sent back.

All these illegal aliens put a strain on our financial system, our welfare system, our foodstamp system, our housing system, traffic, etc. These teenagers can get jobs – while the unemployment rate of black teenagers is over 50 percent. Yet when Donald Trump wants to stop this, he’s defined as a racist.

Radical Islamist terrorists are murdering innocent people in the Middle East, in Europe and in America. Yet when Donald Trump wants to stop the unfettered flow of immigrants from the Middle East because Obama and Hillary Clinton can’t figure out how to vet them, he’s called a racist.

Funny, during the 2008 presidential election when Obama and Hillary were opponents, Obama’s campaign defined Bill Clinton and Hillary as racists just because Bill Clinton called Obama’s campaign a fantasy. So all the black Democrats who kept supporting Hillary were dogged out and called all kinds of names – even members of the Congressional Black Caucus. Now all is forgiven and Hillary is no longer considered a racist. In fact, Obama is plan- ning to take a whole month off in October in order to campaign for her. Funny how that works. Democrats make all Republicans racist all the time, but make fellow Democrats racist only when it suits their purpose. During the 2012 presidential election Mitt Romney was called a racist just because he ran against Obama – a black man – and because he said that 40 percent of voters would never vote for a Republican.

I remember when Jeb Bush ran for a second term as governor of the State of Florida. black Democratic elected officials went around the state warning black folks that if he was re-elected, he would “take away our civil rights.” Jeb won and we still have all our civil rights. As usual, it was just a lie. I soon left the Democratic Party.

The party that created one of the most racist organizations in the country – the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) – continues to use black folks’ fear of racism. (Enter Black Lives Matter, (ever wonder who pays for them?); just to keep them in a constant state of anger and hatred.