When Nazis appear in public they must be quickly dispatched. The people of a Black town in Ohio did just that and then acted to arm and defend themselves.
While there are endless think pieces written on the phenomenon of Donald Trump’s second ascendancy to the white house, working class Black people in a town near Cincinnati, Ohio took matters into their own hands and faced down a group of white supremacists. On February 7, 2025, a group of white men waving flags adorned with swastikas hung a banner from an interstate overpass between the towns of Evendale and Lincoln Heights which proclaimed, “America for the White Man.”
It must be pointed out that the statement, while quite racist, is an accurate description of United States history and politics. Trump’s promise to Make America Great Again is just the most recent expression of the historical imperative to keep white men in a position of privilege and authority in this country.
The neo-Nazi group were unmolested by the local police. In the words of the police chief, they had done “nothing unlawful.” That statement may technically be true but Black people cannot be casual about the swastika symbol being freely displayed by people who say that the white supremacist order should be maintained.
Ohio is a state with a significant Black population, mostly residing in and near its large cities. Ohio was decidedly in the republicans’ camp until those Black voters who had previously been disaffected came out in support of Barack Obama in huge numbers in 2008 and 2012. But as astute observers predicted, much of that cohort disappeared when Obama’s name was no longer on the ballot. In 2016, 2020, and 2024, Ohio went back into the red state category for Donald Trump.
The state is located in what is known as the “rust belt,” the region that thrived as an industrial hub for decades until the dictates of finance capital turned the midwest into a deindustrialized state of decline. Ohio continues to lose population and the congressional seats that are determined by census results. The Black people who remain there struggle to live in an eviscerated economy, and are surrounded by conservative white people and conservative political representation. Vice President J.D. Vance was an Ohio senator before he became Trump’s running mate.
But the people of Lincoln Heights did not ask for anyone’s permission to defend themselves. The neo-Nazis were quickly dispatched by a larger group of mostly Black protesters who burned their swastika decorated flags after they ran into the back of a U-Haul truck and fled the scene with a police escort.
Ohio is both an open carry and concealed carry state, meaning that firearms may be carried openly or be kept hidden. After the white supremacists fled, the Lincoln Heights residents mobilized into the well organized militia described in the second amendment to the constitution. They organized themselves into patrols and walked the streets armed as the laws of their state allow them to do.
Black people in a small city showed the rest of the country the importance of organizing. They acted fearlessly in the face of open racism. They didn’t consult with elected officials or public intellectuals. They knew they were in danger if they didn’t act of their volition. In all likelihood the neo-Nazis won’t make any more public displays of themselves in Lincoln Heights for a long time.
The history of Lincoln Heights provides clues to why the people there rose up to defend themselves. It was the first Black-led incorporated city above the Mason-Dixon line. But nearby white suburbs literally stole land that was to have been included in Lincoln Heights and the town’s boundaries did not include local industries that employed its residents. Over time, the inability to form a tax base combined with deindustrialization made Lincoln Heights a shell of its former self. The population dropped 45% between 1970 and 2013.
Trump is viewed as the ultimate nightmare for Black people in the U.S. He has won two presidential elections in large part because he speaks directly to the impulses of racist whites. Both of his elections created great angst among Black people, whose proud history of political action has been whittled down to voting and not behaving like Obama’s imaginary cousin Pookie who refuses to get off of a couch and get to a polling place.
Even in Lincoln Heights, there are forces who wish to turn a teachable moment about self-defense into an opportunity for kumbaya and weak virtue signaling. While some residents patrolled the street with firearms, others attempted to supplant self-defense with prayer and a march. It was appropriate that residents demanded answers from local police and elected officials but the sight of armed Black people did much more to prevent Nazis from gaining any legitimacy than pleas for peace and love.
The people who are usually considered leaders are rarely of any help to Black people in distress. Congressional Black Caucus Member and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is a case in point. While Donald Trump violates the constitution with executive orders announcing powers he does not have, Jeffries is flummoxed as to what the leader of an opposition party ought to do. “I’m trying to figure out what leverage we actually have. What leverage do we have? They control the House and Senate and the presidency. It’s their government. What leverage do we have?” The self-own would be funny if it were not so serious. Whether he realized it or not, Jeffries admitted that democrats were ready to cut deals with Trump but now that Trump has cut them out of decision making they have no idea what to do. As for the government belonging to republicans, it is generally believed that it belongs to the people.
For months we were told that Trump was an existential threat, a dictator, and a Hitler incarnate. But now that he is in office again, actual Hitler loving Nazis parade through U.S. cities with impunity and Black leaders who whine about not having leverage are certainly of no help to people facing self-proclaimed fascists.
Let us all give a shout out to the people of Lincoln Heights, Ohio. The open carry and stand your ground laws weren’t meant to be for their benefit, but they acted upon them anyway.
Margaret Kimberley is the author of Prejudential: Black America and the Presidents. You can support her work on Patreon and also find it on the Twitter, Bluesky, and Telegram platforms. She can be reached via email at margaret.kimberley@blackagendareport.com
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