Polls show most Americans disapprove of the U.S. starting a war with Iran, but Douglasville resident Shelia Jones, a self-described Black conservative, said she feels it had to be done.
“There is no way to guarantee our safety when we have that regime gunning for us,” Jones told Capital B Atlanta on Saturday. “[The threat posed by Iran] may not have been imminent. … But I trust what the president has been saying about the information he has.”
Jones was one of an estimated 500 attendees who showed up Saturday night for the Georgia Black Republican Council’s third annual masquerade ball at the Georgia Freight Depot in Atlanta.
The gathering and celebration of Black conservatives and their ideals came less than 24 hours after U.S. and Israeli military forces began bombing Tehran, Iran’s capital city. The airstrikes killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader.
Retaliatory missile strikes on U.S. and Israeli bases in the Persian Gulf region have killed at least three American soldiers since the conflict began, according to Politico.
The marginal rise in Black support for the Republican Party in recent years has coincided with the rise of President Donald Trump, who campaigned on ending foreign conflicts and so-called “forever wars” during the 2024 election cycle.
The decision to bomb Iran in support of Israel and other U.S. interests in the Middle East appears to contradict the “America First” president’s campaign promise on the issue. Trump’s willingness to use war to achieve his political goals has created a rift among his MAGA base, including former Georgia U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who resigned from Congress last year following a public feud with Trump.
Georgia Democrats, including Georgia gubernatorial candidate Derrick Jackson, have condemned the war as illegal since Trump didn’t get congressional approval for it.
Jackson criticized some members of Congress for not being more vocal about Trump’s alleged illegality in authorizing the war with Iran.
“I strongly oppose the actions of President Trump,” Jackson said in a statement. “I hold Congress equally accountable for their failure to act. It is time for them to do the job they were sworn to do.”
U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Georgia, told his followers on X on Saturday that Americans don’t want another Middle East “forever war,” harkening back to the war with Iraq, which lasted nearly nine years.
“We have walked this road before & too many Americans paid the ultimate price,” Warnock said. “The president must do everything in his power to find a diplomatic solution. I am praying for peace & our servicemembers.”
But the war in Iran didn’t deter support among Black Republicans who spoke with Capital B Atlanta on Saturday.
South Fulton resident Klarice Chandler, a self-described devout Christian, was one of multiple attendees who voiced support for U.S. military forces defending Israel due to her spiritual beliefs.
“It’s biblical,” Chandler said. “The Word says we stand with Israel. So I stand with Israel for that very reason.”
Marvin Harris, 73, suggested Iran started the conflict with Israel and the U.S. when it supported Hamas.
“If somebody smacked you in the face or treated you wrong, you gotta protect yourself,” Harris said. “We’ve got to protect ourselves and protect the land over there as well, because if we let it go over there, sooner or later [they’ll] come over here.”
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