The Conflicting Blackness Of Fani Willis’ Testimony

On Feb. 16, John Clifford Floyd III testified on behalf of his daughter , Fani Willis, the district attorney of Fulton County, Georgia, who is currently under fire for her admitted relationship with Nathan Wade, the counsel Willis hired to work her office’s indictment of Donald Trump and his 18 co-conspirators on charges of attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election .

Floyd testified a day after his daughter’s now-viral testimony in which she took everyone to school ― especially alleged co-conspirator Michael Roman’s lawyer Ashleigh Merchant, who’s seeking to have Willis’ team disqualified from the case on the grounds that her former romantic relationship with Wade is a conflict of interest.

The most interesting part of Floyd’s testimony ― which was tame compared to his daughter’s –– was his explanation of why he keeps cash in the house and has always encouraged his daughter to do the same. He politely explained that the habit is borne of a cultural distrust of the banking system, sharing a story of how a merchant once wouldn’t take his credit card or money order simply because he’s Black.

“Your honor, I’m not trying to be racist, OK, but it’s a Black thing,” he said. “I was trained…you always keep some cash.”

I watched both testimonies with my 71-year-old Black mother, who loved Willis’ incendiary disposition, and Floyd’s demonstration of intelligence and wisdom. Mama, an advanced-degree-holding Baby Boomer from Detroit ― who once sued and settled with an employer over racial discrimination ― related to Willis’ unwillingness to capitulate to her accusers, and her educated father teaching and caring for her daughter.

However, it’s not hard to find Black folks who didn’t at all care for Willis’