Trump’s real feelings about African Americans

By the author of Humoring the Headlines

Laurie Baron

SAN DIEGO — All of a sudden Donald Trump fashions himself as a reincarnation of Abraham Lincoln who will emancipate African Americans from the slavery they have experienced under Democrats.  “What the hell do you have to lose?’ he asks them when he addresses white audiences in white enclaves with the slim chance that each of them, like himself, has a black acquaintance they will advise to elect a candidate whose presidential campaign has courted the white supremacist vote.  Currying the favor of African American voters is especially effective now that Trump has appointed Steve Bannon as his campaign’s CEO.  Bannon’s Breitbart website is the internet go-to-site for the latest in racist conspiracy theories.

Based on Donald Trump’s actions and public statements regarding African Americans, here is what they have to lose:

In 1973 the Department of Justice accused the Trump Organization, the Real Estate Company Donald and his father Frank ran, of a pattern of not renting to potential black tenants.  Trump denied the changes, but the organization settled in 1975 pledging to change its policies.  Three years later the DOJ accused the Trumps of failing to implement their promise.  If there were no vacancies for blacks at Trump buildings, will there be any in a Trump administration?

In 1989 he told Bryant Gumbel: “A well-educated black has a tremendous advantage over a well-educated white in terms of the job market. I think sometimes a black may think they don’t have an advantage or this and that… I’ve said on one occasion, even about myself, if I were starting off today, I would love to be a well-educated black, because I believe they do have an actual advantage.’’  Apparently, the status of African-Americans has deteriorated rapidly since then (under 12 years of Republican presidents and 16 of Democrats) because now Trump pities them: “You live in your poverty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs, 58 percent of your youth is unemployed.” He can cure all that by imposing extreme vetting on ancestors of involuntary immigrants who don’t share the values of white Christian Americans.

In 1989 as well, Trump called for the reinstatement of the death penalty in the racially charged wake of the arrest and trial of the Central Park Five convicted of raping and murdering a female jogger.   Trump wrote, ““I want to hate these muggers and murderers. They should be forced to suffer and, when they kill, they should be executed for their crimes. They must serve as examples so that others will think long and hard before committing a crime or an act of violence.” The Five, four of whom were African Americans, were exonerated in 2002 when another prisoner admitted he committed the crime which was subsequently verified by DNA evidence  In 2014 the city settled a civil suit for unlawful imprisonment paying financial compensation to the Five for their unjust imprisonment.  Trump refused to believe they were innocent and declared, ““I think people are tired of politically correct. I just attacked the Central Park Five settlement. Who’s going to do that?”  Answer, someone who thinks DNA evidence can be rigged.

In 1991 he said, “Black guys counting my money! I hate it. The only kind of people I want counting my money are short guys that wear yarmulkes every day.”  Wow, he managed to pack two stereotypical generalizations into one sentence.” But then he added, “Laziness is a trait in blacks.”  Those yarmulke guys work harder because they worship money.

1992 the New Jersey Gambling Commission fined the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City for keeping blacks away from gaming tables where one of the casino’s high rollers was playing.  As one of the dealers testified, “Finding himself playing with an African-American at his craps table,” he shouted, “Shoot the f***ing dice. Shoot the f***ing dice like you’re f***ing some n*****.”  I wonder if Trump ever entertained the idea of building a casino called Trump’s Planation in Alabama.

Then there’s Trump’s role in the birther conspiracy.  After all, how could a black man become president unless he lied about where he was born and get admitted to Harvard unless he was accepted as a token affirmative action student?  That he sees Obama solely in these terms is reflected in his comment: “Sadly, because president Obama has done such a poor job as president, you won’t see another black president for generations!”  Oh, that may be the reason Ben Carson did so poorly in the primaries.  Maybe we need to check his med school transcripts too.

Finally, Donald Trump tried to reunited the country after the Charleston Church shootings by claiming: “There’s no such thing as racism anymore. We’ve had a black president so it’s not a question anymore. Are they saying black lives should matter more than white lives or Asian lives? If black lives matter, then go back to Africa? We’ll see how much they matter there.”  A future president hasn’t been so pro-black since James Monroe supported the American Colonization Society’s efforts to send slaves back to Africa to found Liberia.

What the hell do “they” have to lose?  Almost every gain made since the passage of the Civil Rights Act!

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Baron is professor emeritus of history at San Diego State University. He may be contacted via lawrence.baron@sdjewishworld.com