After months of ignoring the concerns of African-American voters, and using inflammatory and racially charged rhetoric to reference minorities, Donald Trump decided late in the 2016 presidential campaign to court the Black vote with no true policy initiative and more offensive rhetoric.
Then suddenly, just before naming Steve Bannon, a member of the alt-right, as his administration’s chief strategist, details of Trump’s plan for “The African-Americans” emerged.
The 10-point plan, dubbed “Donald J. Trump’s New Deal For Black America,” detailed a number of what we can assume is part of the President-elect’s policy initiative to be the president for all Americans.
Trump boasts about the unemployment rate. He promised in the campaign a “new deal for blacks.” He claims that cracking down on illegal immigrants has helped lift black wages by reducing competition for low-skilled jobs.
The reality is that Trump’s policies are perversely designed to make things harder for African Americans. His administration is rolling back enforcement of civil rights laws across the government. It is cutting back on enforcement against wage theft and payday lenders. It is reversing Obama’s order to provide millions more with overtime pay.
Trump boasts that he has dismantled Obamacare. The result is millions more losing coverage or unable to afford the prices that are rising in part as a result of Trump’s attacks.
The administration plans to reduce funds for Pell grants and college loans. Its tax cuts will go overwhelmingly to the already rich, while it calls for reducing the resulting deficits by slashing spending on Medicaid and Medicare, on food stamps and education. Low-wage white workers will be the most numerous victims, but African Americans and Latinos will be hit disproportionately.
A good economy with full employment can help solve many problems. But Trump’s “new deal for blacks” is a bad deal from the bottom of the deck. We know what to do to reduce poverty and entrenched discrimination. It isn’t a mystery. It is simply a matter of will—and of power.
A list of the ten bullet points detailed in Trump’s plan include:
- Great Education Through School Choice
- Safe Communities
- Equal Justice Under the Law
- Tax Reforms to Create Jobs and Lift up People and Communities
- Financial Reforms to Expand Credit to Support New Job Creation
- Trade That Works for American Workers
- Protection from Illegal Immigration
- New Infrastructure Investment
- Protect the African-American Church
- America First Foreign Policy
Sources: peoplesworld.org, woldcnews.com, vox.com
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