National Leaders Reject Donald Trump’s Outreach Effort to African Americans

Following Donald Trump’s efforts to reach out to African American communities, Hillary for America released the following statements from African American leaders across the country.

After a campaign spent courting white supremacists and playing into misleading stereotypes about people of color, today in Detroit, Donald Trump addressed a predominantly African American audience for the first time.

While Trump can attempt to reach out to African Americans, he has proven to the community time and again that he is unfit to be president and he has no interest in working with the African American community.

National leaders are rejecting Trump’s scripted conversation and his staged outreach to the Black community.

“Whether he is embracing policies that preserve privilege for those at the top or spewing rhetoric that demeans Americans, Donald Trump has shown us that he wants to roll back the progress we have witnessed over the past eight years. Trump is running around the country riling up his supporters declaring that he wants to ‘take our country back.’ I have news for Mr. Trump, the hateful groups he has courted and now represents can never have this country again. We are moving forward together, and we refuse to allow him to take us back.” –Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II (D-MO)

“Donald Trump’s visit to Detroit is tantamount to a wolf visiting a sheep farm to lead a discussion on Let Me Be Your Leader To Greener Pastures. It is the old southern strategy of Nixon, Bush and Reagan, wrapped up in a new an un-improved version of divide and conquer the Black and moderate white votes. Let’s talk about law and order for you, bad economic times for you but no specific plan of action from me. He is talking over, around and through Black people but not to Black people. He should apologize, repent, re-align and retreat from his divisive non-Presidential behavior. We are all better than that.” –Rev. Dr. Wendell Anthony, Detroit Social Activist

“Hillary Clinton has been a champion for the African-American community for decades. This year, she traveled to Flint to stand with us and let the country know that Flint’s crisis is a national crisis. In doing so, she showed us once again who she is: a proven leader who is committed to addressing the injustices African-Americans are subjected to in this country. Flint’s water crisis should serve as a reminder to Americans of what can happen when entire communities are ignored, left out and left behind. Donald Trump has a long history of turning a blind eye to the African American community. We are not fooled by this manufactured stop in Michigan. This is the same man who has talked down to us and falsely claimed that our entire community is poor, uneducated and unemployed. Donald Trump’s lack of concern for our community is yet another reason he is unqualified and unfit for the presidency.” –Mayor Karen Weaver, Flint, MI

“As the Bible says, beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. No matter how many times he attempts to reset, Donald Trump is still running the same race but with a pair of different shoes.   There’s no doubt in my mind that this man who discriminated from the boardroom will take that same attitude to the White House.  He has shown us who he really is and who he really cares about—and that’s not us.” –Rev. Marcia Dyson, Social Activist

“I have no room for conversation with Mr. Trump, until he first apologizes to the President and the entire African American community for attempting to delegitimize his presidency with regard to him being a US Citizen. If a person has no respect for an African American serving in the highest position in this country and world, then how can I believe that he has any respect for me?” –Bishop Charles Ellis, Detroit Faith and Community Leader

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HFA Responds to Trump’s Outreach to the African American Community

Following Donald Trump’s attempt to reach out to the African American community, Hillary for America’s Director of State Campaigns and Political Engagement Marlon Marshall responded to his lack of African American community events with the following statement.

“Donald Trump’s latest gimmick to act as if he cares about the black community is downright shameful, insulting and cowardly.  After 14 months of neglecting us, Donald Trump is once again dodging substantive conversations and ducking questions about the issues that impact our community. Not surprisingly, Trump’s ignorance on issues like the economy, criminal justice reform, the meaning of quality health care or systemic racism, has forced him to resort to scripted conversations and staged engagements with our communities. The problem is, our community can see through this: outreach to African Americans cannot be scripted; leaders ought to be prepared to address the hard truths about race and justice in our country. And Trump’s discomfort on addressing these issues only reinforces that he’s unfit to be our president.”

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Hillary for America Releases new Campaign Videos

Hillary for America released four new campaign videos focusing on Donald Trump. The first two focus on American manufacturing and how products with Trump’s name are made in China, Mexico, India, and other foreign countries. The third video criticizes Trump’s hateful rhetoric toward immigrants including his plan to build a wall with Mexico and deport 16 million people. The final criticizes Trump’s message to African-American communities. The videos are below.

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Clinton Campaign’s Answer to Trump’s Question to the African American Community

Hillary for America responded to a speech given today by Donald Trump in Michigan. Their full response is below.

Clinton Campaign’s Answer to Trump’s Question to the African American Community

Today during a rally in Michigan, Donald Trump asked the African American community “What do you have to lose? You’re living in poverty. Your Schools are no good. You have no jobs.” Hillary for America Director of State Campaigns and Political Engagement Marlon Marshall has an answer for Trump:

“Donald Trump asks what the African American community has to lose by voting for him. The answer is everything from a man who questions the citizenship of the first African American President, courts white supremacists, and has been sued for housing discrimination against communities of color.

“Trump painting the entire community as living in poverty with no jobs continues to show he is completely out of touch with the African American community.”

BACKGROUND:

TRUMP WAS TWICE SUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE FOR DISCRIMINATING IN HOUSING

October 1973: The Justice Department Filed A Civil Rights Case Against Trump Management Inc. For Discriminating Against Blacks And Puerto Ricans. “The employees allegedly directed blacks and Puerto Ricans away from buildings with mostly white tenants, and steered them toward properties that had many minorities, the government filings alleged. In October 1973, the Justice Department filed a civil rights case that accused the Trump firm, whose complexes contained 14,000 apartments, of violating the Fair Housing Act of 1968.” [Washington Post, 1/23/16]

• According To Federal Investigators, Trump Employees Marked Applications From Minorities With “C” For “Colored.” “Federal investigators also gathered evidence. Trump employees had secretly marked the applications of minorities with codes, such as ‘No. 9’ and ‘C’ for ‘colored,’ according to government interview accounts filed in federal court.” [Washington Post, 1/23/16]

New York Times’ Nicholas Kristof: The Government Amassed “Overwhelming Evidence” The Trumps Discriminated Against Blacks And The Trumps Were Forced To Settle, But The Government Sued Them Again Three Years Later When They Continued To Discriminate. “I’ve waded through 1,021 pages of documents from that legal battle, and they are devastating. Donald Trump was then president of the family real estate firm, and the government amassed overwhelming evidence that the company had a policy of discriminating against blacks, including those serving in the military… Donald Trump furiously fought the civil rights suit in the courts and the media, but the Trumps eventually settled on terms that were widely regarded as a victory for the government. Three years later, the government sued the Trumps again, for continuing to discriminate.” [Nicholas Kristof, New York Times, 7/23/16]

TRUMP’S DEFENSE WHEN ACCUSED OF DISCRIMINATING IN HOUSING WAS THAT HE JUST DID NOT WANT TO “RENT TO WELFARE CASES”

Donald Trump Argued That The Company Had Wanted To Avoid Renting Apartments To Welfare Recipients, But Had Not Discriminated By Race. “The younger Trump demonstrated the brash, combative style that would make him famous, holding forth at a news conference in a Manhattan hotel to decry the government’s arguments as ‘such outrageous lies.’ He would also say that the company wanted to avoid renting apartments to welfare recipients of any color but never discriminated based on race.” [Washington Post, 1/23/16]

• Trump: “What We Didn’t Do Was Rent To Welfare Cases, White Or Black.” “‘What we didn’t do was rent to welfare cases, white or black,’ Trump wrote in his 1987 autobiography.” [Washington Post, 1/23/16]

TRUMP QUESTIONED PRESIDENT OBAMA’S RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND WHETHER OR NOT HE WAS BORN IN THE UNITED STATES

Trump On President Obama: “He Doesn’t Have A Birth Certificate. He May Have One But There’s Something On That Maybe Religion, Maybe It Says He Is A Muslim… Or He May Not Have One.” O’REILLY: “Do you think it’s an important subject?” TRUMP: “Listen, I have a birth certificate. I have my birth certificate. And in fact, they said the one I gave yesterday wasn’t good enough. So I actually got the one from the Health Department which is a perfect one. Because they were saying the one I gave yesterday wasn’t good enough so I got the other. People have birth certificates. He doesn’t have a birth certificate. He may have one but there’s something on that maybe religion, maybe it says he is a Muslim. Maybe he doesn’t want that. Or he may not have one. But I will tell you this. If he wasn’t born in this country it’s one of the great scams of all time.” [O’Reilly Factor, Fox News, 3/30/11]

WHITE SUPREMACISTS ARE USING TRUMP’S CANDIDACY AS A RECRUITING TOOL

HEADLINE: “White Nationalists See Advancement Through Donald Trump’s Candidacy.” [Wall Street Journal, 5/17/16]

Politico: “Stormfront, The Most Prominent American White Supremacist Website, Is Upgrading Its Servers In Part To Cope With A Trump Traffic Spike.” [Politico, 12/10/15]

HEADLINE: “Virginia KKK Leader Endorses Trump: ‘What He Believes In, We Believe In’” [Talking Points Memo, 4/30/16]

TRUMP REFUSED TO DISAVOW DAVID DUKE AND THE KLAN FOUR TIMES IN ONE INTERVIEW

Trump Refused To Condemn David Duke And The KKK Four Times In One Interview, Claiming He Did Not “Know Anything About David Duke.” “On the Sunday morning talk shows, Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump refused to condemn endorsements from a prominent white supremacist and former KKK leader, and said he retweeted a Mussolini quote because ‘it’s a very good quote.’… Trump refused to condemn that endorsement or say he didn’t want the support of white supremacists — four times. ‘I don’t know anything about David Duke. I don’t know what you’re even talking about with white supremacy or white supremacist. I don’t know. I don’t know, did he endorse me, or what’s going on?’ he said.” [NPR, 2/28/16]

• Trump Claimed He Could Not Condemn The KKK Because He Knew “Nothing” And It Would Be Unfair To Condemn Groups That Were “Totally Fine.”  TRUMP: “You wouldn’t want me to condemn a group that I know nothing about. I would have to look. If you would send me a list of the groups, I will do research on them. And, certainly, I would disavow if I thought there was something wrong.” TAPPER: “The Ku Klux Klan?” TRUMP: “But you may have groups in there that are totally fine, and it would be very unfair. So, give me a list of the groups, and I will let you know.” [State Of The Union, CNN, 2/28/16]

TRUMP ON BEING SUPPORTED BY WHITE SUPREMACISTS: “A LOT OF PEOPLE LIKE ME”

Trump On Being Supported By White Supremacist Groups: “A Lot Of People Like Me.” HEILEMANN: “But if you read this story and read a lot of people who are white, and organized white supremacist groups talking ebulliently about you, talking why they about — why they like you so much, would that trouble you at all? Does that give you pause, make you wonder about your message?” TRUMP: “Honestly, John, I would have to read the story. A lot of people like me.” [Bloomberg TV, 8/26/15]

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News Source: CNN

Clinton Speaks at African Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia

On Friday evening, Hillary Clinton spoke in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at a celebration of the 200th anniversary of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Clinton spoke about the events of the week: the police killing of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; the police shooting of Philando Castile in St. Paul, Minnesota; and the sniper attack in Dallas, Texas that killed five police officers and wounded several others. Clinton said that each of the killings were “senseless” and condemned violence saying, “We know there is something wrong in this country. There is too much violence, too much hate, too much senseless killing. Too many people dead who shouldn’t be.”

Clinton spoke about the racial divide that only seems to be growing saying, “As we know, there is clear evidence that African-Americans are much more likely to be killed in police incidents than any other group of Americans. And we know there is too little trust in too many places between police and the communities they are sworn to protect.” Clinton said that good law enforcement officers far outnumber those who are bad and a violent response to violence is not the answer. The protest in Dallas yesterday was peaceful and police were there to monitor the crowds and ensure the protesters’ safety when they were fired upon by a sniper. Clinton spoke about her proposal to invest $1 billion in police training across the county to ensure the safety of law enforcement officers as well as the general public. A video of Clinton’s speech is below and a transcript can be read HERE.

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News Source: Philadelphia Magazine, Penn Live

Hillary Clinton Statement on Juneteenth

On Sunday, Hillary Clinton released a statement celebrating the Juneteenth Independence Day. The day celebrates the abolition of slavery in Texas in June 1865, two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. In the statement, Clinton acknowledges the long struggle that came after the end of slavery for the African American community and their fight to earn equal rights and the right to vote. A copy of Clinton’s statement is below:

“One hundred and fifty-three years ago, Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. It took two more years for the men, women, and children who lived their lives in bondage in Galveston, Texas, to learn that the Civil War was over—and they were free at last. Today, we celebrate and honor those who fought to end the grotesque institution of slavery, and we recommit ourselves to the work that remains.

Our country’s long struggle with racism is far from over. More than half a century after Rosa Parks sat and Dr. King marched and John Lewis bled—more than a century and a half after slavery was outlawed—race still plays a significant role in determining who gets ahead in America and who gets left behind. We need to face that reality, and fix it.

America is stronger together. When all people can share in the promise of our country. When every child has the chance to live up to his or her God-given potential. When we lift each other up. And when we all come together to build a more perfect union.”

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