Even as President Donald Trump uttered the words “Black History Month,” “civil rights” and “hate crimes” during his first speech before a joint gathering of Congress, it still wasn’t enough to alleviate the concerns of the Black political community.
Indeed, to many, the first moments of Trump’s joint address Feb. 28 seemed surreal to many observers. The president appeared disciplined and restrained as use of the teleprompter seemed apparent. But rhetorical flourishes of concern throughout what’s been described as, arguably, as Donald Trump’s most effective political speech since announcing his candidacy, did nothing to assuage or win over anxious Black politicians and thought leaders who watched in side-eye dismay inside the House chamber and on television.
If they even bothered to watch it.
And while the general observation of the zeitgeist was that Trump’s speech was a stroke of political genius and theater, the general mood of many in the Black political and civil rights community was of skepticism.
“Sure, if you like great political theater, it was a good speech,” quipped the National Action Network’s Rev. Al Sharpton. “But, here’s where we need to separate the tone from the substance. There wasn’t really any substance.”
“And, everyone is talking about how well behaved he was,” he added. “He’s like that bad kid in the classroom who’s always getting in trouble and then one day he miraculously stops misbehaving and everyone is like ‘wow, look at that, he’s being such a good boy.’ So, I’m not falling for that act.”
Still, others could not help but admit that the president’s performance was a clever departure from his normally erratic, off-script and firebrand style. Most in the Black political space stopped short of saying “he was presidential,” the response in the mainstream pundit space. But many did note that the president had displayed deft political trade craft in his speech.
Political speeches are judged by preparation, content, delivery, tone and tenor with an umbrella of aspiration.
To Peter Groff, former Obama administration official and a former state elected official, “the president hit nearly all those markers.”
“For the first time since becoming president looked and sounded presidential,” he said. “For six weeks he looked small in the office and needed to show some presidential discipline.”
The question, for Groff and others, is if can maintain this sudden spurt of maturity by staying off Twitter, refraining from name calling and limiting what observers view as an incessant search for political scapegoats and bogeyman.
For the most part, Trump’s address was met with deep skepticism from Black lawmakers, constituents and experts alike who are bracing for a broad assault on Black policy priorities from the Affordable Care Act to voting rights.
“The president made several bold statements that contradict his actions over the first 40 days of his presidency,” said Rep. Dwight Evans (D-PA). “Actions speak louder than words. I am unwilling to comprise on my core values, which provide working class families who continue to struggle the opportunity to get ahead.”
Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA), who deliberately avoided the event altogether as a form of protest and opted to watch it on TV, said, “President Trump wants to repeal and replace Obamacare, but the Republicans can’t agree on a plan. The president has said he wants to preserve Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. The Republicans want to dismantle them. The president wants to build a wall along the southern border. The Republicans can’t agree on how to pay for it or if it should even be built. The president wants a $1 trillion dollar infrastructure bill. The Republicans do not like public spending and would rather provide tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires.”
To many, it did not go unnoticed that even as he kicked off his joint address with the public nod to Black History Month, only hours before his Attorney General Jeff Sessions had withdrawn Justice Department lawyers from pursuing what was once a spirited federal litigation push against a controversial Texas Voter ID law. And, quietly, while few were watching, the president signed off the day before on rules reversing an Obama administration regulation placing rigid restrictions on the ability of mentally ill or financially destitute individuals to purchase a firearm.
And many were still seething from what they described as the president’s photo-opping shenanigans with Historically Black Colleges and University presidents the day before. After a controversial Oval Office photo including Trump, his senior advisor Kellyanne Conway (straddled on knees on a couch) and a large gathering of HBCU presidents, the leaders of Black schools were only able to walk out with an executive order centralizing HBCU affairs in the White House and the promise of an “HBCU Summit.”
There were no increases in funding or promises to re-expand Pell Grants into the summer.
But of concern to some experts is that the president’s aggressive anti-immigrant messaging and diatribes on rising crime in America’s cities might eventually resonate with some African Americans who are visibly frustrated by either issue. The president and Republicans in state legislatures already seemed engaged in a tag-teaming pincer move as both threaten to pull federal and state funding from so-called “sanctuary cities,” a strategy that could weaken Democratic political machines in urban areas. And while Blacks nationwide are concerned about police violence, they’re also concerned about the structural violence that continues to plague certain communities.
“This is an area where Democrats miss the mark,” says Quinnipiac University political science professor Khalilah Brown-Dean. “Perception matters more than reality.” Brown-Dean points out that Democrats can seem detached from the suffering of families dealing with urban crime when their response to Trump focuses on historical crime trends.
Brown-Dean worries that Republicans could be using issues like immigration—which is widely viewed as a Latino issue—to pit one group against the other, as well as crime to seem as if they’re empathizing with Blacks living in struggling urban areas. It could be one reason explaining why a recent YouGov/Economist poll showed Black favorability ratings at 18 percent —double what it was on Nov. 7, 2016, a day before the election.
“It’s a space where Republicans feel they can start increasing their public support amongst Black voters,” says Brown-Dean.
Still, by the following week, the same YouGov/Economist poll showed Black support dipping back to 11 percent, almost back to where it was in 2016.
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