By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent@StacyBrownMedia
When President Donald Trump proclaimed himself the “least racist person in this room” during the second 2020 Presidential Debate, the remark raised eyebrows.
It drew chuckles among many in the African American community.
Trump, perhaps tone-deaf, wondered why.
On Monday, October 26, 2020, his son-in-law and chief advisor, Jared Kushner, uttered words that cause many to roll those eyebrows and turn the chuckles into angry faces.
Calling out African Americans in a Fox News interview, Kushner left little doubt about the Trump clan’s mindset. “President Trump’s policies are the policies that can help people break out of the problems that they’re complaining about, but he can’t want them to be successful more than that they want to be successful.” The allegations of Black laziness received immediate condemnation.
“So, we don’t want to be successful,” came a rebuke from Dr. Ebony Hilton, a member of the National Newspaper Publishers Association’s Coronavirus Task Force and an associate professor of Anesthesiology in the Critical Care Anesthesia at the University of Virginia.
“I promise daily these people make me come close to needing Jesus and all the disciples to come and hold me back,” Hilton demurred.
“What’s the phrase that rhymes with ‘racist dog whistle’”? asked pop culture writer Craig Beilinson.
Democratic National Committee National Press Secretary Brandon Gassaway released a statement slamming Kushner and the Trump administration.
“According to the Trump administration, when African Americans find fault in policies that have led to historic unemployment for Black families, an explosion of racial inequities and wealth gaps, and an uncontained global pandemic that has taken the lives of over 45,000 Black Americans, it means that we just don’t want to be successful badly enough,” Gassaway retorted.
“In the eyes of this White House, demanding accountability for the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Jacob Blake, and countless other Black men and women who have lost their lives at the hands of law enforcement is just ‘complaining.’”
He concluded:
“This dismissive approach to the issues that Black voters care about is indicative of Trump’s callousness and disregard for the lives of Black people. We cannot afford another four years of a White House that does not take our voices seriously and tells us to be grateful for whatever scraps are left over from the bargaining table.
“We need leaders who not only value our input but prioritize and act upon it. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are those leaders, and Black voters will continue to show up to the polls in record numbers to ensure that Donald Trump, Jared Kushner, and this failed administration get the message.”
