On January 20th, 2025, Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States. This year inauguration also happened to fall on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Trump has continuously threat- ened to chase his political career since the 1980s, it was not until 2015 he made a move an actually ran. On June 16th, 2015, Trump announced his candidacy for president at Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York. In November 2016, he defeated Hillary Clinton, after his first term he ran again and lost to President Joe Biden. In 2024, he ran for a 3rd time and defeated Vice President Kamala Harris, making him, a felon the future President of the United States.
Trump has said on multiple occasions that he has done a lot for Black people. “I have done more for Black Americans than anybody, except for the possible exception of Abraham Lincoln” he said in a White House briefing in June of 2020. In reality, many Black Americans do not share those same sentiments. To the naked eye, it looks like Black Americans benefited a lot during Trumps first presidency but many things that benefited Black Americans was a continued result of the Obama Administration that rolled over during Trumps presidency.
During Obama’s first term, on March 23rd, 2010, The Af- fordable Care Act (ACA) also known as “Obamacare” was signed into law by President Obama. For over a decade, this act has aided many underprivileged Black people seek and receive the medical attention they need. Accord- ing to a report by the Com- monwealth Fund “The Afford- able Care Act has significantly reduced racial disparities in health care access.” Trump
is calling for the removal of the ACA, he said the cost of Obamacare was too expen- sive and he is looking for something else. “The cost of Obamacare is out of control, plus, it’s not good Healthcare. I’m seriously looking at alter- natives” he said via X (Twitter) in November 2023.
In 2020, the Trump Administration removed the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule (AFFH), this rule was introduced in 2015 under President Obama it required cities that received federal housing money to continuously work toward reducing housing discrimination and ensuring fair housing opportunities. Black people historically have not been treated fairly in the housing market, and Trump removed a rule that gave them a chance at an equal opportunity. The rule was replaced with a weaker policy called, “Preserving Community and Neighbor- hood Choice.” Trump said his new policy would protect suburban neighborhoods, but it has only made it easier for local governments to ignore housing discrimination.
In 2018, the Trump Administration began limiting consent decrees. Consent decrees have been around since the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. Consent decrees have been used to address racial profiling, unfair treatment of Black people, and police brutality. Requiring police departments to follow specific rules. They were initially used by the federal government to address civil rights violations. In the 1990s under President Bill Clinton, they were used for correcting the ways of police departments. In 1994, after the vicious beat- ing of Rodney King, Congress passed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act. This law gave the Department of Justice (DOJ) the ability to investigate police departments for misconduct. Consent decrees were used to force departments to make changes.
The Trump Administration and former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced in 2018 that the Obama Administrations Department of Education’s issued guidance to schools would be rolled back. This guidance encouraged schools to consider other alternatives outside of suspension and expulsion, the guidance was created to address unfair disciplinary actions against Black and minority students who often received harsher punishments. This guidance forced schools to look over their disciplinary policies to make sure they were not treating minority students unfairly. The idea that excessive and unnecessary suspensions and expulsions has resulted in the school to prison pipeline. The school to prison pipeline suggests that Black and other minority students will end up in the criminal justice system because of school discipline issues.
Before Donald Trump became president, he did many things and made many statements disrespecting Black people, proving that their best interest has never been his mission. In 1989, Trump took out full page ads in different New York newspapers, suggesting that five minority teenage boys needed to face the death penalty after being wrongfully accused and convicted of raping a white woman in Central Park. Their convictions were overturned, and they were exonerated in 2002 after the real rapist confessed. Trump never apologized to the Central Park 5, for his actions. In the 1970’s Trump real estate company was sued by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for housing discrimination, refusing to rent apartments to Black people in New York City.
Donald Trump began failing Black Americans, decades before he stepped foot into the oval office. A convicted felon will run the country, but citizens who are felons are not granted the opportunity to vote. Black people make up around 13% of the U.S. population but they make up a higher percentage of those arrested, charged, and convicted of crimes including felonies. Many young Black voters have been miseducated and decided to vote for Trump due to stimulus checks that were received in 2020.
In 2023 famous rapper sexy red publicly endorsed Domald Trump saying that Black people in the hood supported him because he got them out of jail and gave them free money. “They support him in the hood… But once he started getting Black people out of jail and giving people that free money. Awe, baby we love Trump. We need him back in office” she said during an interview. A year later, Sexyy Red publicly endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris after hearing about Trump plans to control women and their bodies. Every Black per- son needs to be prepared and informed and know what it is that Trump is planning to do.
